  The Hundred of Brimstree is divided into the Bridgnorth and the Shiffnal divisions. Hales Owen, formerly a third division of this hundred, being a detached part of the county surrounded by Worcestershire, has recently, by act of parliament, been annexed to the county of Worcester. This hundred is bounded on the north by the county of Stafford and the South Bradford Hundred, on the west by the Wenlock Franchise and South Bradford Hundred, on the east by Staffordshire, and on the south by the Stottesden Hundred. Thomas Charlton Whitmore, Esq., M.P., is lord of the hundred, and holds a court on the 24th April; Mr. George Pritchard, steward; and Mr. John Cullwick, bailiff. The population in 1801 was 18,817; in 1841 there were 2,577 houses and 12,458 inhabitants. The annexing of the populous district of Halesowen to the county of Worcester is the cause of the returns at the census of 1821 being greater than those of 1841. The Bridgnorth division contains the following townships and places, viz., Aston, Beobridge, Bobbington (part of), Broughton, Claverley, Dallicott, Farmcott, Gatacre, Heathton, Hopstone, Ludstone, Shipley, Sutton, Woundale, and Worfield. The Shiffnal divisions contains Albrighton, Badger, Beckbury, Boningale, Boscobal, Donnington, Kemberton, Ryton, Shiffnal, Hatton, Priors’ Lee, Woodside, Stockton, Sutton, Maddock, and Tong. ALBRIGHTONis a parish and populous village in the Shiffnal division of the Brimstree Hundred, situated five miles south east by east from Shiffnal, and twenty-three south-east from Shrewsbury. The parish lies in the eastern verge of the county, and contains 3,365 acres of land, of which 59 acres are in roads and plantations. In 1801 there were 901 inhabitants; 1831, 1,054; in 1841, 1,058, and 236 houses; and in 1851, 242 houses and 1,141 souls. Rateable value, £7,089, 16s. 11d. This pleasant rural village is delightfully situated in a salubrious part of the county, intersected by good roads, and contiguous to the Shrewsbury and Birmingham railroad. Within the last few years it has attracted much attention, and several handsome villa residences have been built, which are chiefly occupied by respectable families and tradespeople from Wolverhampton and the neighbourhood. There are many good shops in the different branches of the retail trade, and the inns and boarding houses afford every accommodation to the numerous visitors who annually attend the celebrated Albrighton Hunt. The land in this locality has a bold undulating surface, and the views are varied and beautiful. The farms are extensive, and by unremitting industry, and an outlay of capital, have been brought to a state of productiveness far superior to what has been hitherto known in this district. The farm houses are in general well built, and provided with commodious out-premises. The Earl of Shrewsbury is the principal landowner and lord of the manor. The other chief owners are Thomas Plowden Presland, Esq.; Launcelot Shadwell, Esq.; William Oatley, Esq.; the Earl of Dartmouth; Mr. John Oatley; John Yates, Esq.; George Jones, Esq.; the representatives of the late John Meeson; Richard Wood, Esq.; and the trustees of the poor of Tong, Albrighton, and Tattenhall; besides whom there are several smaller owners. In the time of Edward the Confessor Albrighton was in two manorial, divisions, held by Algar, Earl of Menia, and a Saxon, named Godit. In the reign of the Confessor, one hide and a half of land in this parish were taxed to the king. After the conquest it extended to four carucates, when they were in demesne three carucates, thirteen servants, three villains, and three borderers, with one carucate of plough land. There was at that time a wood sufficient to fatten one hundred hogs, which was then in the hands of the king. The Church is a venerable fabric, dedicated to St. Mary, consisting of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with, a square tower, containing six bells. The interior is spacious and handsome, and is neatly pewed with dark oak sittings. Upon the gallery, at the west end, there is a fine-toned organ. The chancel is divided from the nave by a lofty pointed arch, and the east window is richly foliated. The church contains some beautiful tablets and other memorials to the Talbots and several other distinguished families. An alabaster tomb has two full length figures in a recumbent posture, with hands joined in the attitude of prayer; the knight clothed in a surcoat and chain armour, and his feet resting on a lion. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £5. 10s., now returned at £651, in the patronage of the Haberdashers’ Company and the Governors of Christ’s Hospital, London, alternately. The Rev. George W. Woodhouse, M.A., is the incumbent. Divine service is performed twice a-day throughout the year in the church. The Vicarage, a spacious stuccoed residence, a little east from the church, is ornamented with pleasure grounds tastefully laid out. The tithes have been commuted, and Charities.—By indenture, dated 18th May, 1682, reciting two bequests to the inhabitants of Albrighton, one of £20 by one Southall, the other of £10 by Roger Brooke, the interest of which was to be yearly disposed of among poor people, and which two sums, with some accumulation of interest, had increased to £40; and further reciting a gift by George Bromley of £100, the yearly profits to be distributed on St. George’s day and the Feast of All Saints, with the yearly increase thereof then amounted to £150; it was witnessed that in consideration of the sum of £210, composed of the above benefactions and a sum of money borrowed for the use of the parish, to make up the deficiency, certain lands were conveyed in trust for the benefit of the poor. In the year 1771, William Whitwich, the only surviving trustee, with the approbation of the parishioners and inhabitants assembled at a parish meeting, exchanged the two pieces of land, called the Wooden Croft, and the Six Butts, containing together four acres, for certain lands, called the Pool Field, containing two acres and rood, and a sum of £60 in money. The lands held in trust for the poor, when the charity commissioners published their report, comprised 14a. 3r. 16p. and a workhouse which had been built upon the charity land, together producing a yearly rental of £61 16s. 1d. The sum of £60 paid by Thomas Meeson, in part consideration for the exchange for lands in 1771, was suffered to remain in his hands at an interest of £4 per cent. till May, 1779, when it appears to have been paid up and applied, together with two other sums of £31. 10s., and £20 belonging to the trust, making in the whole £111. 10s. in the erection of a building for the reception of paupers, for which the parish paid a rent of £7 from the year 1780. This application of these several sums is not indeed expressly stated in the trustees’ books, or in any of the parish books or other documents that we could procure; but it seems sufficiently to be inferred from the circumstance that the payment of interest on those sums appears in the books till the year 1780, when it ceases, and the payment of rent for the workhouse commences. As this house is kept in repair from the trust funds, it does not seem to have been a very beneficial investment of the money. From whence the two sums of money above mentioned were derived does not appear. In the returns, under the act of the 26th Geo. III., two legacies to this parish of uncertain date are mentioned, one of £40 by William Scot, and the other of £20 by T. Davenhill. It is possible that a part of the first and the whole of the second of these legacies may have constituted part of the funds for the erection of the parish poorhouse. This, however, is mere conjecture, as we could learn nothing further concerning these charities. Thomas Chapman, in 1655, granted to trustees three several rent charges, amounting in the whole to 30s., issuing out of a messuage called Harbour House and certain lands within the manor of Donington, and directed 13s. 4d. (part thereof) to be distributed among the poor of Albrighton, 10s. among the poor of Donington, and 6s. 8d. (the residue) for the relief of the poor inhabitants within the parish of Boningale. The amount allotted to Albrighton is carried to the general charity fund of the parish. Mrs. Mary Waltho, in 1783, gave the sum of £20, in trust, to place out the same, with the approbation of the minister and churchwardens of the parish, the interest to be disposed of among poor widows. An annual sum of 16s., which is understood to be the In 1848, a portion of the charity land was required for making the railway, for which the Charity Trustees received the sum of £712. 3s. 3d., which has been invested in government securities; the dividends of which and the rent of lands amount at the present time to about £74 per annum, which is distributed on Holy Thursday and St. Thomas’s day among widows and the indigent poor not receiving parochial relief. Post Office—At Maria Jones’s. Letters arrive at 9 A.M., and are despatched at 5.30 P.M. Bedwell Orson, Esq. Bishton Rev. Henry, M.A. Crump Henry, Esq. Dale Miss Davies James, station master Dickens Richard, gentleman Dodd Rev. George, M.A., curate, Donington Edwards Mrs. Holyoake Captain Thomas Johnson Mrs. Catherine Grecina Jones Mrs. Maria, Post office Law Richard, gentleman Letts James, fly proprietor Mitchell Mr. James Parry The Misses, Albrighton Hall Pitt Frances, gentlewoman Presland Thomas Plowden, Esq., Cosford Hall Savage Mrs. Lydia Stubbs William, gentleman, Bowling-green House Taylor George, Esq., Boningale Park Thomason Henry, gentleman Thorneycroft Mrs. Totty Mr. John, registrar and vestry clerk Wood Richard, surgeon and farmer Woodhouse Rev. George W., M.A., The Vicarage Yates John, gentleman, Shaw lane Academy.Hammersley Thomas, and bookseller and stationer Baker and Flour Dealer.Austin George Boot and Shoemakers.Fletcher Thomas Stanley Edward Taylor John Taylor Thomas Wedge Daniel Brick and Tile Maker.James Thomas Bricklayers.Nickolds George Stockton Joseph Totty George Butchers.Austin Frederick Bailey George, Lea Hall Darley Joseph, Woodhouses Cabinet Makers.Perry William, & carpenter Thomas Thos., & carpenter Chemist and Druggist.Whatmore Thomas Coal Dealers and Carters.Moore Thomas Powell John Thomas Coal and Lime Agent.Davies James Corn Millers.Shenton Benjamin, Cosford mills Shepherd James Farmers.Bailey George and Thomas, Lea Hall Farm Bate William, Over Pepper hill Bayley John, Park side Boulton John Bradshaw Thomas, Lea Earp William, Cosford Fletcher George, Dead Woman’s Grave Farm Gibbs Henry, Lower Pepper hill Head Charles, Birches Husselby William, bailiff to Earl of Dartmouth Oatley John, Bishton Hall Oatley Joseph, The Hall Farm Oatley William, The Hall Farm Roberts John, Harriotshay Shenton Benjamin, Cosford Stanford Joseph, and horse dealer, Harriotshay Stubbs Walter, Bowling Green Thomas Rd., farm steward to Earl of Shrewsbury Yates John, Elms Farm Grocers and Tea Dealers.Marked * are Provision Dealers. Brown Jane Ewart John * Molineux George * Tomkins James and John
Boulton Thomas, victualler, Talbot Bucknall William, vict., The Crown Hotel, Commercial and Boarding-house Jones Henry, vict., Whiston Cross Letts James, vict., Harp Inn, and Posting-house Steele Benjamin, vict., The Bush Beerhouse.Fletcher Thomas Linen & Woollen Drapers.Delf John, and clothes dealer Hammersley Susannah Maltsters.Austin George Bailey George and Thomas Bucknall George Milliners and Dress Makers.Delf Mrs. John, and straw bonnet maker Hammersley Susannah Swann Mary Ann Plumbers, Glaziers, & Painters.Harris Henry Meredith Joseph Saddler and Harness Maker.Eardley William Sawyer and Wood Dealer.Gough George Shopkeeper.Moore Paul, and huxter Smiths.Howell Thomas Ward John Stone Masons and Builders.Burns and Collins Thomas Henry Surgeons.Bedwell and Son Crump Henry Tailor and Woollen Draper.Totty William Veterinary Surgeons.Howell John, Beamish Hall Farm Watch and Clock Makers.Morris Thomas Nickolds Thomas Wheelwrights.Parker William Sutton William CarrierTo Wolverhampton, Bessy Wheeler, on Monday, Wednesday, & Saturday BADGERis a parish in the Shiffnal division of the Brimstree hundred, six miles N.N.E. from Bridgnorth and five and a half miles S. from Shiffnal, comprising 980 acres of land, of which upwards of 100 acres are covered with woods and thriving plantations. The soil is various, the meadows and pastures produce a rich herbage, and the arable lands are highly productive. Rateable value £768. The parish in 1801 contained 88 inhabitants: 1831, 142: 1841, 137: and in 1851 there were 38 houses and a population of 101 souls, of whom 79 were males and 92 females. The village of Badger is delightfully situated in a district pleasingly diversified with bold undulations and rural scenery; the low lands are watered by the meanderings of the Cosford brook, and the small stream of the Worf. A romantic glen called the Dingle stretches for upwards of a mile in length, and the banks of the stream have been planted with shrubs and evergreens with great taste; in several places the waters are precipitated over the shelving rocks into the dingle below, which gives an additional charm to the picturesque scenery. This locality is the frequent resort of pleasure parties from Birmingham and the surrounding country during the summer months. Robert Henry Cheney, Esq., of Badger Hall, is the principal landowner, and lord of the manor; Mr. John Green is also a landowner. The Church, dedicated to St. Giles, is a small but neat structure of free stone, having a square tower ornamented with crocketted pinnacles; the tower is beautified with a clock, sun-dial, and contains three bells; the interior of the church has a tasteful and elegant appearance, and the side compartments are neatly pewed with oak sittings. The east window is beautifully decorated with stained glass illustrative of scripture history; the appendages of tracery are of the most exquisite workmanship. The altar exhibits a fine specimen of elaborate carving. The parishioners of Worfield, who reside near Badger, in consideration of being accommodated with sittings in this church, presented a new organ in the year 1844. In the chancel is an elegant Badger Hall is an elegant and spacious mansion, the seat of Robert Henry Cheney, Esq., J.P. The structure is of brick with stone finishings, and situated on elevated ground, commanding delightful views over a luxuriant country. The vicinity of the mansion is finely timbered, and the extensive enclosures of park-like grounds are pleasingly diversified with sylvan beauty. The pleasure grounds and shrubberies are of considerable extent, and display the taste and superior management of the head gardener, Mr. George Cooke. Robert Henry Cheney, Esq., was appointed high sheriff of the County of Shropshire, for the year 1851. The Rectory is a good residence a little west of the church; it is pleasantly situated, and the gardens and pleasure grounds are neatly laid out. There is a school in the village which is supported by Mr. Cheney, where about fifty children are instructed. The Rev. T. C. Hartshorn gave £10 to the poor in 1752, and the Rev. Thos. Hartshorn gave a like sum which was laid out in the purchase of a rent charge of 20s. per annum, issuing out of a messuage and garden in Badger; the amount is expended in bread for the poor. Directory.—Robert Henry Cheney, Esq., J.P., Badger Hall; William Bate, gentleman; William Bate and Sons, farmers; Rev. Thomas F. Boddington, M.A., the Rectory; William Braithwaite, corn miller; Henry Brewster, farmer and corn miller, Higford; George Cooke, gardener; John Green, gentleman, The Heath; John Mole, butler; Matthew Taylor, coachman; Richard Worrall, farmer. BECKBURYis a parish and village in the Shiffnal Division of the Brimstree Hundred, comprising 1321a. 0r. 10p. of land, and situated six miles and a half N.E. from Bridgnorth, and four miles S. from Shiffnal. In 1801 there were 231 inhabitants; 1831, 307; and in 1841, 61 houses and 312 souls. Rateable value, £1,942. 9s. 8d. The principal landowners are C. H. Slaney, Esq., Walter Stubbs, Esq., Thomas Charlton Whitmore, Esq., Dr. Windham, Dr. Fowler, and Mrs. Frances Horton. The Church, dedicated to St. Milburgh, is built of red free-stone, and consists of nave and chancel, with a square tower, in which are three bells. In the chancel are several memorials, one of which remembers W. J. Yonge, Esq., of Caynton House, who died in 1825, aged 71 years; also of Captain William Horton, who died in 1844. There are also several memorials to various members of the Stubbs family and others, one of which (a slab of limestone) has the outlines of the figures of a male and a female, with smaller figures of ten children. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book at £5. 3s. 4d., in the patronage of the Lord Chancellor; incumbent, Rev. Henry Ralph Smythe. The tithes are commuted for £333, and the rector has 31a. 0r. 18p. of glebe land. Beckbury Hall is a commodious family mansion, of brick, the residence and property of Walter Stubbs, Esq., a considerable landowner in this parish. Directory.