THE NORTH BRADFORD HUNDRED.

The hundred of North Bradford is bounded on the north by Cheshire, on the east by Staffordshire, on the west by the hundred of Pimhill and the Albrighton division, and on the south by the hundred of South Bradford. There is a considerable extent of land in this hundred which is highly fertile, and the cheese, which is extensively made, is said to be quite equal in quality to the celebrated Cheshire cheese in the adjoining county. The soils are various. The meadow lands in general produce a rich herbage, and the arable lands are seen covered with luxuriant crops of grain. The scenery is rich and beautiful, and in some places highly picturesque. The land in most parts is pleasingly diversified with gentle undulations, and in some places there are considerable inequalities of surface and bold swells, interspersed with rising plantations and woody scenery, which add to the beauty of the prospects. In this hundred is found superior clay for making bricks, marl for improving the land, and peat or turf for firing. The hundred is divided into the Drayton Division, Wem Division, and Whitchurch Division, and at the census of 1841 contained 5,428 inhabited houses, 204 uninhabited, and 26 houses building, with a population of 27,971 souls.

The Drayton Division contains the parishes and townships of Adderley, Bearstone, Betton, Betchley, Bolas Little, Cheswardine, Chipnall, Childs Ercall, Drayton Magna, Drayton Parva, Dorrington, Eaton, Goldstone, Gravenhanger, Hinstock, Hodnet (part of), Hawkstone, Hopton, Kenstone, Longslow, Losford, Longford, Marchamley, The Morrey, Moreton Say, Norton-in-Hales, Ollerton, Peplow, Sambrook (part of), Sowdley, Spoonley, Sutton, Styche and Woodlands, Stoke-upon-Tern, Woodseaves, Wollerton, Westanswick, and Woore.

The Wem Division contains the parishes and townships of Acton Reynold, Aston, Besford, Cotton, Edgbolton, Edstaston, Horton, Lacon, Lowe and Ditches, Moreton Corbet, Muckleton, Newtown, Northwood, Preston Brockhurst, Shawbury, Sleap (part of), Soulton, Tilley and Trench, Weston-under-Redcastle, Wem, Wolverley, Wytheford Magna, and Wytheford Parva.

The Whitchurch Division contains Alkington, Ash Magna, Ash Parva, Black Park, Broughall, Booley, Calverhall or Corra, Chinnell, Darliston, Dodington, Edgeley, Fauls, Harcourt, High Hatton, Hinton, Hollyhurst, Ightfield, Lee Brockhurst, Mickley, Millenheath, Moston, Prees, Tilstock, Sandford, Steel, Stanton-upon-Hine-Heath, Whitchurch, Whixall, Willaston, Woodhouses New, and Woodhouses Old.

ADDERLEY

is a parish and small rural village, four miles N.N.W. from Market Drayton, which contains 3,938a. 2r. 38p. of land, and comprehends the townships of Adderley, The Morrey, Spoonley, and part of Shavington. In 1801 there were 365 inhabitants in the parish; in 1831, 468; and in 1841, 64 houses and 404 inhabitants. The township of Adderley, in 1841, contained 48 houses and 297 inhabitants. Rateable value, £3,096. 10s. Though now an inconsiderable village, it was in early times of sufficient importance to become a market town. In the 9th of Edward II., Bartholomew Badlesmere had a charter for keeping a market on a Thursday, at his manor of Adderley, and a fair on the eve, and the day and the morrow after the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, with the privilege of free warren. The manor and estate were afterwards carried in marriage to William Lord Roos, who died in the Holy Land, without issue. Thomas Lord Roos died on his journey thither. John Lord Roos died on his journey to Jerusalem. His son, Thomas Lord Roos, for his fidelity to the Lancasterian interest, was attainted in the parliament 1st of Edward IV., and the manor was seized by the king. Richard Corbet, Esq., and the Earl of Kilmorey are the principal landowners. The Church is a neat structure, dedicated to St. Peter, and consists of nave, chancel, transept, and side chapel. The tower is dated 1732, and the body of the church was rebuilt in 1801. On the north side is the Kilmorey chapel and family vault, the windows of which are ornamented with armorial bearings in stained glass. There are several neat tablets in memory of this family, one of which contains the following inscription:—

Sacred to the memories of Robert Viscount Kilmorey and Frances Viscountess Kilmorey, daughter of Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, Bart., of Combermere Abbey. Their conjugal felicity, during an union of twenty-seven years, knew no interruption, felt no decline. The blow which severed them on earth was mercifully healed by an early reunion in heaven; and their mortal remains were together consigned to the vault beneath, on the 7th day of December, A.D. M,DCCCXVIII.

There is also a brass plate, with representations of one of the Earls of Kilmorey, his lady, and the figures of seven boys and two girls, in fine preservation, dated 1556; near to which is another brass plate, with the mutilated figure of a person in priestly vestments. The church-yard is ornamented with several fine yew trees, and the ancient font has been placed in the church-yard, and converted into a sun dial. The living is a rectory, in the patronage of the Cotton family, and incumbency of the Rev. William Cotton. The Rev. Leonard Slater is the officiating curate, and resides at the Rectory; a good residence, a little north from the church. Adderley Hall, a handsome stuccoed mansion, with centre and wings, is approached by a noble portico, and is the seat and property of Richard Corbet, Esq. It is beautified with pleasure grounds and shrubberies, and stands in a well wooded park, ornamented with a fine sheet of water.

Charities.—The Rev. Robert Adams, in 1719, devised certain lands, in trust, for charitable uses, which then produced a yearly income of £13. 12s. per annum. The donor directed £8 to be paid by the rector, vicar, and churchwardens of Muccleston, Adderley, and Drayton, alternately, on the 25th of March every year, for the setting a poor boy or girl yearly apprentice; the yearly sum of 30s. to be paid for the instruction of children in Adderley; the same sum for the like purpose in Muccleston; and the sum of 52s. to be expended in bread, and distributed to the poor who should attend divine service in the parish of Adderley. The estate now produces a yearly income of £35. 12s.; and the whole of the clear rents, since 1815, have been applied to the charitable uses mentioned in the will. The same person also bequeathed £20, to be placed out at interest, and distributed among the poor of the parish of Adderley. There is no evidence to show how this legacy has been applied.

Thomas Reynolds, in 1725, devised a messuage at Walkerton, near Wybunbury, in Cheshire, to apply one moiety of the rents and profits thereof, for the benefit of the poor of Adderley; and the other moiety among the poor of Dodcot-cum-Wilksley, in the parish of Audlem. The premises at Walkerton were subsequently sold for £1,050; and in 1814 the amount was placed in the hands of Sir Corbet Corbet, on the security of a messuage in Staffordshire-street, Market Drayton, and certain lands situated in Betton-lane, subject to redemption on the payment of £1,050, and lawful interest for the same. The yearly sum of £42 is now received from the trustees, under the will of Sir Corbet Corbet, by the churchwardens of Adderley, and one half is transmitted to the overseers of Dodcott-cum-Wilksley; and the other moiety is distributed among the poor of this parish, in sums varying from 5s. to 10s.