—Benjamin Adams, shoemaker; Thos. Baugh, beerhouse-keeper; Isaac Bradburn, draper and shopkeeper; Samuel Brown, farmer; Benjamin Corfield, farmer; George Hand, butcher; John Hand, carpenter; Thomas Hand, parish clerk and builder; William Hand, joiner; William Hampton, blacksmith; Thomas Page, shopkeeper and postmaster; William Poyner, butcher; John Richards, maltster and farmer; Rev. Walter Ralph Smythe, rector, The Rectory; Thomas Southall, beerhouse keeper; Samuel Thurstaus, farmer and maltster, Heath House; Walter Stubbs, Esq., Beckbury Hall; John Ward, Esq., R.N., Lower Hall; Richard Williams, shopkeeper; John Warren, tailor and draper; Benjamin Worrall, farmer, Snowdon Pool. BOBBINGTONis a small parish, partly in the Bridgnorth Division of the Brimstree Hundred, but chiefly in the county of Stafford, situated eight miles and a half S.W. from Wolverhampton, and eight miles E. from Bridgnorth. That portion of the parish in the county of Salop at the census of 1841 contained six houses and 22 inhabitants. This county is here divided from Staffordshire by a small stream; the Bridgnorth and Stourbridge turnpike road bounds the parish on the south-east side. The Church is a small ancient structure of free-stone, with a tower, in which are four bells. The interior is small, and fitted up with primitive simplicity. The living is enjoyed by the Vicar of Claverly; officiating curate, Rev. Henry Pennant Cooke, M.A. William Moseley, Esq., is the owner of the land in that part of the parish, in the county of Salop. Directory.—Richard Barrimore, wheelwright and machine-maker; Samuel Brimsford, maltster and victualler, Six Ashes Inn; Sarah Bytheway, shopkeeper and victualler, Lion Inn; Rev. Henry Pennant Cooke, MA.; Edward Fenn, blacksmith, Six Ashes; John Knowles, farmer; Philip Pearman, farmer, Whatmore Hall; Mrs. Sarah Pearman. BONINGHALL, OR BONINGALE,is a small parish and village, in the Shiffnal Division of the Brimstree Hundred, five miles S.E. by S. from Shiffnal, and seven miles S.W. by S. from Wolverhampton, which in 1841 contained 184 inhabitants; and at the census in 1851 had 36 houses and 195 souls; of whom 99 were males and 96 females. The turnpike road from Shiffnal to Wolverhampton intersects the parish, which contains 986a. 0r. 18p. of land. The soil is a mixture of loam and gravel, and produces good wheat, turnips, and barley. There is also some fine grazing land. Rateable value, £1,948. 14s. George Taylor, Esq., is lord of the manor, and the most considerable landowner. The Executors of the late William Wood, Mr. John Oatley, Mr. Richard Wood, Mr. James William Weaver, Mr. James Riddle, and the Incumbent of King Swinford, are also proprietors. The village is situated in a salubrious district, commanding pleasing and diversified views of the surrounding country. The Kennels for the fox-hounds of the celebrated Albrighton hunt are at the Summer House in this parish. The Church, a plain antique structure, in a sequestered situation, is built of free-stone, and, as an ornamental appendage, has a tower of wood, in which are three bells. It contains a small gallery, and the sittings are of oak. The ceiling is supported by a framework of wood, and empanelled with dark oak, varnished. There is a tablet in memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Robinson, and another to William Tindal, who died in 1830. The living is a perpetual curacy annexed to the rectory of Stockton. The Rev. Charles Blaney Cavendish Whitmore, M.A., is the incumbent. The tithes have been commuted, and £236 apportioned to the incumbent; the minister has also 11a. 0r. 29p. of glebe land. There is no parsonage house in this parish. Boninghall Park, the seat and property of George Charities.—John Littleford, by his will, dated the 27th of February, 1712, gave the sum of £4, to be laid out for the use of the poor of Boningale, “with £10, which Mr. Green had promised should be paid.” It is probable that both these sums were duly received, and that they compose a sum of £14, which the parish has long enjoyed, and which was designated as the gift of an unknown benefactor for the use of the poor of the parish. An additional benefaction of £16 was subsequently received from Miss Jane Skeinton. These sums appear to have remained at interest in the hands of the parish officers, upon their personal security, until the year 1812, when they were laid out in the purchase of a messuage and a garden, which it was thought advisable to purchase for the use of the parish. The premises were accordingly charged with the repayment of the sum of £30, so borrowed, to the churchwardens and overseers of the said parish for the time being, with interest for the same at five per cent. per annum, such interest to be paid on the 25th of March yearly, and to be distributed annually on Easter Sunday, by the minister, churchwardens, overseers, and the inhabitant freeholders of the parish for the time being, among poor industrious parishioners. A rent charge of 6s. 8d., derived from the bequest of John Chapman, is usually allowed to remain for two years, and 13s. 4d. is then distributed among the poor of the parish with the above charity. Directory.—George Bayley, butcher, Lea Hall; Benjamin Cox, shopkeeper; Joseph Darley, farmer, Woodhouses; Joseph Lowe, victualler, Summer House and Commercial Inn; Edmund Nicklin, shopkeeper; John Oatley, farmer, Woodhouses; Benjamin Southall, farmer, Boningale Farm; Mr. William Staples, huntsman, Summer House; George Taylor, Esq., Boningale Park; Thos. Taylor, farmer; James Thomas, victualler, The Horns Inn; Richard Wood, farmer, Whiston. BOSCOBELan Extra Parochial Liberty in the Shiffnal division of the Brimstree hundred, is remarkable in history as a place in which King Charles II. concealed himself from his pursuers, after the unfortunate battle of Worcester. The liberty comprises two houses and 691a. 2r. 17p. of land, of which eighty acres are in woods, and is situated on the eastern verge of the county, adjoining Staffordshire, seven miles east from Shiffnal. The bold eminence upon which Boscobel is situated is most delightful, and is one of the finest tracts of table land in England; the scenery is most extensive, beautiful, and varied. Boscobel manor house is a spacious and ancient timbered mansion exhibiting a fine specimen of the domestic architecture of bygone days; part of it has been recently modernized and stuccoed, which gives it a light and handsome appearance. The house stands partly in Shropshire and partly in Staffordshire, and the southern portion now forms the summer residence of the Misses Evans, of Darley, near Derby. The dining room is spacious, and the walls are wainscotted with oak, exhibiting some fine carving; on the right of the entrance is shown the secret recess through which King Charles II. made his escape from the house to the oak tree when pursued by the infuriated rebels. There is a fine painting in this room of the youthful monarch, and in a side room is a beautifully executed painting of Oliver Cromwell. Although the interior of the mansion has been much improved and beautified from time to time, yet whatever relates to the concealment of the unfortunate Charles has been preserved with the greatest care. On ascending the staircase is seen the bed room and the secret recess where he took shelter from his pursuers, and which communicates with the garden by a trap-door. In the upper room is what is denominated the “sacred hole” from the circumstance of his majesty occasionally concealing himself there, the trap-door and step-ladder remain in their original state. Here his majesty was committed to the care of the Pendrills, and for his better disguise, put on the green Kendal breeches and leathern doublet of Richard Pendrill. Lord Wilmot who performed the office of barber, cut the hair of the King in a most rustic manner, and caused his hands and face to be discoloured with the intention of giving him the appearance of a country labourer. His majesty thus transformed, with a wood bill in his hand assumed the character of a wood cutter, and was taken by a back road into a wood called Spring Coppice belonging to Boscobel House, by Richard Pendrill, who attended the King while the three other brothers of Richard were set to watch and give intelligence of any threatened danger. A short time after the King had left the house a party of horse came to search it; it was therefore thought the safest course for his majesty to remain in the wood all that day, although the rain fell in torrents. The King being in urgent want of refreshment, made his wishes known to Richard Pendrill, who accordingly applied to the wife of Francis Yates to provide some provision for a person in want and to carry it to an appointed place in Boscobel wood. She accordingly provided a dish of such fare as her cottage afforded, and taking a blanket with her, proceeded therewith to the wood. On her approaching the spot fixed upon she perceived the King, who being much surprised at the appearance of a woman, became apprehensive that she might possibly divulge the secret of his retreat, till demanding of the good woman if she could be faithful to a distressed cavalier, she answered “Yes Sire, I would rather die than discover you.” At night his majesty resolved to proceed into Wales, and take Richard Pendrill with him as his guide; they began their journey On Humphrey Pendrill going to Shiffnal to pay his share of the monthly tax, he was accosted at the house of Captain Broadway, by a colonel who had come hither to enquire after the search of the White Ladies. The colonel understanding that Humphrey lived near the place, put him to a strict examination, and after he had tried the effect of menaces to induce a confession, began to tempt him by the reward of the thousand pounds which was offered to the person that discovered his majesty; Humphrey’s discreet answers, however, rendered his dissembled ignorance the more unsuspected. On this being told to his majesty he was determined to leave Boscobel, and it was arranged that he should ride upon Humphrey Pendrill’s mill horse, for Humphrey was miller at the White Ladies Mill. The king mounted his steed on Monday evening and was attended by four of the Pendrills and their brother-in-law Francis Yates, who guarded him on the road with bills and pike staves. Humphrey led the horse by the bridle, and on his majesty complaining that it was the dullest jade he ever rode on, Humphrey made a witty apology for his steed by telling his majesty that it was no wonder he went so slow since he carried the weight of three kingdoms on his back. The King at this time was dressed in a leathern doublet and an old greasy hat, his hands and face being coloured with soot and walnut leaves. In this way they journeyed to Moseley in Staffordshire, and there found a place of safety in the house of Mr. Whitgrave, who had formerly been engaged in the king’s service, and being a suspected person his house was searched while the king was there, but the readiness of Mr. Whitgrave to let the soldiers enter, and his open deportment, gave the men so much satisfaction that they went away with little more than a bare enquiry. The White Ladies was also searched the same day, on the information of an ensign, and the proprietor strictly questioned about the king with a musket presented at his breast. He acknowledged that a large party had been there who had almost eaten him out of house and home, but the king he did not know from any other man, and no such person being there to be found, the searchers at last went away, storming that they had troubled His majesty having gratefully acknowledged the kindness of Mr. Whitgrave, went with Lord Wilmot to Colonel Lane’s, at Bentley, where shortly after he had an opportunity of being conveyed to Bristol, in order to embark for France. Miss Jane Lane procured a pass for herself and servant, to visit a pretended sister of hers who resided near to Bristol, and in the journey his majesty assumed the character of Miss Lane’s servant; Colonel Lascelles, Miss Lane’s relation, with his wife behind him, accompanied them; and Lord Wilmot, with a hawk in his hand, as if he had met them accidentally, and had occasion to travel that way. In passing through Broomsgrove they were obliged to employ a smith to shoe one of the horses; the conversation of the bystanders was of the battle of Worcester and the king’s escape. His majesty, amidst many conjectures, gave it as his decided opinion that the king had fled to Scotland, and lay concealed there. “I rather think,” replied the smith, “that he remains somewhere concealed in England, and how glad should I be if I knew where.” On the third day they arrived at the house of Mr. George Norton, of Leigh, about two miles from Bristol, where the king was introduced as the son of one of her father’s tenants, and on pretence of suddenly being attacked with fever, kept his bed, and was attended by Dr. George, who asked the sick man many questions about the king’s escape, and being told by his majesty that he did not wish to be troubled with such questions, declared that he could not help thinking that his patient was a sider with the roundheads. His majesty had not been long here before he was discovered by the butler, who had formerly been in the service of his royal father. This man, on the promise of close secrecy and loyalty, was entrusted by his majesty in several important services. From this place he proceeded amidst great dangers, experiencing unchanging fidelity, to Brighthelmston, in Sussex, when on the 15th of October, 1659, he took sail in a small coasting vessel, employed in the colliery trade, and being favoured with a prosperous gale they arrived in a short time at Feccam, a small sea port in Normandy, his majesty assisting himself to steer the vessel. From Feccam his majesty proceeded to Roan, and on the 30th October was met on his journey to Paris by his mother, the Queen Dowager of Great Britain, his brother the Duke of York, the Duke of Orleans, and other nobles of France, with a great retinue of English and French gentlemen. On the restoration of King Charles, the family of the Pendrills, who consisted of five brothers, attended upon his majesty on the 13th of June, 1660, at Whitehall, when the king was pleased to remark that the simple rustic who serves his sovereign in the time of need to the extent of his ability, is as deserving of our commendation as the victorious leader of thousands. “Friend Richard,” rejoined the king, “thou wert my preserver and conductor—the bright star that shewed me my way to Bethlehem, for which kindness I will engrave thy memory in the tablet of a grateful heart;” and having requested Richard to state to the lords in attendance what passed when he quitted the oak at Boscobel, “Your majesty,” replied Richard, “must well remember that when brother Humphrey brought his old mill horse from White Ladies, not accoutered with knightly gear, but with a pitiful old saddle and bridle; not attended with royal guards, but only by half a dozen raw and undisciplined rustics, who had but little else but good will to defend your majesty; it was when your majesty mounted, and as we journeyed your majesty did most The royal oak before mentioned stood about 200 yards from the house, and was a flourishing tree, the branches of which were so richly covered with ivy that the soldiers who were in pursuit of the king, and who suspected him to be there, could not discover him. In the course of time the original oak was so mutilated by visitors that to preserve its remains the Fitzherberts erected a brick wall around it. The tree, however, has long been destroyed, and there is now standing on the site a flourishing oak, produced from an acorn of the old tree, for the preservation of which a lofty iron palisading surrounds it. The following inscription on a brass plate is affixed to the bole of the tree:—
The Convent of White Ladies.—Near half a mile south from Boscobel, in a sequestered and romantic spot, are the ruins of the Nunnery of White Ladies, an establishment of nuns of the Cistercian order, designated the White Ladies by reason of the conventical habit which they adopted being of that colour, as also to distinguish it from another establishment in its immediate vicinity, denominated the Black Ladies, situated at Bishop’s Wood, in the county of Stafford. The ruins of this venerable structure are mantled with ivy, and the walls of the church are of immense thickness, with a recessed circular doorway. It is dedicated to St. Leonard, and the foundation is supposed to have been as ancient as the time of King Richard I., or King John. The two seals that have been met with relating to this establishment represent the virgin and child, one of which bears the legend, “Sigillum commune nigrarum monalium D’Bre,” and the other “S. Convent. S. Marie Nigras d’narum,” and seem to have been used as the common seal of the White Ladies and Black Ladies conjointly, these two houses having been considered as comprising the convent of Brewood. The ruins and grounds of this religious house are walled in, and the interior, which is spacious, is nearly covered with gravestones. It is still used as a place of sepulchre by members of the catholic religion. There are several tablets on the walls, and some remarkable epitaphs. On a gravestone is the following inscription: “Here lies Winifred White, late of Wolverhampton, who was instantaneously cured of hemiphegia by bathing in St. Winifred’s well, Flintshire, June 11th, 1805. She died of consumption, January 13th, 1824, aged 45 years. May she rest in peace.” The White Ladies Nunnery became celebrated in history from the circumstance The principal residents are Miss Elizabeth Evans, Boscobel House; Miss Fanny Evans, Boscobel House; Mrs. Walker; Thomas Wilson, farmer, White Ladies; Thomas Wilson, jun., farmer, Boscobel Farm. CLAVERLEYis an extensive parish in the Bridgnorth division of the Brimstree hundred, comprising the townships of Aston, Beobridge, Broughton, Claverley, Dallicott, Farmcott, Gatacre, Heathton, Hopstone, Ludstone, Shipley, Sutton, and Woundale, and embraces 8,145a. 0r. 39p. of land. In 1801 there were 1,328 inhabitants; 1831, 1,521; 1841, 1,669; and in 1851, 1,612, of whom 825 were males, and 787 females. The last census shows a decrease of 57 persons in ten years. Gross estimated rental of the parish, £17,796. 8s. 2d. Rateable value, £15,766. 10s. The tithes have been commuted for £2,060. 