Thomas Viscount Kilmorey, by will, 1766, charged his whole estate with the payment of £1 per month, to be laid out in bread, and distributed among the poor every first Sunday in the month, in the parish church of Adderley.

Thomas Clayton, in 1760, left £100, and directed the interest to be expended in bread for the benefit of the poor. This money was invested in the purchase of £131. 7s. 3d. three per cent. consols, and the dividends, amounting to £3. 18s. 8d., are applied by the churchwardens in the purchase of bread, which is distributed every third Sunday in the month amongst seven poor widows.

Corbet Richard, Esq., Adderley Hall

Burgwin William, gardener, The Hall

Burrows Hester Maria, boarding school

Campell Archibald, farm bailiff, The Hall

Duckers John, farmer, The Lees

Groucott John, farmer

Hudson Thomas Heath, farmer

Kemp John, farmer, Pool farm

Lee Robert, shoemaker and parish clerk

Lowe John, shoemaker

Malem Thomas, farmer

Massey William, victualler, The Raven Inn

Moore George, shopkeeper and blacksmith

Moore John, farmer, Adderley Lodge

Moore Thomas, farmer

Pearce Richard, farmer

Roberts John, lime burner; Ellis Wynne, agent

Simons John, blacksmith

Slater Rev. Leonard, B.A., The Rectory

SPOONLEY,

a small township two miles N. from Market Drayton, at the census of 1841 contained 12 houses and 82 inhabitants, the acres of which are included in the return of Adderley. Rateable value, £1,421. 1s. Richard Corbet, Esq., is owner of the whole township, and lord of the manor. The poor of this township participate in the benefit of the charities noticed with Adderley. The principal residents are John Hudson, farmer, Castle Hill; William Lewis, farmer; Thomas Mulliner, farmer; and Richard Swan, farmer.

SHAVINGTON, OR THE MORREY,

is a township four miles N.W. from Market Drayton, partly in this county and partly in that of Cheshire, situated on the northern verge of Shropshire. In 1841 there were three houses and 25 inhabitants returned as within the bounds of this county, and in the parish of Adderley. Rateable value £1,541. 9s.; the acres are given with the parish. The Earl of Kilmorey is owner of the land, and lord of the manor, and occasionally resides at Shavington Hall—a spacious and elegant mansion of brick, surrounded with a park richly wooded, and beautifully adorned with sylvan beauty, comprising upwards of fifteen hundred acres. The noble owner enlarged the park, and began to enclose the whole with a brick wall several years ago—upwards of five miles of the wall has already been built; the park is about seven miles in circumference.

Directory.—The Earl of Kilmorey, Shavington Hall; John Gregory, Esq., steward, Shavington Hall; James Lunt, farmer, The Morrey; and Richard Vernon, farmer, The Morrey.

CHESWARDINE

is a parish and village delightfully situated near the N.E. verge of the county, four miles S.S.E. from Market Drayton. The parish comprehends the townships of Cheswardine, Chipnall, Goldstone, Sambrook, and Sowdley, and contains 5,723a. 3r. 4p. of land. In 1801 there was a population of 628 souls; 1830, 1051, and in 1841, 1015. The township of Cheswardine contains 1,715a. 3r. 10p. of land, and in 1841 had 71 houses and 367 inhabitants. Rateable value, £2,989. 10s. 9d. In the time of King Henry II. Cheswardine was held by John L’Estrange by knight’s service, and in the 32nd of Edward I. Roger L’Estrange had the grant of a market to be held on a Monday, and a fair on the eve, the day, and the day after the translation of St. Swithin. Sir John Mainwaring, knight, was keeper of the park of Cheswarthyn in the 13th of Edward IV. The church is an ancient structure, dedicated to St. Swithin, and consists of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a tower, in which are six musical bells, which were put up, and also a new clock, about two years ago; from the summit of the tower a most extensive and beautiful prospect of the country is seen. The clock and the bells were purchased with money raised by voluntary subscriptions, and the gallery on the west side of the church was erected at the joint expense of John Butter, of Sowdley Park; William Butter, of Chipnall, and Richard Meeson, of Little Sowdley. There is a mural tablet in memory of the Rev. Samuel Orpe, who was vicar of this parish for 56 years; he died in 1724, aged 86 years. A small memorial of brass remembers Gabriel Lloyd, who died in the year 1623, and another brass plate states that Richard Jervis died in the year 1688. The living is a vicarage valued in the king’s book at £5. 6s. 8d., now returned at £260, in the patronage of T. Smallwood, Esq.; the Rev. Charles Miller is the officiating curate. This church was anciently held by the abbot of Haughmond, having been given to the Abbey by John L’Estrange in the time of Henry II. He also gave to the abbey the mill at Cheswarthyn, with the appurtenances. Queen Elizabeth, in the 26th of her reign, devised the tithes of the parish to Richard Corbet, Esq. On the western verge of the parish there is an open common, covering an area of about 100 acres. The Shropshire Union Canal intersects the parish, taking its course through some deep cuttings about a mile west from the church; on the banks of the canal there is a wharf called the Goldstone Wharf. The National School for boys was built in 1838; there is also a girl’s school, which was erected in 1738.

Charities.—The girls’ school was originally built by Richard Smithiman, and in 1738 it was rebuilt by the parishioners.

Richard Meeson, in 1712, left the yearly sum of £4, to be applied by the ministers and churchwardens of the parish, as an additional salary to the schoolmaster there, for instructing four poor boys in the English tongue, for so many years as the minister and churchwardens should think fit.

John Sawdley left to the poor of this parish £100. The churchwardens have been in possession of several closes at Foxbrook, in the parish of Dilhorne, in Staffordshire, from the year 1721. Altogether there are about ten acres, and it would appear from entries in the churchwarden’s book, that this property was purchased with the legacy above mentioned, but the purchase deeds are not now in the possession of the parishioners. The land is let at a yearly rent of £12.

Several sums of money, amounting in the whole to £172, left at different periods, and by various donors, were held by the churchwardens in trust for the poor of the parish, previous to 1754; in that year the sum of £155 was laid out in the purchase of an estate in the parish of Hinstock, comprising between eight and nine acres, which now produces a yearly income of £20. The rents of the above two charities are received by the churchwardens, and the amount, with the produce of other charities, is given away on the Friday before the first of July, and on St. Thomas’s day, in wheat to the poor parishioners in quantities varying from two gallons to a bushel.

Richard Jervis, by will, 24th July, 1688, gave to the poor of Cheswardine parish £10, to be disposed of at the discretion of his executors. The yearly sum of 10s. has been paid in respect of this legacy. The last payment was made by Cresswell Pigott, Esq., as executor of Henry Z. Jervis, who was the personal representative of the donor. For two years previous to the Charity Commissioners publishing their report nothing had been received, in consequence of a suit in the Court of Chancery having been instituted respecting the estate of Mr. Jervis. An affidavit was sworn by one of the churchwardens in support of a claim to this legacy.