13s. 6d. The principal landowners are Edward Lloyd Gatacre, Esq.; George Mackenzie Kettle, Esq.; Edward Farrer Acton, Esq.; Farmer Taylor, Esq.; Thomas Charlton Whitmore, Esq., M.P.; William Wilson, Esq.; John Wilson, Esq.; Thomas Wilson, Esq.; Thomas H. Windle, Esq.; Thomas Boycott, Esq.; and Mrs. Emma Fox; besides whom there are several smaller freeholders. The village of Claverley is well built and pleasantly situated, six miles east from Bridgnorth, and ten miles south-west from Wolverhampton. At the census in 1841, the township contained 90 houses and 404 inhabitants. This was the birth-place of Sir Robert Brooke, who was educated at Oxford, from whence he removed to the Middle Temple. In 1553 he became chief justice of the common pleas, in which office he conducted himself with inflexible integrity, and died in 1558. He published several works, among which are, “An Abridgment of the Year Books,” in folio; “Certain Cases Adjudged;” and “Reading on the Statutes of Limitations.” Richard Dovey, the founder of the Free School, bequeathed eight shillings per annum to a poor man of this parish who should undertake to awaken sleepers and whip out dogs from the church of Claverley during divine service. King Charles II. granted the inhabitants a charter to exempt them from paying tolls. The Church, dedicated to All Saints, is an antique structure, exhibiting various styles of architecture, and consists of nave, chancel, side chapels, and side aisles, with a square tower, in which are six bells. The body of the church is neatly pewed, and will accommodate about eight hundred persons. There is a gallery at the west end, upon which is an organ, erected in the year 1840 at a cost of £180. The pulpit is of oak, and has been beautifully carved at the expense of the present incumbent. The side chapels are the property of the ancient family of Gatacre. In the south chapel is an altar tomb, dated 1558, on which are three full length figures, in a recumbent position, in memory of Lord Chief Justice Brooke and his two wives. On the sides of the tomb, in basso-relief, are small figures of his eighteen children. A beautiful memorial window of stained glass, exquisitely executed, remembers Colonel Gatacre, who died in the year 1849. Another has been erected to the memory of Arabella, wife of the late Colonel Gatacre. One of the windows has recently been beautified with stained glass by Edward Lloyd Gatacre, Esq. The church contains several neat mural tablets to deceased members Charities.—John Dovey, of Farmcote, by deed of feoffment, dated 23rd of August, 1659, granted to John Sanders and others a stone house, with a garden and plot of land adjoining, situated at Hawe’s Acre; and also certain cottages adjoining the parish church of Claverley, and a messuage and farm known by the name of Lindridge farm, in trust; the stone house and garden to remain as a free-school, to be called The Free School of Richard Dovey, at Claverley; and as to the messuage, farm, and cottages before mentioned, the trustees were directed, with the yearly profits thereof, to keep in repair the school premises, and to pay the schoolmaster yearly, at Michaelmas and Lady-day, £8, in equal portions, towards his maintenance; to pay to the best scholar to be elected by the feoffees, the minister, and the schoolmaster, the sum of 20s. to be an under-teacher in the said school; and also to place in some room of the cottages adjoining the church-yard, a poor man, and allow him a stipend of eight shillings yearly to whip out dogs and awaken sleepers during divine service in the church; and 12s. to the trustees for their pains. It appears that the cottages, having become untenable about the year 1784, were taken down; and a new building convenient for a school having been erected upon the site, the school was removed to it, and has since continued to be kept there. Upon the removal of the school, the old premises were exchanged for a parcel of land more convenient in situation to the new school-room. It appears, however, that a substitution has since taken place of another parcel of land, in lieu of that which was first given in exchange to the charity, and that upon the parcel so substituted timber has been cut, and other acts of ownership exercised from time to time by the agents of the Glynne family; while on the other hand no acknowledgment of ownership has been made to the charity. The premises at Lindridge, to which an allotment of about two acres was added about ten years ago, under the powers of an enclosure act, consist of about 42 acres of land, producing a yearly rental of £26. 53. Richard Bennett, Esq., by will, 22nd March, 1794, gave the sum of £100, to be paid at the expiration of six months after his decease, and directed the same to be placed out at interest, and the yearly proceeds applied for the benefit of the free-school of Claverley. This legacy remained in the hands of the Glynne family, as the personal representatives of the testator, at an annual interest of five per cent. when the Charity Commissioners published their report. This interest being added to the rent of the farm makes an annual income of £31. 5s.; from which the following disbursements are made:—To the schoolmaster, £21; coals for the school, 10s.; annuity for awaking sleepers, 10s. 6d.; chief rent, 1s. 4d.; average of school repairs, £2. 12s. The twenty shillings which were allowed by the founder for one of the boys to act as usher, do not appear to have ever been paid, nor do we find that the trustees have taken advantage of the 12s. per annum allowed for their pains. The expenditure left a surplus of £6. 11s. 2d. per annum, which, with a sum of £14 produced from a sale of timber from William Perry, of Broughton, by will dated 9th December, 1674, after reciting that his father had given the sum of 3s. 4d. to be yearly distributed at Christmas and Easter among the poor of the parish in wheaten or mun corn bread, gave a like sum of 3s. 4d. to be distributed in bread at Whitsuntide and All Saints for ever. And for the maintenance of the dole, (and of bread to the amount of 6s. 8d. also to the poor of Worfield), he granted a rent charge of 13s. 4d. yearly, issuing out of certain lands in Claverley and Worfield. It is recorded on one of the benefaction tables in the church at Claverley that William Perry of Broughton, by will left 14s. a year for ever to be distributed in bread amongst the poor of the parish at four times in the year. There is reason to believe that William Perry here referred to was a descendant of the former, but we are unable to discover whether this was an original grant of his own, or whether it included the 6s. 8d. which had before been granted by his ancestors in the same manner as the first William Perry had by his will embraced the previous donation of his father Roger. The sum of 14s. is however all that is now paid, or that we can find any trace of having ever been received. It is paid out of the rents of lands in Broughton, formerly the property of the Perrys. Thomas Whitmore, of Ludstone, in 1679 gave to the poor of the parish of Claverley £5 per annum, payable out of a tenement in Claverley, and he appointed the same to be received by the inhabitants for the time being of his then dwelling house in Ludstone, and to be by them distributed among the necessitous poor. The amount is usually distributed among fifty poor persons. Margaret Fregleton, of Powk Hall, by will left 10s. yearly to be given amongst ten poor widows not chargeable to the parish. There is reason to believe this legacy to be the same which is referred to and secured by the will of Mrs. Margaret Hill, dated 7th January, 1728, when she charges all her lands in Claverley with the payment of 10s. yearly to ten poor widows of Claverley, as directed by her mother’s will, and also paying thereout £2. 10s. per annum, on St. Thomas’s day, to be distributed among fit objects of charity, by the minister and churchwardens. The premises charged with the payment came into the possession of the Glynne family, by whose agent the rent charge is paid. Thomas Acton in 1734 gave the sum of £100 to be laid out in the purchase of lands, and the rents and profits to be yearly paid by the churchwardens for the time being, to five decayed labourers, and five poor widows belonging this parish. This legacy was laid out in 1741 in the purchase of about seven acres of meadow land in the parish of Hopton Wafers, which at the time of the purchase produced a rent of £3. 8s., but are now let for £15 per annum. There was timber on the land at the period the charity commissioners published their report, to the value of £100, which it was intended soon to dispose of. John Fenton, by his will bequeathed £30, and directed that with the interest thereof bread should be purchased, and on every Sunday a distribution made to six poor widows belonging the parish of Claverley. In 1777 this bequest was expended in the erection of three small tenements at the back of the workhouse, fronting the Holloway, for the use of the parish as habitations for the poor, and the overseer of the poor covenanted to distribute six penny loaves every Sunday according to the intentions of the donor. Thomas Farmer Thornes in 1779 bequeathed £30 to the churchwardens of Claverley, the interest thereof to be distributed in bread annually to poor housekeepers. This sum and an accumulation of interest making in the whole £47. 18s. 1d. was subsequently laid out in building a parish workhouse, the parish officers agreeing to provide out of the poor’s rates the interest of that sum. Mrs. Sarah Taylor left a legacy of £50 many years ago to the poor of this parish, to be under the management of the trustees of the Free school. This gift was placed in the hands of Mr. Farmer Taylor, he being one of the trustees of the School. The interest was distributed with a private charity of Mr. Taylor’s. Edward Barker, by will in 1702, charged a piece of land situate at Aston with the payment of 10s. yearly; 5s. thereof to be given to the minister of Claverley, for a sermon on New Year’s day, and 5s. to buy bibles for poor children. Richard Dovey, the founder of the free school, in 1660 left certain lands lying in Broughton, for the better maintenance of the parson of Claverley. The lands which are supposed to have been left consist of 6a. 0r. 21p. at Broughton, and now produce a rental of about £10 per annum, which is received by the minister for his own use. William Whitmore, Esq., of Apley, in 1724 gave the sum of £200 to be laid out for the perpetual augmentation of the curacy of the parish church of Claverley, which with the further sum of £200 advanced by the governors of Queen Anne’s bounty, was applied to the purchase of about forty-four acres of land in the parish of Higley, for the benefit of the incumbent. The premises produce £49 per annum, which the minister of Claverley receives. It appears that the rent of a piece of land called the School House bank, containing about two acres, has been for many years appropriated to the repair of the church, but we have been unable to discover the source from which it was derived. It was sold in 1818 by the parishioners to Sir Stephen Glynne for the sum of £120, and the amount was applied in building the workhouse before mentioned, and interest at the rate of five per cent, amounting to £6 per annum is now paid by the overseers to the churchwardens, by whom it is applied to the repairs of the church. The rent of a small cottage which produces one pound per annum, the origin of which is involved in similar obscurity, is also applied to the same use. Aston, a small township in the parish of Claverley, is pleasantly situated about a mile east from the parish church. At the census in 1841 there were 22 scattered houses and a population of 126 souls. Aston Hall, a good brick house built in 1842, is the residence of John Wilson, Esq. The old hall was formerly a seat of the Brindleys, and their descendants the Skinners, men of high consequence in the city of London. Beobridge, a township in the parish of Claverley, is situated about a mile south from the parish church, and in 1841 had eleven houses and sixty one inhabitants. William Wilson, Esq., and Thomas H. Windle, Esq., are the land owners. The acres and the tithes of the several townships are included in the returns for the parish of Claverley. The directories of the several townships will be found alphabetically arranged after the township of Claverley. Broughton township and small village is situated about a mile and a half south from Claverley, and at the census of 1841 had twelve houses and eighty inhabitants. There was a chapel here prior to the reformation subject to the church of Claverley. Dalicott, a township in the parish of Claverley, delightfully situated in a salubrious district richly beautified with pastoral scenery, is about a mile and a half north-west from the parish church. The land is the property of George M. Kettle, Esq. At the census in 1841 there were three houses and twenty inhabitants. Dalicott House is a pleasantly Farmcott township and small rural village is situated about a mile south from Claverley, and in 1841 had 39 houses and 191 inhabitants. The land is the property of Thomas Wilson, Esq. Gatacre, a pleasantly situated village and township in the parish of Claverley, in 1841 contained 23 houses and 125 inhabitants. The landowners are Edward Lloyd Gatacre, Esq., and Edward Farrer Acton, Esq. Gatacre Hall, a well built and commodious brick mansion delightfully situated, is the residence of Edward Lloyd Gatacre, Esq., whose ancestors were seated here, and in possession of the manor, in the reign of Edward the Confessor. The ancient mansion, which was remarkable for the peculiarity of its construction, has been taken down some time. Camden, in speaking of this house, observes, “It was built of dark grey free stone coated with a green vitrified substance about the thickness of a crown piece. The hall was nearly exactly square, and most remarkably constructed at each corner; in the middle of each side and in the centre were immense oak trees hewn nearly square and without branches, set with their heads on large stones laid about a foot deep in the ground, and with their roots uppermost, which roots with a few rafters formed a complete arched roof. The floor was of oak boards three inches thick, not sawed but plain chipped.” Gatacre Park, a handsome mansion, the seat and property of Edward Farrer Acton, Esq., J.P., and deputy lieutenant of the county of Shropshire, is a brick structure pleasantly situated, beautified with tasteful pleasure grounds, and was erected during the year 1850. It stands on the site of an ancient Elizabethan structure, which was rased to the ground in 1849; it was in this house that the Earl of Derby took shelter immediately after the battle of Worcester, and shortly before he was brought to the scaffold in his way to Newport. Several swords were found on taking down the house, one of which is in a state of good preservation. Heathton, a township and village in the parish of Claverley, is situated about a mile and a half S.E. by E. from the parish church. On the eastern verge of the county is Long Common, which here divides Salop and Staffordshire. Some remains of a military encampment may still be traced upon this common, supposed to have been a Danish fortification; about thirty years ago several skeletons were discovered, and weapons of war have from time to time been found. The township contains 840a. 2r. 32p. of land, and at the census of 1841 had 52 houses and 208 inhabitants. Hopstone, a township and village in the parish of Claverley, is situated about a mile N. from the parish church. At the census in 1841 there were 43 houses and 188 inhabitants. G. M. Kettle, Esq., is the landowner. Hopstone was long the inheritance of the Ridley family. Ludstone, a township in the parish of Claverley, situated about a mile N.E. from the parish church, at the census in 1841 had 13 houses and a population of 95 souls. Ludstone was in early times part of the possessions of the deans of Bridgnorth, but after the reformation was purchased by the Leveson family, and now belongs to Thomas C. Whitmore, Esq., and Mrs. Emma Fox. The manor house, now Ludstone Hall, a curious and interesting structure of the domestic architecture of by-gone days, was built in the early part of the reign of Charles I., by the Whitmore family. It is surrounded by a moat, and partly by a brick wall of about eight feet in height. This was long the seat of a branch of the Whitmore family; it is now occupied as a farm house by Mr. William Stokes. In this township was born Sir Francis Jones, Knight, whose family had an estate here till within the last sixty years. Sir Francis Jones was of the haberdasher’s company, and lord mayor of London in 1620. Ludstone also gave birth to Richard Yate, an ingenious poet, and almost self-taught scholar of great talents, which he very frequently Shipley is a township in the parish of Claverley, two miles and a half N.E. from the parish church, comprising 500a. 1r. 18p. of land, and at the census of 1841 had six houses and forty inhabitants. Thomas Boycott, Esq., is the landowner. This place is pleasantly situated on the Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth turnpike road. Sutton township is situated about half a mile N.E. from Claverley, and at the census of 1841 contained three houses and 17 inhabitants. Woundale, a township and village in Claverley parish, a little more than a mile from the church, at the census in 1841 had 24 houses and 114 inhabitants; the land is the property of Farmer Taylor, Esq., who resides at a pleasantly situated mansion of brick, stuccoed. The acres and rateable value of the several townships in this parish will be found included in the returns of Claverley. Post Office.—At Mr. Thomas H. Perry’s. Letters arrive at 8 A.M., and are despatched at 7.25 P.M. Claverley Directory.Acton Edward Farrer, Esq., Gatacre park Gabert Christopher, Esq., Rose Cottage Gabert Rev. George Hilder Betterton, M.A., vicar, the Vicarage Gatacre Edward Lloyd, Esq., Gatacre hall Haslehust Thomas, Esq., surgeon, Powk hall Kettle George Mackenzie, Esq., Dalicott house Lea Mrs. Wolryche, Ludstone house Stokes Mr. William, Ludstone hall Taylor Farmer, Esq., Chykenell Widdell Thos., Esq., Wood Field Wilson John, Esq., Aston hall Wilson William, Esq., Beobridge cottage Ash Wm., miller and farmer Austin Joseph, carpenter and joiner Bate Daniel, millwright Beasley Charles, schoolmaster (National) Bishton George, shoemaker Brazier Helen, schoolmistress Brown Charles, shoemaker Chapman James, accountant Corns Mrs. Elizabeth Crowder John, butcher and farmer Crowder Joseph, painter, plumber, and glazier Crowder Miss Ann Davenport John, tailor Evans Mr. William, Digbeth cottage Evason Benjamin, tailor, draper, and tea dealer Evers Henry, beerhouse Evers William, shoemaker Halfman Dinah and Mary, dressmakers Halfman George, inland revenue officer Harles Job, vict., the Crown Jackson Richard, shoemaker Page John, miller, Ashford mill Parbut Mary, shopkeeper Perry Helen, schoolmistress Perry James, blacksmith Perry Joseph, farmer and maltster Perry Mrs. Elizabeth Perry John, saddler and harness maker Perry Thos. H., postmaster Pickrill John, shoemaker Preece Francis, shoemaker Pritchard John, beerhouse Rushton Francis, carpenter, joiner, builder, and vict., Glynne Arms Weaver William, registrar of births and deaths, and vict., King’s Arms Weston John, tailor Whythse Elizabeth, grocer Williams Benjamin, butcher Wilson Thomas, saddler and harness maker Aston Directory.Bryan Mr. Joseph Farrington John, farmer Griffiths Thomas, wheelwright Hill Wm. Thomas, farmer Perry John, farmer and timber merchant Wilson John, farmer, maltster, house and estate agent, and appraiser Aston hall