Francis Butler, by will, 1694, gave a rent charge of £2 10s. per annum for the benefit of the poor of Cheswardine parish. The property from which this gift is payable is situate in the township of Chipnall, and was part of the estate of the late Henry Zachariah Jervis, whose property became the subject of a suit in the Court of Chancery, as already mentioned.

In the parliamentary returns of 1786 it is stated that Sarah Sambrook left 2s. 2d. per month, to be given to the poor in bread. A distribution of bread takes place on the first Sunday in every month, in respect of this charity, and the amount, £1. 6s. per annum, is paid by the owner of Sowdley Park farm, upon which the payment appears to be charged.

In the parish books in which the distribution of charities is entered from 1721 to 1767, there is a memorandum stating that John Butter gave to the poor of this parish three dozen of bread on Good Friday, in respect of the legacy left by John Bold, of Great Sawdley. The last entry to this effect is in 1760, and we have not met with any proof of bread having been distributed on Good Friday since that time.

William Goodall, who died in 1808, left £10 to the poor of the parish, and John Goodall, who died in 1826, left the like sum for the same purpose; 20s., the interest of these legacies, are expended in bread and given amongst the most deserving poor.

There is an estate in Sowdley, the rents of which have been applied from time immemorial in aid of the church rate. The estate consists of two closes called Denway Croft and Ames Field, and two other closes containing altogether about eight acres and a half, which is let at a yearly rental of £14. 14s. There are also two cottages, with gardens, let by the overseers for the use of poor persons, at the yearly rental of £3. The rents are applied in aid of the church rates, and in paying the interest of £150 borrowed towards the erection of the new church.

Post Office.—At Mr. Henry Bates.

Arkinstall William, tailor

Bate Edwin, butcher

Bate Henry, parish clerk and schoolmaster

Bayley Mr. Edward, surgeon, &c.

Beeston James, grocer and druggist

Beeston William, maltster & beerhouse keepr

Boffey Samuel, tailor

Challenor John, corn miller

Cooper George, shoemaker

Edge Samuel, beerhouse keeper & maltster

Goodall John, farmer

Green Samuel, draper and tea dealer

Hoole John, farmer

Hudson Thomas, Esq., Cheswardine Hill Hall

Hughes Theodore Alfred, plumber & glazier

Hurst Mr. John

James George, wheelwright

Lamford James, shoemaker

Lea James, shopkeeper

Marsh George, farmer

Miller Rev. Charles, curate, The Vicarage

Nagginton James, farmer

Nicholas Abraham Barlow, shopkeeper

Pearce James, shoemaker

Pointer Edward, farmer

Ratcliffe Mr., farmer

Spender William, farmer, Haywood

Shropshire John, farmer and butcher

Shropshire William, tailor

Turnbull Mr. John, builder and victualler, Fox and Hounds

Wakefield Thomas, farmer

Walker Mr. John

Whilton Matthew, farmer, Haywood

Whittaker Henry, saddler

Wild John, farmer

Williams William, blacksmith

CHIPNALL, OR CHIPPENHALL,

is a township and village in the parish of Cheswardine, four miles N.E. from Market Drayton. At the census of 1841 there were 30 houses and 70 inhabitants. The township contains 1,309a. 0r. 10p. of land, which is the property of Thomas Hudson, Esq. Rateable value, £1,615. 15s. 11d.

The principal residents in Chipnall township are William Adams, farmer, Lipley; Joseph Duckers, farmer, Chipnall Hall; James Goodall, farmer and beerhouse keeper; John Moreton, farmer, Lipley; Matthew Plant, farmer and corn miller; John Taylor, blacksmith; Thomas Birbeck Wakefield, farmer, Lipley; Henry Yates, farmer.

ELLERTON

township is situated three miles from Cheswardine church, and contains 448a. 2r. 0p. of land, the whole of which is the property of Robert Masefield, Esq. At the census in 1841 there was no separate return for Ellerton as a distinct township, but the inhabitants were included in the returns for Cheswardine. Ellerton Hall, a handsome modern mansion, the residence of Robert Masefield, Esq., was built in 1836, on the site of an ancient house composed of timber and plaster. The hall is delightfully situated on an acclivity near the verge of the county, and commands a beautiful prospect of great extent over the counties of Salop and Stafford. The county is here separated from Staffordshire by a small stream, which meanders in the front of the hall. Not far from the hall is a fine sheet of water, which covers upwards of six acres, near to which is a corn mill. Rateable value of the township, £732. 4s. 1d.

The residents are Robert Masefield, Esq., Ellerton Hall, John Challenor, farmer and corn miller; and William Challenor, farmer.

GOLDSTON

is a township and small village pleasantly situated on the declivity of a hill about a mile and a half west by south from Cheswardine church. The township contains 452a. 1r. 16p. of land, and at the census of 1841 there were 14 houses and 75 inhabitants. Rateable value, £598. 1s. 6d. There are only three farms in this township, two of which are the property of William Vardon, Esq., and the other is possessed by Mrs. Charlotte Masefield. Goldston Hall is a neat brick house, the occasional residence of William Vardon, Esq. Near to the hall is an antique house, chiefly composed of timber and plaster, which was most probably erected about the middle of the fifteenth century; it is now the residence of Mr. Alfred Holden, farmer. On the banks of the Shropshire union canal, which passes about half a mile from the village, there is a wharf where coal is sold, called the Goldston wharf.

The resident farmers in this township are Thomas Beeston, Alfred Holden, and Ann Lea; William Vardon, Esq., The Hall; Thomas Finn, gardener to W. Vardon, Esq.

SAMBROOK

is a small rural village, partly in the parish of Cheswardine, and partly in that of Chetwynd, three and a half miles south from Cheswardine, and three miles north from Chetwynd church. At the census of 1841 there were 22 houses and 96 inhabitants in the former parish, and 15 houses and 80 inhabitants in the latter. John Charles Burton Boroughs, Esq., is the principal landowner; Dr. Swanwick is also a proprietor. A small chapel of ease was erected here in the year 1839. The turnpike road from Newport to Market Drayton intersects the township; and at Stamford Bridge there is a respectable inn, kept by Mr. Cordwell.

Directory.—Thomas Beddall, mason; John Cordwell, timber merchant, Oak Cottage; Thomas Cordwell, timber merchant and vict., Talbot Inn, Stamford Bridge; Thomas Dix, blacksmith; Joseph Goodwin, blacksmith and beerhouse keeper; William Jones, farmer; Joseph Lockley, wheelwright; Miss Stanley, The Cottage; George Stokes, farmer; Joseph Wainwright, farmer.