Brinsford Samuel, farmer and corn miller, Lower Beobridge Brown Edward, wheelwright, Lower Beobridge Cox Joseph, farmer, Upper Beobridge Rea Benjamin, blacksmith, Broad Oak Thomas Thomas, farmer, Lower Beobridge Wilson William, Esq., Beobridge cottage Wilson William, farmer, Upper Beobridge Windle Thomas H., Esq., Lower Beobridge Broughton Directory.Edmonds Joseph, farmer, the Bank Harley Edward, beerhouse keeper Webster Thomas, farmer Dalicott Directory.Kettle George Mackenzie, Esq., Dalicott House Malpass Joseph, farm bailiff Farmcott Directory.Darley Richard, farmer, Sytch house Edwards Mr. Vincent Head John, shoemaker Lees William, corn miller, Sytch house mill Preece William, farmer Thomas John, farmer, timber merchant, and wheelwright Wilson Thomas, farmer Gatacre Directory.Acton Edward Farrer, Esq., J.P., and deputy lieutenant for Shropshire Gatacre Edward Lloyd, Esq., Gatacre hall Griffiths William, farmer, Gatacre park Woolrich Henry, farmer, the Valley Heathton Directory.Booth William, tailor Brandford Samuel, painter, plumber and glazier Crowder Martha, asylum keeper Davenport James, tailor Heynes Benjamin, farmer Lloyd Charles, vic., Swan Inn Munday William, shoemaker Plimley John, vict., Old Gate Hopstone Directory.Brazier Richard, Wheelwrigt Broughall George, farmer, corn miller, and maltster Felton William, shoemaker and beerhouse keeper Pound Thomas, blacksmith Ridley Samuel and Edward, corn millers, residence Bridgnorth Ludstone Directory.Lea Mrs. Wolryche, Ludstone House Morris Francis, farmer Smith William, farmer, Upper Ludstone Stokes William, farmer, Ludstone Hall Shipley Directory.Bott Samuel, farmer Farmer Alexander, farmer Francis Robert, farmer Lakin Charles, vict., Talbot Inn Miles Matthew, cattle dealer and shopkeeper Stokes Mary, farmer Whatelan Benjamin, beerhouse keeper Sutton Directory.Jackson Joseph, farmer, Sutton Mill Smith James, farmer Woundale Directory.Davies Edward, farmer Penzer John, boot and shoe maker Preece Thomas, vict., Red Lion Taylor Farmer, Esq., Chykenell is a parish in the Shiffnal division of the Brimstree hundred, comprising 2,655 acres of land, and in 1801 had 289 inhabitants; 1831, 318; 1841, 380, and in 1851 81 houses and 352 inhabitants, of whom 197 were males and 195 females. Rateable value, £3,977. The chief landowners are George Jones, Esq., Francis Yates, Esq., and the Rev. Henry Edward John Howard, D.D., dean of Lichfield. Donington is situated about four and a half miles S.E. from Shiffnal, and has a scattered population; the houses are in general of brick, well built, and commodious, and the cottages have a neat appearance. At the Doomsday survey Earl Roger held Donitone, and there was then a mill that rendered five horse load of corn, a wood a mile and a half long, and half a mile broad, and in the Wyke there were five salinÆ that paid 20s. This Church is a venerable structure, supposed to have been built early in the fourteenth century; it consists of nave and chancel, with a square tower, in which are two bells. Charities.—Sarah Manning charged her real estate in Shakerley with the payment of 10s. annually to the poor of the parish of Donington. From a deed in the possession of the owner of the Shakerley estate, dated 3rd April, 1729, it appears that this annuity was charged on a butt or section of land called Green Furlong, adjoining to the Kilsale Green, and which was by the provisions of that deed to be conveyed by Thomas Jellicorse and Jonathan Ruston, the trustees therein named, after the death of Sarah Manning, to William Bishton. What is the particular piece of land subjected to this payment cannot now be ascertained, but the amount is paid as a charge on the Shakerley estate. The poor have also an annuity of 10s., as a portion of a rent charge of 30s. per annum, given by Mr. Chapman, to be divided between the poor of the parishes of Albrighton, Donington, and Boningale, as stated in the account of the charities of Albrighton. The owner of the Shakerley estate is not aware in what manner the payment of that rent charge was apportioned, so as to subject him to this share of it, but he considers it as a general charge on the Shakerley estate, and pays it accordingly. These two sums are distributed among the most necessitous poor of the parish. Boulton John, farmer, Humphreston Boulton William, farm bailiff, Sidnall Cartwright William, farmer, Wood Farm Dodd Rev. George, curate Duncalfe William, farmer and surveyor, Chapel House Holyoake George, Esq., banker, Nachley Howard Rev. Henry Edward John, D.D., rector and dean of Lichfield, The Rectory Howell Joseph, shopkeeper Jones George, Esq., iron master, Shakerley House Jones John, Esq., ironmaster, White House Lander Richard, jun., farmer Miller William, farmer Moore William, miller, Shakerley Mill Radford Henry, blacksmith, Shakerley Reynolds Richard, shopkeeper & shoemaker, Shakerley Russell John, tailor, Sidnall lane Sherratt John, farmer, Low Wood Farm Ward Matthew, Esq., Blue House Wilkes Samuel, farmer and corn miller, Shakerley KEMBERTON,a parish and small rural village, pleasantly situated two miles and a half S.W. by S. from Shiffnal, at the census in 1801 contained 289 inhabitants; 1831, 318; and in 1841, 79 houses and a population of 380 souls. The parish comprises 1,385a. 2r. 16p. of land, of which twenty-three acres are in woods and plantations. Rateable value, £1,930. The Shiffnal, Madeley, Bridgnorth, and Ironbridge turnpike roads intersect the parish. The principal landowners are Robert Aglionby Slaney, Esq., M.P., Mr. John Bradburne, Lord Sudeley, Mr. Henry Thomason, and Mr. T. L. Beddows; besides whom Mr. Thomas Harper, Mr. Ward, Mr. S. Broughall, Mr. John Cherrington, Mr. William Harper, and others, are also proprietors. The soil is variable; in some parts a light loam prevails, in other parts the soil is strong, and there is a portion of clay. The Church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is a small fabric, with a square tower ornamented with pinnacles. The interior consists of nave and chancel, and is neatly pewed with oak sittings; the tower contains four bells. A neat marble tablet has been erected, at the expense of the parishioners, in memory of the Rev. John Williams. The living is a rectory, with the vicarage of Sutton Maddock annexed; valued in the king’s book at £5. 6s. 5½d., in the patronage of Robert Aglionby Slaney, Esq., M.P.; incumbent, Rev. George Whitmore, M.A. The tithes are commuted for £580. The Rectory is a handsome stuccoed residence adjoining the church-yard, beautified with pleasure grounds, tastefully laid out. There is a Parochial School in the village, which is chiefly supported by the rector. Directory.—George Adlington, wheelwright; Samuel Barker, shoemaker; William Bowdler, farmer; John Cherrington, gentleman; James Clulow, farmer; Wm. Downes, shoemaker; Charles Gough, shopkeeper and wheelwright; Thomas Harper, victualler, Masons’ Arms; Wm. Harper, bricklayer and parish clerk; Benjamin Heyward, gardener; William Richard Jackson, farmer; William Lumley, farmer; John Onions, maltster; Peter Reynolds, farmer; Elizabeth Rogers, school-teacher; Thomas Spenser, gentleman, Langley Cottage; Thomas Stonely, corn-miller; Mrs. Eliza Lloyd Thomas, farmer; Mary Ann Tomkins, shopkeeper; James Vaughan, blacksmith; Rev. George Whitmore, M.A., The Rectory; William Williams, tailor. RYTONis a parish, in the Shiffnal Division of the Brimstree Hundred, which embraces 1,390 acres of fertile land, yielding fine crops of wheat, barley, and turnips. The village is pleasantly situated, three miles S. from Shiffnal, and the same distance W. of Albrighton. The river Worf, which is celebrated for the excellency and abundance of its trout, intersects the parish. At the census in 1801 there were 160 inhabitants; 1831, 154; and in 1841, 41 houses and 195 souls. Rateable value of the parish, £2,507. The principal landowners are William Angeworth, Esq., Charles Head, Esq., Rev. Robert William Eyton, M.A., and R. A. Slaney, Esq.; there are also several smaller proprietors. The Church is a neat structure of free-stone, erected in the year 1710, to which additions have from time to time been made. It consists of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a square tower, in which are three bells and a clock; the interior has a neat and orderly appearance: the pews are of oak, and the east window is beautifully ornamented with stained glass, with figures illustrative of Scripture history. There are some neat tablets and memorials to the Hardings, Heads, Sansoms, and others. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book at £5. 12s. 1d., now returned at £508, in the patronage and incumbency of the Rev. Robert William Eyton, M.A.; curate, Rev. Richard Seddon, B.A. The tithes for Royton parish are commuted for £445. The Rectory is a handsome modern residence, pleasantly situated a little south from the church, and was built on the site of the old rectory. The National School, a neat Elizabethan brick structure, situated a little east from the church, was built in the year 1850. The average attendance of children is about forty. Not far from the National School the stream of the Worf is crossed by a small stone bridge. Directory.—Robert Bradley, farmer; John Candlin, farmer; Edward Corbett, blacksmith; Elizabeth Corbett, schoolmistress; Samuel Dalloe, schoolmaster; Rev. Robert William Eyton, M.A., The Rectory; Charles Head, farmer, Atchley House; Thomas Hodgkiss, shoemaker; William Holloway, shoe and patten maker; John Knight, wheelwright; William Miles, farmer and beerhouse-keeper, Grindle; George Powell, farmer, Grindle; John Roberts, butler; Rev. Richard Seddon, B.A., curate, Ryton Bank; Thomas Wheeler, farmer, Atchley; John Yates, farmer, Grindle.
anciently called Idesall, or Idsal, is a parish and market town the head of a division of the Brimstree hundred, eight miles south from Newport, ten miles north from Bridgnorth, and eighteen miles east by south from Shrewsbury. The town chiefly consists of one street upwards of a mile in length, with several minor streets diverging from it. The houses are irregularly built, and many of the cottage residences have a mean appearance; there are however several good inns and private houses, and a number of respectable shops in most of the branches of the retail trade. Though the situation of the town is low, it is built on a dry sandy soil, and by no means unpleasant. According to tradition Idesall was a place of more considerable note in former times, and the principal portion of the town stood westward of the church; foundations and traces of buildings have frequently been discovered which would seem to confirm this supposition. In the 9th of Edward II. Bartholomew de Badlesmere obtained for him and his heirs a market on Monday and Friday, and two fairs in the year, one on the eve of the day, and the day after the feast of the Holy Trinity, and the other on the eve, the day, and the morrow after Michaelmas, as also the liberty of free warren in his demesnes in Ideshall, Adderley, Sponley, Calverhall, and Shavington. He was one of those mutinous lords who took part in the battle of Boroughbridge, March 16th, 1322, where he was taken prisoner and afterwards executed at Canterbury. The possessions of Bartholomew Badlesmere were granted in the 15th of Edward II. to Edmund Earl of Arundel and the heirs male of his body, but that noble lord was in like manner attainted about four years after, and so we find Giles de Badlesmere, son of the said Bartholomew, restored to the inheritance of his family. In the 11th of Edward IV., John Earl of Shrewsbury had a grant of a market and two fairs at the Ville of Suffenhall. The market is still held on Tuesday, but is not of much consideration; formerly corn was sold to a considerable extent. Fairs are held on the first Monday in April, August 5th, and November 22nd. The great London and Holyhead road passes through the town, upon which there were formerly seventeen coaches passing and repassing daily, which, with other traffic, added much to the commercial importance and advantage of Shiffnal. Although the inhabitants have the facilities of railway communication and a station in a central part of the town, this has rather had a tendency to diminish the importance of Shiffnal, by diverting the attention of parties who formerly frequented the market here to places of more consideration at no great distance. The parish contains 11,433 acres of land, of which 1,090 acres are in woods and plantations, 74a. 3r. 28p. in roads and waste, and there are 60 acres of glebe. Rateable value, £24,561. 16s. Population in 1801, 3,632; 1831, 4,779; 1841, 5,244; 1851, 5,616; of whom 2,820 were males, and 2,796 females; at the latter period there were 1,050 houses. The Marquis of Stafford is lord of the manor and a very considerable landowner. The parish comprises four divisions, viz.: that of Shiffnal, embracing the town and its suburbs; Hatton district, comprising the hamlets of Idsal, Hem, Wyke, Evelith, and Hinnington; Priors Lee, those of Snedshill, Haughton, and Woodhouse; and the division of Woodside, containing the hamlets of Crackley bank, Decker hill, the Lizzard, Aston, Stanton, Upton, and Coppice green. The parish is intersected by the London and Holyhead, Shiffnal and Bridgnorth, and the Albrighton and Newport turnpike roads, and is watered by the small streams of the Sal, Worfe, Cosford, and the Lizzard. The township of Shiffnal contains 188a. 2r. 10p. of land, and in 1841 had 412 houses and 1,872 inhabitants. Rateable value, £4,153. 4s. The principal freeholders are the Marquis of Stafford, W. H. Slaney, Esq., William Cope, Esq., Mr. Edward Cherrington, and Mr. Thomas Eaton Lander, besides whom there are between forty and fifty small freeholders. The tithes were commuted in 1839, when the rectoral tithes were apportioned as follows, viz: £923 to the Rev. John Brooke; £580 to Henry Sidney Herbert, Esq.; £105 to the Duke of Cleveland; and £26 to Messrs. John and George Pritchards. The vicarial tithes are commuted for £307. A considerable extent of land, the property of the Duke of Cleveland, Lord Forester, R. A. Slaney, Esq., Rev. John Brooke, and others, is tithe free, and other portions of the parish pay a small modus. The Baptists have a neat chapel situated on the Salop road, built in 1843, and another chapel in Aston street. The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel is situate in the Back lane. The National Schools are situated in the Innage. Seventy-five boys and about seventy girls attend. It is supported by endowments and annual subscriptions, together producing about £40 per annum. The endowments of the schools will be found noticed with the charities. The Christian Knowledge Society have a branch depository for the circulation and sale of religious books, situated in High street; Mr. Cornelius Bennet is the librarian. The Mechanics’ Institution was established in 1849, and is under the management of a president, vice-president, and committee of proprietary members. The general object of the institution is for the establishment of classes for the study of most of the branches of a liberal education, the formation of a library, and affording the members facilities for hearing lectures on literary and scientific subjects. A Reading-Room has been established, which is furnished with many of the leading newspapers, and some of the most popular periodicals of the day. President: Rev. J. Brooke, Haughton Hall. Vice-President: W. Cope, Esq. Secretary and Librarian: Mr. B. L. Beddow. The Town Hall, situated in High street, was built in the year 1840. The Petty Sessions are held here on the first Friday in each month. The officiating magistrates are Thomas The Savings Bank was established in 1819, and is situated in New-street Terrace. The capital stock of the bank on November, 20th, 1850, amounted to £15,198. 