SOWDLEY GREAT

is a township and scattered village in the parish of Cheswardine, situated about three quarters of a mile south-east from the church. The township contains 1,497a. 3r. 22p. of land, and in 1841 there were 75 houses and 333 inhabitants. Rateable value, £2,280. 3s. 8d. The principal landowners are Robert Masefield, Esq.; Thomas Addison, Esq.; George Addison, Esq.; Mr. Thomas Buckley; Mr. William Buckley; Mr. William Manley; Mr. Stanley; and Mr. William Brian. The Wesleyan Methodists have a small chapel in Great Sowdley, built in the year 1837, on land given by Mr. John Butterton. The poor of the several townships in this parish participate in the general charities noticed with the township of Cheswardine.

Allen Sarah, farmer

Arkinstall Henry, farmer

Ashley John, farmer, Little Sowdley

Beeston Joseph, tailor

Benbow James, farmer, Sowdley park

Brian William, farmer

Buckley Thomas, shopkeeper

Hamner George, farmer

Hayward John, carpenter, wheelwright, and beerhouse keeper, Hopshort

Hazledine Thomas, farmer, Sowdley park

Hughes James, shoemaker, Hopshort

Jackson Thomas, farmer

Lea John, farmer

Lee Philip, farmer, Little Sowdley

Pointon George, farmer

Robinson William, beerhouse

Simkin Thomas, farmer, Little Sowdley

Stanley Henry, farmer, Hanwood House

Swinnerton William, blacksmith and farmer

Walton John, farmer

Whittall John, schoolmaster

Worrall John, farmer

Worrall William, brickmaker

DRAYTON-IN-HALES, OR MARKET DRAYTON,

is a parish and considerable market town, in the Drayton division of the North Bradford Hundred, 153 miles N.W. by N. from London, 19 miles N.E. by N. from Shrewsbury, 11 miles N. from Newport, and 12 miles S.E. from Whitchurch. The town is pleasantly situated on the north-east extremity of the county, and is watered by the river Tern. It is a place of great antiquity; and, according to Nennius, was one of the principal cities of the ancient Britons. From the discovery of foundations, and other traces of buildings in the fields adjoining the town, it is probable that its extent was once more considerable than at present; and though no coins, pavements, or other monuments of antiquity have been discovered here, it is nevertheless strongly conjectured that this town was the Roman Station, Mediolanum. It is still a place of importance, and the head of a division of the county, in which the petty sessions are held. It contains several good inns, and many respectable shops in all the different branches of the retail trade. There are three firms engaged in the manufacture of hair seating, which together employ about two hundred operatives. The manufacture of paper was formerly carried on to some extent, but was discontinued about five years ago. Here is a tannery, ironfoundery, and agricultural implements are extensively made. The various handicraft trades, in which a considerable number of the population are employed, will be seen on reference to the directory. The general traffic of this locality is facilitated by the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, which passes on the eastern side of the town. Drayton is twice mentioned in the Domesday survey, and it was then held by knights’ service under Earl Roger. In the 30th of Henry III. the Abbot of Combermere had a grant of a market here on a Wednesday, and a fair on the eve, the day, and the day after the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The market is still held on Wednesdays, and numerously attended by the farmers who reside in the surrounding district, when considerable quantities of grain are sold. Fairs are held on the first Wednesday in February, Wednesday before Palm Sunday, first Wednesday in May, Wednesday before June 22nd, first Wednesday in August, September 19th, October 24th, and the last Wednesday in November. The parish comprehends the townships of Betton, Drayton Magna, Drayton Parva, Longslow, Sutton and Woodseaves, in this county; it also extends into the Pirehill hundred, in the county of Stafford, and is divided into four quarters for parochial purposes, viz.:—Church quarter, containing Drayton Magna and Drayton Parva; the north quarter, containing Betton, Ridgewardine, and Tunstall; south quarter, Longslow, Sutton, and Woodseaves; and Tirley quarter, containing Almington, Blore, Hales, and Tirley. The entire parish, in 1801, contained a population of 3,162 souls; 1831, 3,882; and in 1841, 4,680 souls. It embraces 7,726a. 3r. 11p. of land. The township of Drayton Magna contains 678a. 2r. 35p. of land, and at the census of 1841 had 361 houses and 1,699 inhabitants. The principal landowners are Richard Corbet, Esq., P. Sillitoe, Esq., the Earl of Powis, William Church Norcop, Esq., Thomas Whitfield, Esq., and John E. Wilson, Esq. The former is lord of the manor, and impropriator of the rectoral tithes, which are commuted for £51. 5s. 9d. The vicarial tithes are commuted for £40. 19s. 9d. Drayton Parva is a populous district, forming a western suburb to the town, chiefly consisting of cottage residences, many of which are small, ill-ventilated, and have a miserable appearance. At the census of 1841 there were 352 houses and 1,462 inhabitants. The township contains 520a. 2r. 32p. of land. Among the principal landowners are Thomas Whitfield, Esq., and Mr. Brocklehurst. Richard Corbet, Esq., and Peter Broughton, Esq., are joint lords of the manor. Mr. Benjamin Beeston, Mr. William Godwin, and Mr. Samuel Swinnerton, are also landowners; besides whom there are upwards of one hundred and fifty small freeholders. Little Drayton Common, containing 97a. 0r. 36p., was enclosed in 1850, when five acres were allotted for the site of the new church, the parsonage, and the burial ground. The rectoral tithes have been commuted for £54. 19s. 7d., and the vicarial for £21. 13s. 1d.

The Church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a massive structure, void of architectural beauty, consisting of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a castellated tower, supported by butresses. It was built in the reign of King Stephen, and underwent a complete reparation in 1786, when it was stripped of its gothic honours. But little of the original structure remains; the pillars and arches which separate the nave from the side aisles are undoubtedly the most ancient part of the building. The approach is at the west end, under a tower, by a Norman doorway, ornamented in the zig-zag style; the ornaments and clustered pillars are, however, much corroded by time. The tower, with the exception of a small portion at the bottom, appears to have been wholly rebuilt. On a beam in the belfry there is the date 1590, but there is no historical record to show that the tower was rebuilt in that year. There are six musical bells; the tenor bell, weighing 17½ cwt., was added about five years ago. The interior is spacious and lofty, and provided with commodious galleries. Upon the gallery at the west end is a small organ. Each side aisle is divided from the nave by five pointed arches rising from octagonal pillars, the ornamental portions of which have been defaced. In the centre aisle is a capacious font, of an octagonal form. The east window is richly beautified with stained glass, which was added about twenty-five years ago, at the expense of Sir Andrew Corbet. An antique tablet remembers Dame Anne Corbet, who died in 1682, aged 80 years. “She was the mother of ten sons and ten daughters, whereof seventeen lived to be men and women.” The walls of the chancel and side aisles are ornamented with numerous other tablets in memory of members of some of the principal families resident in this neighbourhood, but which our limits will not allow us to notice; several of modern erection are very beautifully designed. There was a chantery in this church, founded by Ralph de Basset in the 14th of Edward I., for three chaplains, who had three acres of land here. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £12. 10s. 7½d., now returned at £173, in the patronage of Richard Corbet, Esq., and incumbency of the Rev. James Lee, M.A. The Vicarage, a neat residence a little west from the church, was erected in 1837, at a cost of £1,000, by the present incumbent. The old vicarage stood near the west end of the church, and was taken down when the present edifice was built. The site and the garden, measuring about half an acre, were sold by the vicar to the parishioners for the sum of £400, and were added to the church-yard. The church stands considerably elevated, and is a conspicuous and imposing object when seen from the Newport road, the southern approach to the town. The church-yard commands a fine prospect towards the south. Immediately before you is an abrupt declevity, with cottages nestling under the cliff; the meanderings of the Tern water the fertile meadows beneath; and on the opposite acclivity is seen the beautiful seat of Purney Sillitoe, Esq., embosomed in thriving plantations with a fine extent of richly-wooded country extending into Staffordshire.

The New Church, situated on Little Drayton Common, is dedicated to our Saviour, and was built in 1846. It is a neat structure, in the early English style of architecture, with nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a tower at the north-west corner. The interior has a chaste and pleasing appearance, and will accommodate about six hundred worshippers. The sittings are uniform in character, and are all free, with the exception of forty. The total cost of the structure was £2,600, of which Mrs. Nonelly gave the munificent sum of £500, and a like sum towards the erection of a residence for the minister. The parsonage stands a little south from the church, and was built in 1847, on the five acres of land given for the site of the church and parsonage. About an acre and a half has been enclosed for a burial ground, and the rest is appropriated as gardens and pleasure grounds to the parsonage. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Drayton; incumbent, Rev. Edward Cheere, M.A. The district of this church comprises Little Drayton, the township of Sutton, and part of Woodseaves.

The Independent Chapel, a plain brick structure, situated in Back-lane, was built in the year 1778. It is neatly fitted up and provided with galleries. The congregation had no settled pastor when our agent visited Drayton.

The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, situated in Shropshire-street, within the bounds of the township of Little Drayton, was built in the year 1808. The structure is plain, is provided with a gallery, and will accommodate between four and five hundred people.

The Baptist Chapel, a small structure, situate at Little Drayton, has a residence attached. There is no baptist minister residing here, but members of this persuasion meet for worship every alternate Sunday.

The Primitive Methodists have a small chapel, situated a little back from Cheshire-street. This is the only place of worship in the town,—too small for the number of hearers who attend religious service. It is expected a new chapel will shortly be built.

The Free Grammar School, situated on the south-east side of the church yard, was founded by Sir Rowland Hill, in 1554, who charged the manor at Wellington Hey, with the lands thereto belonging, with the payment of £22 per annum, for the support of the said school. The churchwardens of the parish were incorporated governors of the school, and were directed to pay twenty marks yearly out of the above sum to the master, to the usher £6. 13s. 4d., and the yearly sum of 40s. residue thereof should be kept as a fund for the reparations of the school. The governors covenanted for themselves and their successors that the hall or tenement on the south side of the church yard at Drayton, commonly called St. Mary’s Hall, wherein a grammar school was then kept, or such other house as should be thereafter erected on the site, should be for ever used for the said grammar school. The school was to be free for all children whose parents should place them there for learning to read English, the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, and that neither the master nor the usher should agree for any recompense for such instruction. Sir Thomas Lake, in 1662, gave a rent charge issuing out of certain lands in the parish of Baschurch, amounting to £9. 19s. per annum, £6. 12s. 8d. thereof to the schoolmaster, and £3. 6s. 4d. to the usher. By an order in the Court of Chancery made 22nd January, 1816, on a petition presented by the governors it was ordered that the offices of master and usher should be consolidated, and that the office of usher should be abolished. That the governors should be at liberty to expend a sum not exceeding £191 in repairing the school house and other buildings belonging to the school; and that such sum should be raised by a mortgage of the said premises. That the governors should let the house then occupied by the usher. That a salary of £25 should be paid to the master, and that the residue of the annual revenues of the school should be applied in discharge of the principal money to be borrowed for the said repairs, and of the necessary repairs that might from time to time be wanted. The income of the school consists of the two rent charges above mentioned, and £7 per annum arising from the rent of the house formerly occupied by the usher. Out of the income amounting to £38 19s. there is paid a salary of £25 to the master, £9. 2s. as interest on the £182 laid out in the repairs of the school premises, and some small sums annually for repairs and incidental expenses. The Rev. Charles Cooke, M.A., is the master.

The Parochial and National School is a neat brick structure in the Elizabethan style of architecture, situated on a bold eminence a short distance west from the church. It was built in the year 1835, and is supported by annual subscriptions, and small weekly payments received from the children. There are one hundred and sixty boys and one hundred and thirty girls now educated in the school. William Scott is the teacher.

The Market Drayton Poor-law Union comprehends twelve parishes, embracing 61,637 acres of land, and an area of 91 square miles, with a population returned at the census of 1841 of 13,925 souls. The Union House, situated in Shropshire-street, was formerly used as the parish workhouse; it was enlarged by the poor-law guardians in the year 1839; the average number of inmates is usually about one hundred. A new Union House will shortly be built upon Little Drayton Common, which will accommodate about 350 inmates. The district comprised within the union is the same as that of the county court, the several places of which are stated here below:—Chairman of the Guardians: Thomas Twemlow, Esq. Vice Chairman: Walter Minor, Esq. Clerks: Messrs. Wilkinsons. Chaplain: Rev. Robert Upton. Surgeons: William W. Saxton, Market Drayton district; John Hopkins, Moreton Say district; John Walmsley, Hodnet district; Edward Bayley, Cheswardine district; and Michael Ryan, Ashley district. Master: William Crutchley. Matron: Mary Crutchley. Schoolmistress: Martha Crutchley.

The County Court Offices, situated in Cheshire-street, is a neat structure of brick with stone finishings, and was built in the year 1850, at the expense of Joseph Loxdale Warren, Esq. The lower part of the building is used as offices for the despatch of business connected with the county court, and above is a large room capable of holding upwards of 400 people, which is used for magisterial purposes. The court embraces within its jurisdiction the following townships and places, viz.:—Adderley, Almington, Ashley, Aston, Bearston, Betchley, Betton, Blore, Bolas Parva, Cheswardine, Childs Ercall, Chipnall, Dorrington, Drayton Magna, Drayton Parva, Eaton, Ellerton, Goldstone, Gravenhanger, Hales, Hinstock, Hodnet, Hopton and Espley, Howle, Hungary Hatton, Kenstone and Hopley, Knighton, Langford, Longslow, Losford, Marchamley, Moreton Say, Muckleston, Norton-in-Hales, Ollerton, Peplow, Pickstock, Sambrook, Shavington, Sowdley, Spoonley, Stoke-upon-Tern, Stych and Woodlands, Sutton, Tittenley, Wistanswick, Woodseaves, Woolerton, and Woore. Judge: Uvedale Corbett, Esq. Clerk: Joseph Loxdale Warren, Esq., The Lodge. Bailiff: Mr. William Darbyshire Green, Cheshire-st.