3s. 2d., at which period there were 469 separate accounts; of which nine were charitable societies, and three friendly societies. Of the respective balances, 260 did not exceed £20, 108 were above £20 and not exceeding £50, 46 did not exceed £100, 30 were above £100 and not exceeding £150, and the deposits of 13 were above the latter amount and under £200. The amount received from depositors from November 20th, 1849, to November 20th, 1850, was £2,204. 14s. 8d. The payments during the same period were £2,275. 4s. 7d. Mr. Thomas Eaton Lander, Treasurer; and Mr. Peter Osborne, Secretary. The bank is open every alternate Tuesday from ten till one o’clock. The Shiffnal Union House, a brick structure, situated a short distance from the town, was partly built in 1817, at the expense of the ratepayers. In the year 1840, additional buildings were erected by the guardians of the union, at a cost of about £800, which will accommodate about one hundred and fifty inmates. The interior arrangements are well contrived for the comfort, convenience, and cleanliness of the inmates, the number of whom is usually about sixty. The union comprises an area of sixty-seven square miles, and embraces the parishes of Albrighton, Badger, Beckbury, Boninghall, Donington, Kemberton, Ryton, Shiffnal, Stockton, Sutton Maddock, and Tong, in the county of Salop; and the parishes of Blymhill, Pateshull, Sheriff Hales, and Weston-under-Lizard, in the county of Stafford. There are twenty guardians appointed for the several parishes, who meet at the board-room every alternate Monday. The Rev. John Brooke is the chairman; Mr. Peter Osborne, clerk and superintendent registrar; John Fielding, deputy-registrar; Mr. William Roden, of Haughton, registrar of births and deaths for the Shiffnal district; Mr. John Totty, registrar for the Albrighton district; surgeons, Mr. Thomas Eaton Lander and Messrs. Bennett and Orwin; relieving officer, Mr. Richard Venables; master, Mr. George Bailey; matron, Mrs. Bailey; schoolmistress, Hannah Maria Thomason. The Gas Works, situated in High street, were established by a company of shareholders, with a capital stock of £2,300. The premises are conveniently adapted for the purposes intended, and there is a gasometer for the reception of the luminous vapour, which will hold 10,000 cubic feet. A charge of 7s. 6d. per 1,000 feet is made to the consumer. The Railway Station, situate in the Market place, near the centre of the town, presents a beautiful pile of buildings, in the Italian style, and is approached by a flight of fifty-seven steps. The railway is carried over the town, and crosses the Birmingham, Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, and Newport turnpike roads, at an elevation of sixty feet above the level of the ground. This noble viaduct comprises twenty brick arches, of thirty-seven feet span each; and at the turnpike roads, which are eighty feet wide, are six semi-circular metal arches, resting on brick abutments, with stone capitals. The embankment extends for several miles. The metal viaduct and its battlements were cast at the Horseley Iron Works, Tipton, in the year 1848, and the railway was opened on the 12th of November, 1849. Twelve trains leave the station daily for Shrewsbury and Birmingham. Mr. George Augustus Frederick Hill is station-master and resident manager. Mr. Charles Lloyd, station-clerk. Omnibuses leave the railway station daily for Bridgnorth and Ironbridge. Shiffnal was the birth-place of Dr. Thomas Beddoes, a physician of considerable eminence and a talented author, whose works are characterized by much acuteness of Aston Hall, a handsome mansion, the property of Major Moultrie, is the residence of Uvedale Corbet, Esq., J.P., and Judge of the County Court. The house is delightfully situated about half a mile east from Shiffnal. Crackley Bank is a hamlet, about two miles north from Shiffnal. Here the Wesleyan Methodists have a small chapel. Deckerhill Hall, a spacious stuccoed mansion, delightfully situated, is the residence of Mrs. Botfield. The pleasure grounds and shrubberies are of considerable extent, and laid out with great taste. Coppice Green and Lizard are hamlets north east of Shiffnal. Burlington, three miles north of Shiffnal. Stanton, a hamlet, a mile and a half east from the parish church, is noted as the residence of Mr. Henry Wadlow, a celebrated race-horse trainer. Stanton Farm, the residence of John Eyke, Esq., land-agent to Lord Stafford, comprises upwards of one thousand acres. Mr. Eyke is noted for having extensive flocks of superior bred sheep. Hatton is an extensive district, in the parish of Shiffnal, comprising 3,982a. 0r. 3p. of land, the soil of which in many parts is a strong fertile loam, producing good crops of barley, wheat, and turnips. Rateable value, £5,761. 12s. The township of Hatton, situated two miles and a half south from Shiffnal, at the census of 1841 was returned as containing 108 houses and 542 inhabitants. The principal landowners are Robert Aglionby Slaney, Esq., M.P., Lord Forester, Michael Goodall, Esq., The Duke of Cleveland, Thomas Eaton Lander, Esq., Rev. George Burder, Mrs. Ann Turner, and the Rev. Townshend Brooke; besides whom there are several smaller proprietors. This is a pleasantly situated district, with a fine undulating surface, containing many good family mansions and farm residences; the houses are mostly built of brick, and the farms are of considerable extent. Hutton Grange, a handsome brick mansion, the residence of William Henry Slaney, Esq., barrister-at-law, is delightfully situated in a sequestered part of the country, three miles south-east from Shiffnal. The park grounds are beautifully studded with timber, and the gardens and pleasure grounds are of considerable extent, and laid out with great taste. Evelith Manor, a beautiful modern mansion, situated a mile and a half south from Shiffnal, is the residence of Michael Goodall, Esq. Hem is a hamlet, a mile and a half south-west from Shiffnal. Idsal contains several rural villas, and forms a southern suburb to the town of Shiffnal. Hinnington, a hamlet south of Shiffnal; and Wyke is situated about a mile to the south-west. PRIORS LEEis a chapelry, township, and populous district, situated three miles N.W. from Shiffnal, and four and a half miles N.E. from Wellington, intersected by the Shrewsbury and Birmingham railway, and the Shiffnal and Wellington turnpike road. This is a flourishing district, the inhabitants of which are busily engaged in the coal and iron-stone mines, and the extensive iron works, with which this part of the county abounds. The houses are irregularly built, and chiefly occupied by a labouring population; the cottage property in this township is scattered over an area of 86 acres. At the census of 1801 there were 1,589 inhabitants; 1831, 2,130, and in 1841 there were 480 houses and a population of 2,470 souls. This portion of the parish comprises 3,077 acres of land, the rateable value of which is £9,045. On the eastern side is an extensive farming district, the land of which is broken into bold undulations. The Marquis of Stafford, the Rev. John Brooke, W. H. Slaney, Esq., and others, are landowners. The Lilleshall company are also considerable holders of leasehold property. At Oakengates, adjoining Priors Lee, there is a railway station. The Episcopal Chapel is a brick structure in the decorative style, with a square tower containing one bell. It was rebuilt in 1836, when it was enlarged; the interior consists of nave, chancel, and side aisles, and contains 415 sittings, 210 of which are free and unappropriated, in consequence of a grant from the Incorporated Society for building and enlarging churches. The living is Haughton is a pleasantly situated village in a secluded vale about a mile W. from Shiffnal, watered by the small stream of the Sal, and crossed by the Newport and Priors Lee turnpike road. There are several neat villa residences here, beautified with tasteful gardens. Haughton Hall, a spacious and elegant mansion, is the residence of the Rev. John Brooke. The edifice is of brick, and stuccoed, and being situated on a gentle eminence commands some fine views of the surrounding country. The gardens and pleasure grounds are beautifully laid out, and the park is richly wooded with fine timber. Snedshill is a populous district in the parish of Shiffnal, adjoining Oakengates, noted for the extensive iron works of Messrs. Horton, Simms, and Bull, and the iron works and collieries of the Lilleshall company. Woodhouse is situated three miles N.W. from Shiffnal. Woodside, a township three miles N.E. from Shiffnal, at the census of 1841 had 72 houses and 360 inhabitants. This is an extensive farming district, which comprises 4,086 acres of land, of which 324a. 2r. 26p. are in woods and plantations. Rateable value, £5,592. The Marquis of Stafford, Mrs. Botfield, Major Moultrie, Rev. John Brooke, Rev. Townshend Brooke, and Mr. Thomas Langley, and others, are landowners. Charities.—Shiffnal Free School. The earliest mention that we find of this school is contained in the will of John Aron, dated 5th July, 1595, in which subject to certain contingencies he gives the sum of £20 towards erecting a school house in Shiffnal. From the will of Gordian Strowbridge, dated 22nd November, 1626, it appears that a school house was there “erected and set up” in the town, in which eight poor scholars were instructed to read and write under the auspices of the testator; and for the continuance of which number therein, after his death, he provides by a legacy of £50. But contemplating the possibility of a cessation of the school in the house which had been so erected, he in that event appoints the interest of the legacy to other uses, one moiety to be given to any schoolmaster who should teach a school either in the town or parish. An uncertain or temporary interest in the building which had been there erected would sufficiently explain the grounds of the testator’s apprehension that the school might cease to be kept in it; and we are led to believe that such was the nature of the interest which the charity at that time possessed, from the testimony which we find subsequently recorded on the benefaction table, that “John Careswell, in 1652, gave the sum of £10, with which he purchased the school house for the use of the inhabitants of the town and parish of Shiffnal.” It is probable, therefore, from this recorded purchase, that we are to derive the title to the school house which the town and parish now enjoy; although a later date seems to be assigned to the present building or some part of it, by an inscription in the year 1682, which appears upon one of its walls. Of the legacy given by Gordian Strowbridge we do not find any further mention, but it is supposed to have formed a part of the consolidated charities hereafter mentioned. Sir Humphrey Briggs, Bart., by deed dated 9th November, 1652, granted to certain trustees all the tithes of corn, grain, and hay, coming within the titheable places of the township of Hem, on trust for the security of the payment, among other things, of the sum of £1. 13s. 4d. out of the profit of the premises to the schoolmaster of Shiffnal. Eliazer Careswell, by will, 1675, gave to certain trustees an annuity or rent charge of 48s., to be for ever issuing out of a tenement and lands within the manor of Shiffnal, Consolidated Charities.—Robert Sidney, in 1677, in consideration of the sum of £200, which money had been given by ten several donors for charitable uses, granted a rent charge of £10 per annum, to be issuing out of his manor of Grindle, as to 10s. of it for the payment of the Tenstree rent, the residue thereof to be applied in apprentice fees, and other charitable uses. On the 15th August, 1761, at a general meeting held in the parish church, the vicar, churchwardens, overseers, and others, signed a written declaration in the parish book, testifying that they thereby assigned the annuity so charged for the use of the schoolmaster in consideration of his teaching six additional children to read and write. In consequence of this proceeding the master has since continued to receive this annuity, which, with the respective annuities of £1. 13s. 4d. and £2. 4s., constituted the whole of his income down to the year 1816, in which year it was resolved to adopt the national system of education, and with the interest of a legacy amounting to £4. 10s., and funds raised by subscriptions, the annual income now amounts to about £40. Careswell’s Exhibitions.—The particulars of this endowment will be found noticed with the account of the free grammar school at Bridgnorth, where it will be seen that three scholars of the free school at Shiffnal are eligible to exhibitions at Christ College, Oxford. It does not appear that the free school, properly so called, has ever participated in the benefit of these exhibitions, not having at any time included classical instruction in its course of education. But it seems that the practice has been to elect the exhibitioners from a private classical school kept in the town of Shiffnal—a practice probably grounded upon the provision which extended the benefit of the endowment to scholars not free of the school. We conceive (observe the charity commissioners) that the true meaning of that provision was to include the private scholars of the master of the free school, and not the scholars of any other school, having no connection or communication with the free school. Such, however, as far as we can trace it, appears to have been the character of the classical school to which we have alluded, into which if any scholars were ever admitted from the free school, it was not as free scholars, but on payment of the same price, and subject to the same conditions that were required from the other scholars. It appears indeed that the master of this school received a formal appointment as classical tutor of the free school from the minister, trustees, and principal inhabitants of Shiffnal; but he was at the same time exempted from affording any tuition or discharging any duties towards the free school, other than preparing for Christ Church such exhibitioners as came forward as candidates agreeably to the provisions made for them in Mr. Careswell’s will. The duty, therefore, which he thus engaged to perform, appears to have been simply to receive and instruct such of the free scholars of the free school as should be able to pay that price, and comply with these conditions. We cannot but think that a more important benefit to the free school was contemplated by the founder of these exhibitions, who in extending the benefit to scholars not free of the school, probably intended to provide for a classical master such a source of remuneration from private scholars as should entitle the free scholars gratuitously to participate in the advantages of his instruction. Richard Bennet, in 1794, bequeathed £100 upon trust, and directed the interest or proceeds thereof to be paid to the master of the free school. The interest, £4. 10s., is now paid to the master of the national school. Beatrice Jobber, in 1716, bequeathed £200, and directed the interest to be applied in clothing and instructing six poor children, daughters of widows or other poor persons belonging to the parish of Shiffnal. Sir Humphrey Briggs, in 1652, left a rent charge of 40s. per annum, to be distributed by the churchwardens and overseers among the poor of the parish. Arthur Mainwaring, in 1690, gave four butts of ground lying in Churchfield and Wykefield, within the parish of Shiffnal, to Mary, his wife, and Ann, his daughter, and their heirs for ever, on trust, to pay 20s. yearly on the feast of St. Andrew, to forty poor old people belonging the parish. Vincent Latham gave £20 for the use of the poor. In respect of this gift there is now a rent charge of 20s. per annum, issuing out of a certain tenement in High-street, which is divided among the poor on the feast of St. Andrew. William Smith, in 1713, gave £10 to the poor of Shiffnal, and directed the interest to be distributed among poor widows who do not receive parochial relief. Edward Revell, by deed, 1693, assigned to certain trustees a bond which had been made to him for the payment of £200, with lawful interest, in trust, for the benefit of the poor. The bond which was thus assigned appears to have been discharged in 1698, and £100 of the money, after passing successively through several hands at interest, was in 1847 given to Humphrey Pitt, Esq. John Revell, in 1723, gave £100 for charitable uses; this, it appears, eventually also came into the hands of Mr. Pitt, and at his death in 1769 it was found necessary to institute a suit against his representatives for the recovery of the money due from his estate. An arrangement afterwards took place, by which it was agreed that the sum of £312 should be paid to the trustees, in full of all principal and interest then due, of which £12 was immediately distributed among the poor, and the remaining £300 was placed out at interest. The other £100 left by Edward Revell, above mentioned, after being held by the Phillip’s family, came into the possession of George Appleby, Esq., in whose hands the above £300 was also placed, and who paid interest at the rate of five per cent. for the same till the year 1804, when the principal was transferred to George Brooke, Esq., who gave a promissory note for the security of the same, and pays interest at the rate of five per cent. This money, with other charities previously noticed, produces a yearly income of £25. 