Petty Sessions are held on the last Saturday in every month, in the spacious room above the county court offices, when prisoners are committed to Shrewsbury or Stafford, as the case may occur, in which county the offence is committed, the magistrates having jurisdiction in both counties.

The Police Office is situated in Cheshire-street nearly opposite the county court office. It was built in 1850, and has two cells, where prisoners are confined before committal by the magistrates. In which case they are sent to Shrewsbury if the offence has been committed in this county, and to Stafford if committed in Staffordshire. Attached to the cells is a residence for the constable; William Hemming is the police officer.

The Market Drayton Society for the Acquirement of Useful Knowledge was established in September, 1850. The objects of the institution are to extend to all classes aid for cultivating, and occasion for exercising their mental powers; to afford to its members the powerful advantages and incitement of association for prosecuting their several studies in the various branches of useful knowledge, and to secure to them opportunity for engaging in such pursuits as shall tend to their moral as well as intellectual advancement. For these objects the society has taken convenient premises situate in the beast market; classes for mutual improvement have been formed, a library and news room have been established, and it is intended to have lectures on natural and experimental philosophy, and the fine arts, as occasion may occur; the news room is furnished with the principal London and provincial journals and the most popular periodicals of the day; and the library, although only recently established, contains many valuable and standard works. Persons are admitted to all the privileges of the institution on the payment of 8s. per annum. An annual subscription of 21s. per annum constitutes an honorary member, and any person giving the sum of £10. 10s., or books, or apparatus to that amount, or a course of not less than ten lectures, is considered an honorary member for life. The honorary members have the exclusive use of the reading room from nine o’clock in the morning till six o’clock in the evening. The institution has the patronage and active support of the principal gentry and clergy of the town and neighbourhood. Patrons: Henry Bayley Clive, Esq., M.P.; John Whitehall Dod, Esq., M.P. President: Thomas Twemlow, Esq. Treasurer: W. M. Wilkinson, Esq. Secretary: Mr. William Crutchley.

A News Room has been established by the gentry and tradesmen in the town, at Mrs. Barnett’s, High-street. It is supported by subscriptions of 21s. per annum.

The Gas Works are situated in the outskirts of the southern side of the town, near the river Tern; they were established by a company of shareholders, who reside in Staffordshire, and the town is expected to be lighted with gas during the autumn of the present year (1851).

Provident Societies.—There are in this town several societies or clubs, the members of which pay small contributions to their respective funds, from which they are relieved in case of sickness, infirmity, or superannuation, and from which the friends of deceased members receive a sufficient sum for their decent interment. Among these are the Market Drayton Tradesmen Club, and the fraternities or sacred Orders of Oddfellows, M.U.; Ancient Forresters, and Female Societies, &c.

The Grove is a handsome brick mansion, a quarter of a mile east from the church, the residence and property of John E. Wilson, Esq.—Spring Fields, a good house a little west from the church, situated on elevated ground, commands fine prospects of the country, and is the residence and property of Thomas Whitfield, Esq.

Near this town, during the desolating wars between the houses of York and Lancaster, a desperate conflict took place at Blore Heath, on the borders of Staffordshire, which proved very disastrous to numbers of the Cheshire gentry, and many of the principal families of the adjoining district. The battle took place on the 23rd of September, 1459, when Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, commanded the forces of the white rose, and had an army of 5,000 men encamped on a hill near Market Drayton. He was opposed by James Touchet, Lord Audley, on the part of the red rose, with an army of 10,000. Though so disproportionate in numbers, the army of Salisbury proved victorious: 2,400 men are said to have been slain in this bloody conflict, together with their brave and loyal chief, who fell by the hand of Robert Kynaston, Esq., of Hordley, a zealous partizan of the house of York. In a field adjoining the turnpike road from Market Drayton to Newcastle, a stone has been set up to mark the spot where Lord Audley fell. What rendered the battle more calamitous was, that the principal families ranged nearly in equal numbers on the side of each of the contending parties. The old English poet, Michael Drayton, in his “Polyalbion,” represents the conflict as partaking of the form of a duel, in which one relative falls a sacrifice to the resentment of the other:—

“There Dutton Dutton kills; a Done doth kill a Done; A Booth a Booth; and Leigh by Leigh is overthrown; A Venables against a Venables doth stand, A Troutbeck fighteth with a Troutbeck hand to hand; There Molineux doth make a Molineux to die, And Egerton the strength of Egerton doth try. O Cheshire! wert thou mad of thine own native gore, So much until this day thou never shedd’st before; Above two thousand men upon the earth were thrown, Of whom the greater part were naturally thine own.”

Thomas Whitfield, Esq., of Drayton, has in his possession the crest of the Egertons, a sword handle, and a brass stirrup, richly ornamented and in good preservation, which were found about thirty years ago on the field of battle. During the struggles between Charles I. and the parliament, a skirmish took place in the neighbourhood of Drayton, between the King’s party, under the command of Prince Rupert, and the parliamentary forces under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax, when the royal cause gained a temporary success.

The Market Drayton Savings’ Bank, on November 20th, 1850, had a capital stock of £29,004. 3s., invested with the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt, at which period there were 866 separate accounts, of which ten were charitable societies, with deposits amounting to £260. 12s. 1d.; and ten friendly societies, with deposits amounting to £1,706. 2s. 6d. Of the total number of deposits, there were 449 whose respective balances did not exceed £20; 218 were above £20 and not exceeding £50; 109 above £50 and not exceeding £100; 36 above £100 and not exceeding £150; and 29 between that sum and £200. John Moore is the secretary.

Charities.—Frances Hill, in 1557, gave a rent charge of 29s. per annum, out of premises in Castle Donnington, and directed 2s. to be paid yearly to the vicar or priest of Drayton to say mass in the parish church, or such divine service as should be lawful to be observed there; 8d. to the parish clerk, and 16d. to the bell ringers; 2s. 8d. for two wax tapers; 8d. to her heirs for the trouble of payment; and the residue to be given to the poorest inhabitants of Drayton. Out of this gift 2s. is paid to the minister, 2s. to the clerk, and to the two churchwardens 8d. each, and the remainder is distributed among the poor, in groats, on Trinity Sunday.