3s. 4d., which, with other monies furnished by voluntary contributions, is distributed at Christmas in small sums among the poor. Reginal Piper, in 1659, granted to the churchwardens of Shiffnal a rent charge of 10s. issuing out of his messuage in the Sheep market, and directed the same to be disposed of among twenty poor old people. Henry Green, in 1702, granted to trustees a rent charge of 20s. per annum, to be disposed of on Good Fridays and Christmas-days among poor widows. Frances Moreton, in 1781, devised to her nephew, John Brooke, a piece of land, called Aston Croft, in trust, to permit the vicar of the parish to dispose of the rents and profits among poor housekeepers. By indenture, dated 5th of May, 1788, reciting the abovementioned will, and that the said Frances Moreton had no power to devise the said land, the same descending to Sarah Atkis, as heir-at-law of Robert Moreton, deceased; the said Sarah Atkis conveyed to trustees the plot of land called Aston Croft, to permit the vicar to take the rents thereof, and during the life of Mary Stockwell, to apply a part, and after her decease, the whole of the profits amongst decayed housekeepers. The land, about the year 1806, was exchanged for 3a. 3r. 12p. situate at Aston, in the parish of Shiffnal, which now produces a rent of £12 per annum. The amount is distributed at Christmas eve among poor widows or other indigent persons, in sums varying from 4s. to 10s. each, according to their several necessities. Post Office—At Miss Frances Adams’s, New street. Letters arrive at 5.30 A.M., and are despatched at 7.30 P.M. Adams Miss Frances, New street Allen William, Esq., Bank House Bailey Mr. George, Union House Barnfield Mrs., The Cottage Bennett Cornelius, organist, High street Bennett Mr. Samuel, The Grove Bidlake Roger, gentleman, Old road Bothfield Mrs. Lucy, Decker-hill Hall Bradburn William, Old road Brooke Rev. John, Haughton Hall Brooke Rev. Townshend, Idsal Vicarage Cannon Chas., inland revenue officer, Innage Cherrington Mr. Edward, Church street Cope William, Esq., barrister, Park House Corbet Uvedale, Esq., Aston Hall Cuxson Mrs. Eleanor, New street Evett Mr. James, Horse fair Eyke John, Esq., Stanton House Fletcher Mr. John, Park Villa Gas Company (office) High street Gilbert Mr. Thomas, Old road Glover William Cheshire, Esq., High street Goodall Michael, Esq., Evelith Gray Mrs., New street Hills Mr. George A. F., High street Horton John, Esq., Priors Lee Hall Hudson Mr. Job, Old road Jones Miss Martha, Innage Jones The Misses, Uplands Lander Edward, Market street Lander Mr. Thomas Eaton, Beech House Lander Mr. Thomas Eaton, Innage Leake James, solicitors’ clerk, High street Lello Mrs. Mary, High street Lloyd Charles, railway clerk, High street Masefield Mrs. Alice, Woodhouse Masefield Mrs. Ann, Aston street Masefield Mr. Thomas, Woodhouse Orwin Mr. James, High street Osborne Mr. Peter, New street terrace Perrin Dudley Josiah, New street Phillips Mr. Andrew, Market street Pidgeon Robt., Esq., land agent, Russell place Roden Mrs. Charlotte, Church street Roden William, registrar, Haughton Shirley Mr. William, trainer, Church street Smyth Amelia, Rock terrace Spedding Rev. Francis, M.A., New street Thomas Evan, inland revenue officer, High st Venables Richard, relieving officer, Church st Wadlow Henry, horse trainer, Stanton Academies.Beetlestone John, Old road Beetlestone Mrs., Aston st Gentlemen’s Boarding, High street; Rev. James Thos. Matthews, principal Gilbert Mary, Church street Ladies’ Boarding, Rock terrace; Miss Smyth National (Boys), Innage; David Whittle National (Girls), Innage; Jemima Owen Accountant.Gilbert Thomas, Old road Attorneys.Glover William, Cheshire High street Perrin Dudley Josiah, New street Phillips Andrew, office back of Market place Auctioneers.Houlston John, office Mr. Fraser’s, Market place Weare Wm., office Market pl Bakers and Flour Dealers.Lowe Mary, Horse fair Randle Catherine, Market pl Bankers.Shropshire Banking Company, Horse fair; Wm. Allen, manager Savings Bank, New street; Peter Osborne, secretary Blacksmiths.Clarke Thomas, High street Evans Richard, Church st Ferney John, Aston street Smout John, Aston street Tozer William (and whitesmith), High street Booksellers, Printers, Stationers, & Bookbinders.Beddow Barnabas Leman, New street Edmunds Ann, Market place Boot and Shoemakers.Bullock Thomas, High street Fenn William, High street Harper John, Aston street Jones Joseph, Church street Norton George, High street Owen John, Church street Warrender Jas. (and dealer), High street Westbrooke John, Market place Williams Thos., High street Braziers and Tin-plate Workers.Bullock John, High street Tomlinson Wm., Market pl Bricklayers and Masons.Beetlestone Benjamin, Aston street Beetlestone John, High street Ingram William, Aston street Yates Richard, High street Yates Thomas, High street Butchers.Hall Mary, Market street Hall Robert, High street Hall William, High street Haywood Thomas, Market pl Parkes Francis, High street Poyner William, High street Ward George, Market place Cabinet Makers & Upholsterers.Blud Thomas, Back street King Charles (and dealer in British wines), Back st Linall William, High street Pointon William, High st Cheese, Butter, and Bacon Factors.Dagleish William, High st Pointon Thomas, Market pl Randle Catherine, Market pl Chemists and Druggists.Bate Wm. Stokes, Market pl Langman Frederick, Market place Pace William Cherrington, Back street Coal Agents.Fellows Aaron, Railway statn. Hills and Phillips (and lime and salt), Railway station Coal Merchants.Botfield Beriah, Old Park Colliery Horton & Company, Priors Lee Works Lilleshall Co., Priors Lee Confectioners.Bartley John, Market place Lowe Mary, Marketplace Coopers.Wakelain Joseph (and dealer in turn and bend ware), High street Williams Charles, High st Williams Robert, High street Corn Factor.Fellows Aaron, Aston street Curriers & Leather Cutters.Cherrington Roger, High st Lello George, High street Farmers.Masefield Thos., Woodhouse Norton Alfred, New street Powell John, Church street Roden John, High street Fellmongers.Fenn Samuel, High street Hodgkinson John, High st Fire and Life Office Agents.Accidental Death; Mr. Beddow, New street Birmingham Fire and Life; Charles King, Back street Great Britain Life; Mr. Osborne, New street Salop Fire, Mr. Beddow, New street Shropshire & North Wales; Lander & Sons, Market pl Fishmonger.Harris John, Market street Grocers and Tea Dealers.Bate William Stokes, Market place Bryant John, Market place Bullock John, High street Dagleish William, High st Pace William Cherrington, Back street Hair Dresser.Morris James, Market place Hatters and Dealers.Hardy Charles, High street Higgins William, Church st Reynolds Peter and George, High street Hotels, Inns, and Taverns.Bell Hotel, John Podmore, Church street Crown, Robt. Williams, High street Eight Bells, Richd. Morgan, Market place Jerningham Arms Hotel, Commercial, and Posting House, Miss Anne Masefield, Church street and Horse fair Lion, Donald Fraser, New street Nag’s Head, John Lowe, Market place Plough, Thomas Williams, High street Queen’s Head, Chas. Leake, High street Railway Tavern, Thomas Latham, Aston street Star Hotel, Elizabeth Wild, Market place Talbot, Richard Pointon, High street Union Inn and Coaching House, Edward Nickless, New road Unicorn, James Medlicott, Horse fair Victoria Hotel, Family, Commercial, & Posting House, John Wood, Market pl Wheat Sheaf, Thos. Dunn, High street White Horse, Emma Smallman, Market place Wonder, Thomas Lowe, Horse fair Beerhouses.Evans Thomas, High street Fenn Samuel, High street Ward Sarah, Aston street Yates Richard, High street Yates Thomas, High street Ironfounders.Botfield Beriah, Old Park Works Horton & Simms, Priors Lee Lilleshall Company, Snedshill Iron Works Ironmongers.Bate William Stokes, Market place Bullock John (and nail-manufacturer), High st Joiners and Builders.Cherrington Edward (and timber merchant), Salop road Power Michael, New street Linen and Woollen Drapers and Silk Mercers.Hardy Charles, High street Higgins William, Church st Lander & Sons, Market pl Reynolds Peter and George, High street Livery Stable Keepers.Masefield Anna, Horse fair Roberts John, Horse fair Wild Elizabeth, Market pl Wood John, Market place Maltsters.Fellows Aaron, Aston street Forrest William, High street Lello John, Aston street Masefield Thomas, Aston st Morgan Richard, Market st Podmore John, Church st Roden George, Old street Roden William, High street Thomason Samuel, (and dealer in British wines), High street Wakelam Samuel, High st Milliners and Dressmakers.Biss Eliza, New street Fenn The Misses, Old road Jones Elizabeth, Aston st Nicholas Rebecca, High st Peake Jane (bonnet maker), New street Plumbers, Painters, and Glaziers.Heyward George, High street Lawson William, New street Phillips Samuel, Horse fair Yates James, Horse fair Rope, Oil Cloth, and Tarpauling Makers.Heywood Thomas, High st. Heywood William, High st. Saddlers and Harness Makers.Hitchcock Thomas, High st. Lowe Thomas, Market place Smith Moses, Horse fair Tillage Dealers and Farm Seedsmen.Longman Frederick, Market place Lander & Sons, Back street, Richard Owen, agent Shopkeepers and Dealers in Sundries and Groceries.Cullwick John, High street Evans Thomas, High street Fenn Samuel, High street Mole Allen, High street Morgan William, High street Ralphs Mary, Market place Rudge Joseph, Aston street Yeardley Andrew, High street Smallware Dealer.Morris James, High street Spirit Vaults and Wine and Spirit Merchant.Cherrington Edward, Church street Surgeons.Bennett Samuel, Aston street Evett James, Horse fair Lander Thomas Eaton, Innage Orwin James, High street Tailors.Bennett William, Horse fair Clemson John, Church street Hitchcock Thomas, High st. Pugh Henry, Innage Roberts Thomas, Aston st. Tallow Chandler.Rayworth Wm., High street Veterinary Surgeons.Harris Thomas, Church st. Poole George, cow leech, High street Robinson Sampson, New st. Rexham George, High street Watch and Clock Maker.Davies John, Back street Wheelwrights.Pointon John, Aston street Pointon Richard. Back street Hatton District Directory.Ashdown Wm., Hem farm Badger and Hewitt, Grange farm Barker Thomas, Spring Bower farm Bill John, corn miller, Hinnington Booth Henry, Naird and Shaw farms Bradbury Messrs., bone mills and merchants Burgess George, Evelith corn mills Durant Rev. Francis Osian, Old hall, Evelith Goodall Michael, Esq., Evelith manor Hoole Richard, Common farm Lander Thomas Eaton, surgeon, Innage Lander Thomas Eaton, gent., Beech house Langley Thomas, maltster, Upton farm Lawrence John, gardener, Hatton grange Mellor James, farmer, Wyke Miller Martha, farmer, Wyke Morgan George, the Elms farm Morgan Thos., farmer, Wyke Morris John, Manor farm and miller Pepper Sander, the Hill farm Powell John, farmer, Shaw lane Power Michael, contractor Slaney Miss, the Grange Slaney William Henry, Esq., Hatton grange Smith John, farmer, Wyke Smith the Misses, Rock terrace Smith Robert, Hem farm, and miller Smith William, Homer farm Smith William, butler, Hatton grange Summers Charles, coachman, Hatton grange Swain Thomas, farmer, Hinnington Taylor Robert, farmer, Evelith Wright Herbert Hancox, Grange farm Haughton Directory.Baddeley William, farmer Brooke Rev. John, the Hall Coulston Joseph, farmer Old Park and Stirchley Iron Works, Beriah Botfield, Esq., proprietor; George Bishton, secretary and cashier; William Hudson, accountant; William Summers, bookkeeper; Mark Tipton, manager Phillips David, corn miller Roden William, farmer Sharratt Thomas, road surveyor Ward James, gentleman Priors Lee Directory.Astbury James, parish clerk Booth Edwin, maltster and farmer Booth Thomas, Castle farm Booth William, farmer Bulger Christopher, mine bailiff Colebank Rev. Robert, M.A. Dawes Wm., schoolmaster Franks William Henry, shopkeeper Garbett John, tailor Horton John, Esq., the Hall Horton Samuel, Esq., ironmaster Horton, Simms and Bull, ironmasters and forgers, Snedshill works Hughes John, vict., the Lion, and accountant Hughes Thomas, vict., the Pigeon Box Jones William, Wood green, farm Langley Richard, farmer Langley Samuel, Blythbury farm Latham Roger, Woodhouse, farm Lilleshall Company, ironmasters and coal proprietors Llewyllyn Mary, shopkeeper Masefield Alice, Woodhouse Sargent Elizabeth, schoolteacher Smart Ellen, boarding school proprietor Smart John, farmer Tipton Edward, accountant Tipton Luke, secretary, Lilleshall company Tipton William, bookkeeper Tipton William, mine manager Woodside District Directory.Abercrombie James, farmer and vict., Hare and Hounds, Crackley bank Botfield Mrs., gentlewoman, Decker hill hall Butterton Enoch, farmer, Lizzard Butterton Mary Ann, farmer, Burlington Butterton Miss Hannah, Burlington Corbet Uvedale, Esq., Aston hall Dunn George, farmer Embrey Stephen, butler, Aston hall Eyke John, Esq., land agent to Lord Stafford, Stanton house Hadin Joseph, farmer, Lizzard Inscoe Daniel, farmer, Lizzard Kendrick Mrs. Ann, Burlington Kendrick Thomas and Wm., farmers, Burlington Langley Thomas, gentleman, Coppice green hall Lawrence Charles, farmer, Drayton lodge Norton Alfred, farmer, Aston Pickin Widow, Coppice green farm Revitt John, shoemaker, Crackley bank Revitt Thomas, shoemaker Crackley bank Rudge Henry, coachman, Aston hall Smith John, farmer, Woodside Wadlow Henry, race horse trainer, Stanton Wild Samuel, farmer, Upton Wilkes Samuel, Brewar’s Oak farm STOCKTONis a parish and village on the turnpike road from Bridgnorth to Shiffnal, five miles N.N.E. from the former town and five miles S.E. from the latter. At the census in 1801 there were 409 inhabitants; 1831, 459; 1841, 422, and in 1851 88 houses and 479 inhabitants, of whom 237 were males and 242 females. The parish embraces the hamlets of Apley, Higford, Norton, and part of Cheswardine-lane, and contains 3,162a. 0r. 21p. of land, of which 1,065a. 1r. 37p. are in Apley; the park and pleasure grounds contain 484 acres, and there are 79a. 3r. 19p. in the red deer park. Rateable value, £4,262. 17s. The soil is various, in some parts a light loam upon a red sand prevails, in other parts the soil is strong, and in some places there is a mixture of gravel. The strong soil yields fine crops of barley and wheat, the meadow lands on the banks of the Severn produce a fine herbage, and is highly fertile. Considerable flocks of sheep are kept in this parish. Thomas Charlton Whitmore, Esq., M.P., is lord of the manor, and owner of the whole parish. The vicinity of Stockton is pleasingly diversified with hill and dale, and beautified with romantic scenery; the high grounds command some fine views of the distant country, and the woody scenery in the immediate neighbourhood. Within the last few years several handsome residences have been erected, and some of the older houses have been modernized and beautified. The farms in this parish are of considerable extent, and by a judicious outlay of capital and superior management have been brought to a state of high productiveness. A court leet and court baron is held every five years at the Hundred House Inn, Norton. The Church, dedicated to St. Chad, is a venerable structure of free stone, (some portions of which have been rough cast,) consisting of nave and chancel, with a square tower, in which are five bells and a clock; the ceiling is of panelled oak, with projecting rests, on which are carved figures of the twelve apostles; the ceiling of the chancel is also of beautiful dark oak, and the pulpit and reading desk are elaborately carved. The living is a rectory, with the curacy of Boningale annexed, valued in the king’s book at £13. 11s. 3d., in the patronage of Thomas Charlton Whitmore, Esq., and incumbency of the Rev. Charles Blaney Cavendish Whitmore, M.A.; the Rev. Stutville Isaacson, M.A., is the officiating minister. The tithes are commuted for £635. 15s., and there are 184a. 2r. 26p. of glebe land. The rectory is a commodious brick structure pleasantly situated a short distance from the church. There is a commodious school and residence for the teachers at Norton, which is supported by the munificence of T. C. Whitmore, Esq. At the present time there are about one hundred children instructed in this school. Apley Park is the magnificent seat of Thomas Charlton Whitmore, Esq., M.P. for the borough of Bridgnorth. The mansion is an elegant structure of the Grinshill free stone, in the castellated style of architecture, with polygonal turrets at the angles, and a porch of three arches at the entrance of the eastern front. A lofty square tower ornaments the centre of the southern front, and on the north is a domestic chapel. It stands on a gentle eminence, and exhibits a noble specimen of architectural skill and superb workmanship, and may justly be considered one of the most costly and splendid mansions in the county of Shropshire. The terrace is one of the most extensive and delightful in the kingdom, and commands fine views over a park richly adorned with sylvan beauty and stocked with red deer; the windings of the Severn, whose silvery waters are seen through the rich foliage, forming an interesting object in the views. The The South Lodge at Norton is the residence of William H. Austin, Esq., a neat and pleasantly situated mansion, beautified with tasteful pleasure grounds. Charities.—Mr. Thomas Talbot, in 1678, bequeathed £34 for the use of the poor of the parish of Stockton, the interest to be expended in bread. John Gough gave £30, and directed the yearly produce to be expended in bread, and given among six poor people. This legacy, as well as Talbots, was placed on private security in the hands of Mr. Thomason, who gave his note of hand for the same. Mrs. Eleanor Church, in 1798, gave to the churchwardens of Stockton £20, the interest to be given to the poor of the parish in bread on the first Sunday after the 26th of May. This money was also lent to Mr. Thomason. The interest of these three legacies now forms one fund for the distribution of bread, amounting to £4. 4s. a year. The annual cost of the loaves distributed when the charity commissioners published their report was £3. 9s. 4d. It did not appear why the whole of the interest had not been yearly expended, but the party holding the money agreed to pay up the principal, which it was intended to deposit in the Bridgnorth Savings’ Bank. An omnibus leaves the Hundred House Inn twice a day, for the conveyance of passengers to and from the station at Shiffnal, and to Bridgnorth. Post Office.—Receiving house at Mrs. Margaret Summer’s. Whitmore Thomas Charlton, Esq., M.P., Apley Park Whitmore Rev. Charles Blaney Cavendish, M.A., The Rectory Arkinstall Abraham, blacksmith Austin Wm. Hazledine, Esq., South Lodge Bate John William, Asthall Farm Branson Thomas, Esq., land & estate agent, Echoeshill Brewster Henry, Higford Corn Mills Bridgeman Mrs., Higford House Bridgeman Orlando Jack, Esq., Cotsbrook House Cherrington William, farmer Darby Richard Sorton, Esq., Crowgreaves Edgerley Thomas, carpenter and joiner Edgerley John, butcher Ferguson Alexander, farmer, Higford Fletcher Mary, school teacher Isaacson Rev. Stuteville, M.A., curate Lee John, tailor Medcalf Charles, schoolmaster and organist Nock Mrs. Mary Ann, farmer, Greaves Nock Thomas, farmer, Leavenhall Payne James, butler & farm bailiff, Rectory Pearman Richard, farmer Robinson Walter, shopkeeper Rushton Edward, farmer Summers Margaret, grocer, farmer, & vict., The Hundred House Inn Yates Bartholomew, farmer, Old Park SUTTON MADDOCKparish is situated in the Shiffnal division of the Brimstree hundred, and comprises 3,240 acres of land, the rateable value of which is £4,042. The arable lands are highly fertile, and the grazing lands produce a fine herbage. The village is pleasantly situated on the Bridgnorth and Shiffnal turnpike road, six miles north from the former, and five miles south-west from the latter. At the census in 1801 there were 400 inhabitants; 1831, 384; and in 1841, 79 houses and a population of 352 souls. The principal landowners are Richard Phillips, Esq., Brockton Hall; T. C. Whitmore, Esq.; Richard Phillips, gentleman; Mr. William Wilkinson; Mr. William Braidley; and the Rev. John Brooke; there are also several other smaller proprietors. The Church is a freestone structure, dedicated to St. Mary, and consists of nave and chancel, with a tower, in which are five bells. The tower appears much older than the body of the church, which has in all probability been re-built, but of which we find no historical record. There is a small organ placed upon the gallery. A neat memorial remembers Elizabeth Farmer, of this place, who died on the 16th December, 1827, aged thirty years; there is also a neat tablet in memory of William Jones, late of Harrington, in this parish, who died in 1823, and various others. This church was given to the priory of Wombridge by King Henry II. The living is a discharged vicarage, annexed to the rectory of Kemberton. The Rev. George Whitmore, M.A., is the incumbent. In the 15th of Henry III., Madoc, the son of Griffin, held Sutton by knights’ service. From this person it acquired the name of Sutton Madoc, now corrupted to Sutton Maddock. Brockton is a hamlet in this parish, pleasantly situated on the turnpike road from Shiffnal to Bridgnorth, about a mile north from the parish church. It contains several good family mansions. The noble family of Sutton de Dudley are said to be descended from the Suttons of Sutton Maddock. Directory.—William Braidley, gentleman; John Broughall, farmer, Sutton Hall; Mrs. Mary Broughall, the Villa, Brockton; William H. Davies, farmer, Harrington; William Jones, Esq., Brockton; Thomas Nock, farmer, Sutton farm; Richard Phillips, Esq., Brockton hall; Richard Phillips, Esq., the Grange, Brockton; Francis Ray, parish clerk; Mr. George Roden; William Rose, Esq., porcelain manufacturer, Rock house; Henry Smith, farmer, New house; John C. Titterton, blacksmith; Rev. George Whitmore, M.A., vicar, residence Kemberton; William Wilkinson, maltster and farmer. TONG, OR TONGE,is a parish in the Shiffnal division of the Brimstree hundred, comprising 3,464a. 3r. 37p. of land, mostly a strong loamy soil. The woodlands cover one hundred and twenty acres. At the census in 1801 there were 404 inhabitants; 1831, 510; and in 1841, 115 houses and a population of 566 souls. Rateable value of the parish, £4,505. 1s. The village of Tong is of considerable antiquity, and is delightfully situated in a fertile district richly beautified with picturesque scenery, three and a half miles east by south from Shiffnal, and ten miles south-east from Wolverhampton, George Charles Selwyn Durant, Esq., is the principal landowner and lord of the manor. The Earl of Bradford, Mrs. Celeste Durant, and Mr. Jones, are also proprietors. Tong Castle is stated to have been in ancient times the seat of The Church, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, stands within the fine demesne of Tong Castle, and is a spacious and beautiful structure in the pointed style of the fourteenth century, consisting of nave, side aisles, choir, chancel, and side chapel. From the centre rises a handsome but singular tower. Immediately above the roof it is square; on it rests an octagonal bell-story, which is lengthened in a chastely-executed and lofty spire, about half-way up adorned with pinnacles, springing as it were out of the shaft. The nave is divided from the side aisles by three handsome pointed arches, with clustered pillars on each side. The tower contains a peal of eight musical bells, besides the great bell of Tong, and is ornamented with a clock and sun-dial. It is supported by four lofty pointed arches, rising from clustered pillars enriched with Gothic tracery. The ceiling is of dark oak, and the pews and reading desk are of the same material, the latter exhibiting some fine carving. The rood loft or screen is nearly perfect, and embellished with much carving; the choir is small, and contains eight stalls on each side, of beautiful workmanship. The east window is beautifully foliated, and a portion of it ornamented with stained glass, and underneath is the communion table, which is of alabaster; a remarkable old font exhibits some fine chiselling. Adjoining the south aisle is a beautiful chantry chapel, erected by Sir Henry Vernon, in 1515; the roof is of groined freestone, having a profusion of delicate ribs and centre pendants. The windows are richly adorned with stained glass. The tomb of Sir Henry Vernon, Knight, is in the wall which separates the chapel from the church. It has the figure of a knight and his lady in a recumbent posture. Over this is a fine open screen, rising about ten feet; on the divisions are four rich tabernacles, with the original painting and gilding, but bereaved of their statues. Within the area of the tower are four superb monuments, with recumbent figures on altar tombs, all of alabaster, highly adorned with elaborate workmanship, in memory of the Pembruges and Vernons. It appears the former family possessed the castle and estates of Tong as early as the year 1280. In the south aisle is a magnificent tomb, with the full length figure of a knight and his lady, in memory of the Hon. Thomas Stanley, second son of the Earl of Derby, and Margaret his wife, dated 1576, and has the following inscription:—
In a canopied niche is a carved figure, beautifully executed in basso-relievo, in memory of Mrs. Wylde, one of the co-heiresses of Sir Thomas Harris, Bart., the owner of Tong Castle and domain, which he purchased from the Stanley family about the year 1610. Near to the pulpit is an alabaster tomb, of superb workmanship, with two figures representing a knight and his lady with hands joined in the attitude of prayer, remembering Richard Yernon, of Nether Haddon, and his wife Margaret. The former died in 1557, and the latter in the year 1500. On the opposite side is a large monumental tomb of grey marble, the top of which is inlaid with brass figures, and dated 1460. This also remembers a branch of the Vernon family. A neat tablet of white marble has been erected over the vestry door to the memory of Elizabeth Pierpoint, only daughter of Gervaise Pierpoint, Esq., the grandson of Robert Pierpoint, Earl of Kingston, a gallant soldier who fell a victim to loyalty in defending his prince, King Charles I. He was descended from Robert de Pierpoint, a companion-in-arms of William the Conqueror, whose family is still extant in Normandy. On the north side of the altar is a sumptuous pyramidal monument of white marble on a black ground, in memory of George Durant, Esq., and several other members of that family. A splendid marble monument also remembers George Durant, Esq., who died November 29th, 1844, aged 69 years. On the left of the altar is a grey marble monument to the memory of William Skeffington, Esq., of the White Ladies, who died in 1550. From the crest and armorial bearings, he would appear to have descended from the ancient family of Massarene. Gervaise Lord Pierpoint is interred in a family vault under the communion table. He died May 22nd, 1715, aged 66 years. Thomas Stanley, Esq., and his wife lie in the same vault. There are many other interesting tablets and memorials, which our limits will not allow us to notice. The great bell in this church was given by Sir Henry Vernon, Knt., in 1518. It was broken by the Parliamentary forces in the troublesome times of King Charles I., and recast at the expense of the parish in 1720. The bell remained entire till the first Wednesday in Lent, 1849, when it cracked while tolling for divine service. It is stated that nine persons may comfortably stand under this bell at the same time. King Henry IV., in 1411, in consideration of £40 granted to Isabel, relict of Sir Fulke de Pembrugge, Knt., the liberty of purchasing of the abbot and convent of Shrewsbury, the advowson and patronage of the church of St. Bartholomew, at Tong, then holden of the king in capite, paying an annual pension of 6s. 8d. to the monastery of Salop; and further, that the said church should be erected into a college, consisting of five chaplains, one whereof to be custos or warden of the college. The duty of the warden and fellows was to pray for the souls of the king and of his brother, Thomas de Beaufort, and for the soul of the said Isabel. The endowments, besides the provision for the warden and fellows, were to be applied for the maintenance and support of thirteen decrepid old men. The priory of Lapley, anciently a cell of the convent of Rheimes, seized by King Edward III. as an alien priory, was annexed to this foundation. The statutes and ordinances of the college, confirmed by the Bishop of Coventry, were to this effect:—That none of the fellows should be capable of any other ecclesiastical preferment, except the master; that the master was to have a man and a pair of horses kept at the expense of the college, to travel about the business of the fraternity—but, if occasion required it, he might keep more horses; that the warden was excusable from constant residence, but with the restriction not to be absent more than two months in the year, and if longer his salary was to be applied to the use of the college; that whoever of the fellows were absent from mass should forfeit one penny. Every Sunday the mass of the Charities.—Gervaise Lord Pierpoint, by indenture of the 23rd of October, 1697, granted to trustees all the tithes (except the tithes of corn and grain) yearly growing within the parish of Tong, and also six several annuities or yearly rents of £30, £14, £6, £12, £12, and £10, making together £84 per annum, to be issuing out of the manor of Tong, on trust, as to the said tithes and the several annuities of £30, £14, and £6, to permit the minister or curate to enjoy the same; one of the annuities of £12 to be distributed among the six poor widows in the almshouses; and the other £12 to be expended in purchasing Stafford shalloon, and setting to work the poor people of Tong in manufacturing the same into cloth, part thereof to be made into six gowns for the said poor widows, and the remainder to be applied in clothing the necessitous poor; the residue £10 to be disposed of in buying hemp and flax and setting the poor at work in manufacturing it into cloth, and after selling the same, to apply the proceeds in putting forth poor children apprentices. Lord Pierpoint granted a further annuity of £30, to be also issuing out of the manor of Tong, on trust, to permit the minister to receive and enjoy the same from such time as he could not (without covin or neglect on his part) have and enjoy the said tithes; but the minister was not to enjoy the tithes and last mentioned annuity at the same time. The minister had also the privilege of holding a certain chamber in the castle of Tong, as the same was then furnished with books and presses, together with the free use of the said books; and also stabling for one horse, and the privilege of depasturing it for a certain time in Tong Park. And for the better assuring the performances of the several grants, Lord Pierpoint granted to the trustees three other annuities of £5. 40s., and 40s. to be for ever issuing out of the manor, castle, and premises, and to be respectively forfeited, and to continue payable so long as the minister should not enjoy the said chamber, stabling, and pasture, respectively. By an indenture of the 11th of August, 1725, in which it is recited, that the premises charged had descended to Evelyn Duke of Kingston, upon the death of Lord Pierpoint; and that the Castle of Tong had been a long time uninhabited and Tong Park disparked and inclosed, and that the said duke, at his own charge, built with brick a strong handsome and convenient house in Tong, with a room for a library, and stable and hayloft, and other conveniences, for the habitation of the minister, and had delivered the books to him and his successors; so that the covenants made by Lord Pierpoint in respect of the room and library in Tong Castle, and the stabling and depasturing, were become unnecessary, and the several annuities granted for enforcing the specific performance thereof should therefore be repealed; and that the common fields in Tong having been inclosed and converted into pasture, the revenue of tithes granted to the minister had been reduced to £12 per annum, but that the duke was willing, on condition that the said small tithes should be invested in him and his heirs, to be discharged from the trust; that the said annuity of £30 should be absolutely and indefeasibly settled and assured to the said minister and his successors for ever; which, together with the several annuities of £30, £14, and £6, make £80 per annum. And after reciting that the said duke and the late Lord Pierpoint had for a long time paid £4 a year for maintaining a schoolmaster, It appears that shortly after the late Mr. Durant came into the possession of the estate, the old almshouse and school-house were taken down, and new ones built by that gentleman on other sites. It is stated that the old buildings had become too dilapidated to admit of any effectual repairs, and that Mr. Durant having, under these circumstances, conceived the idea of erecting new buildings, was induced to select new situations as better suited for the purpose; and the charity has derived much advantage from the change. But it is to be observed that no regular transfer of the new premises was ever made to the trustees, an omission it appears desirable to supply. In the year 1802, the almshouse having grown much in need of repair, the sum of £102, from the funds of a charity to be presently adverted to, was applied to that purpose; since which time the repairs have been kept up at the expense of the parish, aided by the voluntary contributions of Mr. Durant. The inmates of the almshouses each receive £3 quarterly, and occasionally other benefactions. The ruins of the old hospital are still to be seen. By an indenture dated 31st May, 1734, it is recited that the sum of £100 was given by the late Lady Harris, for the use of the poor of the parish; the sum of £200 was likewise bequeathed by Lady Pierpoint, and a sum of £100 was given by Lewis Peitier, minister of Tong, and party to the said indenture, making in the whole the sum of £400, which was laid out in the purchase of certain premises in Albrighton, called the New Lands and the Hawklees, containing 30a. 3r. 2p., now producing £45 per annum. In 1781 a sale of timber from this farm produced the sum of £100, which in 1802 was applied to the repairs of the almshouse granted by the Duke of Kingston. In the year 1814 £100 was laid out in the purchase of a cottage and 1a. 3r. 2p. of land in Horsebrook, which is now let for £10 10s. per annum; the rent of the last mentioned premises is apportioned to the schoolmaster, who has also £10 from the farm at Albrighton, and £4 from the manor of Tong, making altogether the sum of £24. 