Elizabeth Wetenhall, by her will, bearing date 19th December, 1693, devised to Robert Clive and John Gardner, and their heirs, two parcels of land at Drayton, called the Gallow Tree Field and the Clay Pits, which then produced a rental of £6. 16s. per annum; also a yearly rent of £4, issuing out a messuage and lands at Winstanwick; and a yearly rent of 8s. 4d. out of a farm at Childs Ercall. And she also bequeathed to the same persons £60, to be laid out in the purchase of land, or a rent charge, and out of the yearly proceeds, £4 to be paid in apprenticing one poor boy of the parish of Drayton to some useful trade; 40s. to be equally distributed among forty poor widows, or old decayed workmen of Drayton; 20s. to the vicar of the parish, provided he should preach a sermon on St. Thomas’s day; £6. to be paid to Gabriel Wetenhall and George Dodd, and their heirs and assignees; £4 for the purpose of putting forth a poor boy of the parish of Audlem, in Cheshire, apprentice; and 40s. to be distributed among forty of the poorest widows or decayed labourers of the said parish. In 1811, an information was filed against Robert Farbeck and Samuel Redshaw, as the representatives of the co-heiresses of Robert Clive, the surviving trustee, and against Richard Grant, who acted as the trustee of the charity by the attorney-general, at the relation of the Rev. William Cotton and others. On the 21st of July, 1848, a new scheme for the administration of the charity and distribution of the income thereof, was made, and certain trustees appointed. In this scheme the trustees are ordered, after paying any expenses incident to the administration of the charity, to divide the income into thirteen parts, and apply the same in the following manner, viz., four-thirteenths thereof in apprenticing a poor boy of the parish of Drayton, selected by the majority of the trustees; two-thirteenths to be distributed in money, or laid out in the purchase of coals, blankets, provisions, or clothing, at the discretion of the trustees, and distributed among forty poor widows, and old decayed workmen of the parish of Drayton; one-thirteenth to be paid to the vicar of Drayton, provided he shall have preached, or cause to be preached, two sermons on St. Thomas’s day, in Drayton church; four-thirteenths in apprenticing poor boys of the parish of Audlam, in Cheshire; and the remaining two thirteenths to be distributed in money or clothes, among forty poor widows or decayed labourers of the said parish of Audlem. From certain technicalities not yet complied with by the legal gentlemen, and which few can see the reasonableness of but a lawyer, the charity yet remains in abeyance. The accumulations amount to upwards of £1,400, out of which between £400 and £500 had been expended in the prosecution of the suit up to December, 1850. The trustees appointed for the administration of the charity by the attorney-general, July, 1848, are the Rev. George Pitt; Richard Corbet, Esq.; Henry Clive, Esq.; William Tayleur, Esq.; Thomas Twemlow, Esq.; William Wilkinson, Esq.; and Richard Grant, Esq.

John Wright left the yearly sum of 10s., to be given in bread on the feast of St. John the Baptist, and the feast of St. John the Evangelist: he also left the like sum yearly for the poor of Tyrley quarter. In respect of this charity, 20s. per annum is received from certain premises at Stoke-upon-Tern, which is applied according to the donor’s intentions. Lawrence Thompson left 20s. per annum to the poor of Drayton, to be given on St. Lawrence’s day. Ralph Kendrirk gave an annual sum of 20s. to the poor, and Mr. Cooke, a yearly sum of 3s. 4d. These several sums are carried to the poor’s account, and bread distributed to the amount on New Year’s Day.

The Rev. Richard Price, by will 1730, devised certain lands and houses in and near Drayton to the poor of Drayton and Hodnet; viz., £5 per annum, for a distribution of bread every Lord’s-day, and the remainder for the schooling of poor children of each place. The premises now held by the parish officers of Drayton, as derived from the Rev. R. Price, consist of a building in Little Drayton, formerly used as a poor house. This building was probably erected upon the site of the five messuages conveyed in trust by the Rev. R. Price; but it does not appear how the parish of Drayton became entitled to the whole, as part was allotted to the parish of Hodnet. The are also two pieces of land, called the Town Field and Crab Tree Field, and a small plot of land in Longslow lane, which produce a yearly rental altogether of £19. 11s. This sum is carried to the general account, kept by the churchwardens, entitled the Poors’ Account.

John Bill left £240, the interest to be disposed of in the Shropshire part of the parish. In 1781 the sum of £240 was lent to Thomas H. Alcock, on his bond, but he subsequently failing, a dividend of £106 was received from the bankrupt’s estate. In 1819 a sum of £190 was advanced by the churchwardens for the repairs of the Grammar School, for which interest was to be paid at the rate of five per cent. It is stated in a memorandum, entered in the churchwardens’ book, that £118, part of this money was left by Mr. Bill for the purpose of a charity school in Little Drayton, and apprenticing poor children, at the discretion of the churchwardens. Interest is now paid on £182 from the school funds, and the amount is carried to the poors’ account; but it may be observed, that in the application of those funds, only £4 is disposed of annually for the education of poor children of Little Drayton, which sum falls short of the income of Price’s charity before mentioned, which is also applicable to this purpose, and nothing whatever is applied in binding out apprentices.

It appears from a schedule of benefactions, that a great number of legacies have been left for the benefit of the poor of this parish. Among the donors is Stephen Denstone, who gave £100 in 1705, and directed the yearly produce to be distributed among the poorest widows and housekeepers of Great and Little Drayton. Richard Heeley gave £100, and directed half the interest to be expended in bread, and the other half as the minister and churchwardens of Drayton should think fit. Margaret Blest gave £50, the interest to be distributed among fifty poor housekeepers. Various other legacies, 36 in number, amounting in the whole, with the above gifts, to £577. 13s. 4d., have been laid out at different periods in the purchase of land, situate at Hinstock, Ightfield, Drayton, and Cheswardine. The income derived from these rents, with the interest on the money laid out on the school, amounting altogether to £114. 11s., is carried to one account, with the produce of other charities, entitled the “Poors’ Account;” and after defraying some few incidental expenses, there is paid thereout the following sums:—£7 in sums of 6d. each on St. Stephen’s day; £2. 10s. in small sums on St. Margaret’s day; bread to the amount of 5s. for the poor of Tyrley; bread to the amount of 19s. to the poor of Drayton on Easter Sunday; £4 to a schoolmistress; 2s. worth of bread is given away every Sunday, amounting to £5. 4s. per annum; and 5s. worth is given in addition on one Sunday in every month, amounting to £3; making a total of £22. 18s. The residue of these funds is applied principally in purchasing blankets and clothing, which are given to poor persons of the parish who have met with accidents or occasional distress, in sums of money, varying from 6d. to 5s. We cannot but observe that the small sums given away on St. Stephen’s and St. Margaret’s days, as applications are made to the churchwardens, appear to be too small to be of any real benefit to the parties receiving them.

The Rev. Robert Adams, in 1719, devised certain lands at Winnington upon trust to pay £13. 12s. yearly (the then value thereof) as follows:—£8 to the rector, vicar, and churchwardens of Muccleston, Drayton, and Adderley, alternately, on the 25th of March, every year, for putting forth a poor boy or girl apprentice; 30s. for the education of poor children in Adderley, and a like sum for educational purposes at Muccleston; and the sum of 52s. residue thereof to be expended in bread for the poor of Adderley. The estate is now let for £35. 12s. per annum, and the rents are applied to the charitable uses above mentioned.