10s., with the additional benefit of a house and garden from the charity of the Duke of Kingston, in consideration of which the children are taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, and they are furnished with the necessary books and clothing from the charity. The master has also £5 per annum for teaching a Sunday school. The portion of income which is allotted for general distribution is laid out in the purchase of warm clothing, which is given to the poor during the winter season. A feast is held at Tong on the Sunday before St. Matthew’s-day. Mr. Durant’s agent at the present time is holder of four of the largest farms in the parish, viz., Tong Park farm, Hubbal farm, Holt farm, and the Mees farm. Andrews George, carpenter Archer Henry, Little White Oak farm Bennion Owen, Tong farm Bennion Owen, The Hill farm Bennion Owen, jun., White Oak farm Boden John, shoemaker and shopkeeper Bucknal Richard, farmer and beerhouse Chipps Mrs. Mary Cherrington William, wheelwright Earp William, Lizard Grange farm Georges The Misses Harding Rev. George Shipton, M.A., The Rectory Hempenstall George, Esq., land steward Higgs William, Offoxey farm Holder Charles, shoemaker Hounsom Abraham, farmer, Norton, and deputy land agent Hufferdine Charles, wheelwright Humpage Samuel, shoemaker Icke Thomas, grazier, Vauxhall Jaundrell John, tailor Langford William, nursery and seedsman Longstaff John, schoolmaster & parish clerk Milner Thomas, maltster Page John, vict. and farmer, The Bell Quantrell Walter, Ruckley Wood Savage Gilbert Cole, The Knowle farm Thornycroft Mrs., Tong Lodge Wilks Samuel, Lizard Grange, corn miller Worrall William, New Buildings farm, and maltster WORFIELDis an extensive parish in a delightful and salubrious part of the county, watered by the meandering stream of the Worf. The land exhibits inequalities of surface, and bold swells, which in some instances rise to a considerable height, from whence most beautiful and varied prospects over a luxuriant country are seen. The soil is variable, the arable lands produce good wheat, turnips, and barley, and the meadows and grazing lands are highly fertile. The farms in most instances are large, and the houses in general are good residences, with conveniently arranged out premises. Several ancient dwellings have been taken down, and handsome villa residences erected in their place. The cottages are for the most part well built, and in most instances have small allotments of garden ground. The parish comprises 10,314 acres of land, and at the census in 1801 had 1,354 inhabitants; 1831, 1,676, and in 1841 there were 357 houses and 1,643 souls. Rateable value, £16,145. 19s. 9d. Thomas Charlton Whitmore, Esq., M.P., of Apley Park, and William S. Davenport, Esq., are the principal landowners; the two former, with Mrs. Bache, are joint lords of the manor. The parish contains the following hamlets or townships for highway purposes, viz., Ackleton, Allscott, Barnsley, Bentley, Bromley, Bradney, Burcote, Chesterton, Cranmere, Catstree, Ewdness, Fenngate, Hilton, Hoccom, Hallon, Hartleberry, Kingslow, Little Gane, Oldington, Newton, Roughton, Ringleford, Rowley, Stanmore, Stableford, Swancote, Worfield, Wheel Green, Winscote, and Wyken, which places are divided into four districts or collections, called north-east quarter, south-east quarter, north-west quarter, and south-west quarter. The small and sequestered village of Worfield is pleasantly situated at the foot of an immense rock of red sand stone, except on the northern verge where the houses stand on the side of a precipitous acclivity, and is three and a half miles N.E. from Bridgnorth, eight miles S. from Shiffnal, and eleven miles S.W. by S. from Wolverhampton. From the summit of the rock, which is crowned with timber, a most delightful panoramic view of the surrounding country is seen, the romantic situation of the village, and the circuitous windings of the Worf adding much to the picturesque beauty of the scenery. The river Worf is noted for its fine trout. The land between this place and Claverley stretching as far as Bridgnorth was the celebrated Morffe Forest, where the inhabitants of Worfield had common pasture; the king, however, appointed stewards and rangers to take care of the woods and deer. In the reign of Henry VIII. the Earl of Shrewsbury was steward or ranger for life with a fee of 4d. per day. The forest has long been enclosed, and is now covered with luxuriance and fertility. On the south east side of the Morffe in early times was an important military station, which may still be traced; the ground is elevated, and the moat still visible, circumscribing a large area. The Church, dedicated to St. Peter, is an ancient structure of red sand stone, which has been enlarged and beautified from time to time. The tower is ornamented with pinnacles, and surmounted with a lofty spire; it is beautified with a clock, and contains a peal of six musical bells. The interior has a chaste and beautiful appearance, the side aisles are separated from the nave by pointed arches rising from octagonal pillars, the pews are of oak, and upon the gallery at the west end is a fine toned organ. The pulpit and reading desk are elaborately carved. Several of the windows are richly adorned with stained glass, and the altar is of dark oak, exquisitely carved. The chancel is spacious, and contains memorials to deceased Charities.—King James I., by his letters patent, dated 1st of May, in the 10th of his reign, in consideration of £5. 4s. paid by Thomas Beech and Thomas Bradburne, granted to William Lloyd and Thomas Parker, and their heirs, certain premises in Worfield, Bridgnorth, and Quatford, in trust, that the yearly proceeds thereof should be employed by the parishioners towards the maintenance of a school for the instruction of youth in reading and writing English, and in the accidence and principles of grammar and the Latin tongue. This is usually called Lloyd and Parker’s charity, after the names of the original grantees of the crown, but they appear to have been in fact only the channel through which these premises were conveyed to the real purchasers, who were Beech and Bradburne. Besides the rent an annual sum of £9 was received from Mr. Smythe when the charity commissioners published their report, as interest at 4½ per cent. on a joint bond from his father and himself for £200, dated December 13th, 1796, being an accumulation of funds which he held in his hands as receiver of the rents of this charity. The total income was £46. 1s., which was applied in a distribution of money to the poor, in the reparation of the trust premises and schoolhouse, and in paying a small salary to a schoolmaster. Thomas Smith left a rent charge of 16s. a year, for the instruction of two poor boys to read English. William Lewis, who died about fifty years ago, left £60, the interest to be applied for educating three boys in Worfield school. Thomas Woolley, in 1609, gave £100 for purchasing lands for the use of the poor of Worfield, which was laid out in lands at Brierley. Other premises in Brierley were afterwards purchased by the parish for the sum of £202. 4s., made up of six different benefactions. Soon after the last purchase, these properties were combined into one estate. The Thomas Beech, in 1645, surrendered to the use of his nephew, William Beech, certain lands in Hilton and Halton, in trust. After the death of Dorothy, wife of the said Thomas Beech, to pay 12s. 4d. at the feast of St. Michael, for engrossing the court rolls, and placing them in the church chest at Worfield; and after the expiration of ninety-nine years, beginning at the death of the said Dorothy, to pay yearly at the feast of the Ascension, to the vicar of Worfield 3s., and to the poor of Worfield 10s. The charity commissioners state the land to be vested in Mr. Smythe and Mr. Hardwick, but there was no evidence to show that these annuities have ever been paid; and it would appear that forty-two years’ arrears were then due to the vicar and the poor, as the payment ought to have commenced in the year 1777. William Perry charged a loft and half yard of land and a cottage in Wykem with the payment of 6s. 8d. yearly, on four specified days, to buy bread for twenty poor people of the parish of Worfield. The premises afterwards became possessed by Thomas Smith and John Bache, the former agreeing to pay 2s. 3d. of the said rent-charge, and the other 4s. 5d. Dr. William Congreve, of Broadney, by his will dated 20th October, 1775, reciting that £10 had been left in his hands by his father and grandfather, the interest to be paid every Good Friday to persons who had lived servants at Bradney, and that Robert Littleford, his late servant, had left in his hands £10, the interest to be given yearly, the Sunday after Midsummer-day, to eight servants who had lived at the least one year at Bradney. Dr. Congreve charged his lands with the payment of 10s. and 8s., as the interest of these two sums, which is distributed according to the donor’s intentions. Robert Crudgington, in 1714, surrendered to the lord of the manor of Worfield half a yard of land and three parts of a nook of land, in Newton, on condition that the persons in possession should pay out of the rents 20s. per annum, to be distributed among poor widows or other necessitous persons inhabiting in the parish of Worfield. Mr. Bache, of Chesterton, left £5, the interest to be paid on New-year’s day to ten poor widows nominated by the heirs of the family. Mr. Thomas Bache gave £10, and directed the interest to be applied in the same manner. The interest of these two sums is now distributed by the representatives of Mr. Bache. There is no document respecting these benefactions, but they are considered as charged generally on the family estate. Thomas Devey, in 1725, surrendered a croft to the use of his heirs, subject to the payment of 10s. yearly, which he directed to be distributed among poor widows of this parish. This seems to be the gift mentioned on the benefaction table, as a legacy of Mrs. Elizabeth Devey. Thomas Smith, in 1726, charged two pieces of land called Uphill and Downhill, and the Fen lands with the payment of 30s. per annum, 16s. thereof to be paid to the schoolmaster of Worfield, and 14s. to be divided among seven poor persons, to be nominated by the possessors of the land. Mrs. Mary Dolman left by will £40, the interest of £20 thereof to be given among the poor of Worfield, and the proceeds from the other £20 to be applied in buying bibles; one of her executors secured the payment of 40s. per annum on his estate at Ackleton. Mrs. Arabella Davenport, in 1763, bequeathed £200 to the vicar and churchwardens, in trust, to be laid out in lands, and the rents to be distributed among poor widows and maidens of this parish. No purchase of lands has been made with this money, but it is Mrs. Sarah Mason, in 1809, gave to the churchwardens of Worfield for the time being, an annuity of £5, to be divided among poor widows residing in this parish. The payment is charged upon the freehold and copyhold estates of the donor, to be paid on the 24th of June and 25th December, by equal portions. It is stated on the table of benefactions that George Bromley, Esq., gave £120 to charitable uses, £30 of which had been laid out in a purchase of land at Brexley, and £90 remained in the hands of the trustees, which was laid out in 1730 in building a workhouse for the use of the parish. The following benefactions appear on the tablet in the church, of which nothing further is now known. £50 given by William Rowley for a distribution of bread, £5, the gift of John Beech, and a legacy of £20 bequeathed by John Bradburne. Ackleton is a small well-built village, and township in the parish of Worfield, two and a quarter miles north-east from the parish church. The acres and population of the several townships in Worfield are included in the general returns of the parish. The principal freeholders are the executors of the late Mr. Eykyn, Mr. Green, Mrs. Clarke, Mrs. Patrick, Mr. Thomas Priest, and Mr. John Richards. Ackleton House is a good residence occupied by Mrs. Eykyn. Allscott is pleasantly situated about a mile and a quarter north-west from Worfield; the land is the property of Thomas Charlton Whitmore, Esq. Barnsley township is situated two miles south-east from Worfield, and the freeholders are Mr. John Hoccom, Mr. William Hoccom, and Miss Hoccom. Bentley lies about two miles to the south-west of Worfield, and is the property of George Pritchard, Esq. Bentley House is a good brick residence beautified with tasteful pleasure grounds, and occupied by Mr. William Sing. The farm premises which are commodious are situate a short distance from the house. Bromley township is chiefly the property of Thomas Charlton Whitmore, Esq.; the village is situated about a mile to the south-west of Worfield. Bradney, or Bradley, a pleasantly situated township, half a mile east from Worfield, is intersected by the Wolverhampton turnpike road. Bradney House, the residence of Captain Brazier, is a beautiful modern erection with pleasure grounds tastefully laid out. Warner House, an ancient residence, is now occupied as a farm dwelling. Capt. James Brazier is the land owner. Burncote, or Burcot, is a small rural village and township situated on a gentle eminence; the principal freeholders are Mr. John Bell Hardwick, Mr. Richard Hardwick, Mr. Parkes, and Mrs. Bache; the township is bounded by the river Worf and the Shiffnal and Wolverhampton turnpike road. In 1809, a large semi-circular cave was discovered at Burcot, in which were found human bones, sculls, and the bones of several animals. The ancient name of Bourncote, which in the Saxon language means the cote or dwelling near to the river, of which this cave is within a few paces serves to show the probability of this having been the cote or dwelling, which may have given rise to the word Burcot, the present name of the township. It is presumed the bones found in this cave may have been those of persons who made this cave the place of their occasional residence, and that it was destroyed by a sudden convulsion of the rock, and downfall of the soil above it. Chesterton village is delightfully situated on a gentle eminence, commanding fine views over a country teeming with luxuriance. The residence of John Bache, Esq., is a handsome mansion, with pleasure grounds most beautifully laid out. The residence of Mrs. Marindin is also spacious and elegant. The landowners are John Bache, Esq., Mrs. Marindin, Mr. Thomas Wilson, and Mr. Samuel Marindin. Near to the village, which is about two miles N.E. from Worfield, are the remains of a Roman encampment, which is said to have covered an area of more than twenty acres. A small structure in this township prior to the reformation was used as a chapel, but since that period has been occupied as an humble dwelling; it was dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Cranmere, or Cranmere Heath, is situated about a mile and a Worfield.Bennett William, shopkeeper Brown John, mill manager Broadbent Rev. Cornelius Francis, M.A., The Rectory Broughall Geo., corn miller Clutton George, butcher Clutton Mary, beer retailer Crookshanks Alex., gardener Crow Emily and Caroline, dressmakers Cunliffe Rev. Henry, M.A., curate Davenport Elizabeth, gentlewoman Davenport Wm. Sharrington, Esq., and county magistrate, Davenport House Hall John, vict., Grey Hound Inn Humphreys Hugh, National School master James Samuel, principal of Endowed Grammar School Mead William, butler Piper Mary, dressmaker Piper Thomas, wheelwright Powell Mr. Edwd., The Low Price Richard, tailor Pritchards Theophilus, game keeper Rogers Thomas, shoemaker, and parish clerk Sherry William, tailor ACKLETON.Eykyn Mrs., The Hall Gibbons James, farmer Holden Francis, blacksmith Painter Thomas, shopkeeper Poole Francis, beer-retailer and farmer Priest Thomas, farmer Richards John, maltster and farmer Richards Sarah, farmer Wilson Richard, maltster and farmer ALLSCOT.Reynolds Wm., shoemaker Wray Richard, farmer BARNSLEY.Haccom Miss, farmer Haccom John, farmer Haccom William, farmer BENTLEY.Sing William, farmer BROMLEY.Iddins Thomas, farmer Jones John, wheelwright Smith Thomas, gentleman Worrall Richard, farmer BRADNEY.Brasier Captain James Gibbons James, farmer BURCOTE.Cartwright John, farmer Hardwicke John Bell, maltster and farmer Hardwicke Richard, farmer and corn miller, The Villa Rowley Richard, machineman (lets) Sharpe Mrs. Turner Thomas, manager, Mill CHESTERTON.Bache John, Esquire Holding Francis, blacksmith Hunt John, farmer & miller Johnson John, farmer Marindin Ellen, gentlewoman Smith Edward, farmer CRANMERE.Braidley Thomas, shoemaker Humphreys John, farmer CATSTREE.Nicholls Sarah, farmer Price John, farmer EWDNESS.Barker Richard M., farmer
Whitehouse Cornelius, farmer HILTON.Darley Thomas, farmer Davies Edward Harrison, builder and maltster Dorset George Smith, Esq., Hilton House Gibbons James, Blue Barn farm Lane James, beer retailer Poole Mr. William Pope William, wheelwright Ridley Samuel, gentleman Roles Benjamin, shopkeeper Tolly John, blacksmith White John, wheelwright and machine maker Wilcox Richard, gentleman HOCCOM.Meredith George, farmer Meredith John, farmer Sing William, farmer HALLON.Barney Theophilus, blacksmith Farmer James, gentleman, Hallon House Tarrant Isaac, builder and joiner Turner John, blacksmith HARTLEBERRY.Dudley Samuel, wheelwright Littleford Thomas, senior, farmer Wood Eleanor, shopkeeper and farmer Wood Thomas, brick & tile maker, and farmer KING SLOW.Farmer John, gentleman, Kingslow farm Wilson Thomas, Esquire, Stanlow LITTLE GANE.Ridley Samuel and Edward, farmers OLDINGTON.Worrall Arthur, farmer Worrall Thomas, farmer NEWTON.Sing William, jun., farmer ROUGHTON.Meredith John, farmer Pratt Edward Richard, farmer, miller, & corn factor, Brook Cottage; Corn Mills at Smestow and Union Steam Mills, Tipton Smith John, gentleman Smith William, gentleman, The Hall Smithyman Mrs Jane Smithyman William, farmer Stokes Martha Corser, gentlewoman RINGLEFORD.Ridley Samuel and Edward, corn factors, millers, maltsters, farmers, seedsmen, and guano and tillage dealers Wellings Benjamin, blacksmith ROWLEY.Johnson Martha, farmer STANMORE.Beeston Richard, farmer, carrier, and van proprietor Pigot Richard, Esq., The Grove Ridley Samuel and Edward, Grove farm Tedstall Thos., beer-retailer Warder James, farmer STABLEFORD.Hill Henry, farmer Humphrey George, wheelwright Jasper John, Esq., The Hall Smith Thomas, farmer SWANCOTE.Sing William, Esq., Swancote House WHEEL GREEN.Hammond Jane, farmer and victualler, The Wheel, and Post Office WINSCOTE.Sing William, jun., farmer WYKEN.Adams Thomas, plumber, glazier, and painter Bache Ann, gentlewoman Lloyd James, shoemaker Lloyd James, blacksmith Mantle John, shopkeeper, market gardener, nurseryman and seedsman Mollineux James, gentleman Mollineux James, butcher and farmer Mollineux Michael, farmer Painter John, blacksmith Parkes Joseph, Esq., The Hall Piper Moses, shopkeeper Powell William, bricklayer |
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