Clara Church, by will 1753, bequeathed £150, and directed the officiating minister to distribute 2s. weekly, except in the months of June, July, and August, among poor people frequenting the church on prayer days, and who should come into the church at the beginning, and behave with decency during the time of divine service; to pay 16s. to the minister for visiting poor sick people in the parish, and distribute the residue of the interest among poor members of society visited with sickness. It appears that the amount of Mrs. Church’s legacy was not invested in the funds until December, 1823, when £174 was laid out in the purchase of certain stock in the four per cent. annuities. In 1825 part of the stock, and of another sum of £21. 4s., purchased with a legacy of £20 left by J. Grosvenor, for an addition to the organist’s salary, appear to have been improperly sold out, so as to leave £150 stock for this charity, and £20 stock for the organist. The dividends of the £150 stock amount to £5. 5s. per annum; and during forty weeks in the year 2s. are regularly distributed to the poor, and the sum of 16s. per annum is paid to the vicar. The residue of the dividends is appropriated with the proceeds of the church rate.

Joseph Williams, by will 1796, bequeathed to the minister and churchwardens of Drayton £250, invested in the four per cent. consols, to pay out of the yearly dividends the sum of 20s. to the minister of the parish, for preaching a sermon on Midsummer day; 5s. each to twenty poor widows or widowers, and twelve pennyworth of bread, on Midsummer day; to the ringers, to ring from six to eight o’clock on the same day, 15s.; to an eligible person for receiving the dividends and paying the same to the parish officers, 10s.; to the clerk of the parish, for keeping an inscription of his donations clean, 5s.; and 30s. to the overseers, for distributing his donations. He also gave a further sum of £20 to have an inscription placed in Drayton church, containing the above donations. The dividends, amounting to £8. 15s. per annum, are received by the churchwardens, and applied in the proportions directed by the testator.

Mrs. Lawrence left £500 in the five per cents, to purchase coals to be distributed to the poor inhabitants of the parish during the winter season; and she left a further sum of £100, the interest thereof for the Sunday school of the established church. In respect of the first legacy, there is £525 new four per cents, the dividends of which, amounting to £20 per annum, are received by the churchwardens, and laid out in coals, which are sold to the poor at about 3d. per cwt. under the cost price; and the produce of the sale is laid out in like manner, till the fund is exhausted. The interest of the sum of £100 is applied for the benefit of the Sunday school.

Sophia Grosvenor, in 1816 bequeathed £100, and directed the amount to be invested in government security, and the dividends distributed among the poor of Drayton. Lucina Riddlesden bequeathed £100, and directed the yearly proceeds to be applied in the purchase of warm stockings and shoes, to be given among poor boys and girls who should attend the National School. These two gifts, after deducting the legacy duty, were invested in the purchase of £200 three and a half per cent. stock, which now stands in the names of certain trustees, and of the dividends, amounting to £7 per annum, £3. 10s. is divided among twenty-eight poor old persons, men and women, belonging to the parish; the remaining £3. 10s. is laid out according to the donor’s intentions, in worm stockings and shoes.

Charles-Grooby, by his will bearing date 6th October, 1810, gave to Sir Corbet Corbet, the Rev. William Judgson, and the vicar and churchwardens of Drayton, £1,200 three per cent. bank annuities, upon trust that they should lay out the dividends on the 7th of May, yearly, being the birth day of the testator, towards clothing six poor men and six poor women of the parish of Drayton. The sum of £1,200 stock now stands in the names of certain trustees, and the dividends, amounting to £36 per annum, are received by the churchwardens, and they provide clothing to that amount, which they divide among six poor men and twelve poor women of the parish of Drayton.

Post Office.—At Mr. Richard Grant’s, Beast Market. Letters arrive from the Whitmore railway station at a quarter past four o’clock in the morning, and are despatched at half-past nine in the evening.

Adams Richard, draper and silk mercer, (Adams and Powell) Shropshire street

Adams & Powell, linen and woollen drapers, silk mercers and hatters, Shropshire street

Allen John, tailor, Beast market

Andrews George, gentleman, Stafford street

Arkinstall Mr. John, The Sitch

Arkinstall the Misses, boarding school, Shropshire street

Arkinstall William, tailor, Shropshire street

Barker John, butcher, Beast market

Barnett John, vict., Wheat Sheaf, Old wharf

Barnett Lydia, spirit vaults, High street

Barnett Martha, vict., George Inn, Beast mrkt

Barratt Thomas, builder & timber merchant, Stafford street

Basford Joseph, gardener, Tinkers’ lane

Bate Mary, shopkeeper, Shropshire street

Beeston Mr. Benjamin, Summer hill

Bennion Thomas Platt, bookseller, printer, stationer, bookbinder, circulating library, and depôt of Christian Knowledge Society, High street

Bonell Samuel, pump maker, Stafford street

Boughey and Woodcock, bonnet makers, Church street

Boulton Henry, vict., Crown Inn, Stafford st

Bowker George, watch and clock maker, Cheshire street

Bradbury John, agricultural implement maker, and wheelwright, Longslow lane

Bradbury John, boot & shoe mkr, Shropshire st

Bradbury Maria, bonnet maker, Shropshire st

Bradbury Walter, linen and woollen draper, silk mercer and hatter, High street

Bradshaw John, cabinet maker, and provision dealer, Beast market

Brasnell Thomas, beerhouse keeper, Little Drayton

Bratton John, land agent, Beast market

Brayn Joseph, linen and woollen draper, silk mercer and hatter, High street

Brayn Samuel, gentleman, Stafford street

Brookshaw Benjamin, blacksmith, and beerhouse keeper, Old Wharf

Brookshaw William, blacksmith, Beast markt

Brown Thomas, carpenter and beerhouse keeper, Cheshire street

Burd George, Esq., solicitor, Stafford street

Cartwright Martha, milliner, Shropshire st

Carver Hugh, cheesefactor, Shropshire street

Cash Philip, paper dealer, and trunk maker, Shropshire street

Cheere Rev. Edward, M.A., Parsonage, Little Drayton

Chritchley Cornelius, coach builder, Beast market

Cockayne Edward, coach and house painter, Stafford street

Cooke Rev. Charles, M.A., head master at Grammar School, Church yard side

Corfield Joseph, boot and shoe maker, Cheshire street

Craston Edward, hatter, and shoe warehouse, High street

Crutchley William, master of Union House, Shropshire street

Cutler Joseph, shopkeeper, Little Drayton

Dale Mary, butcher, Stafford street

Dale, Sarah, victualler, Elephant and Castle, Shropshire street

Davenport James, grocer, tea dealer, and tallow chandler, High street

Davies Richard, farmer and corn miller, Almington

Davies Thomas, hair dresser, Stafford street

Davies Thomas, shopkeeper, Stafford street

Deakin Peter, baker and confectioner, Shropshire street

Dickin Miss Rachael, Shropshire street

Done Robert, shoe maker, Stafford street

Drury Thomas, cooper, Shropshire street

Eaton George, schoolmaster, Shropshire st

Eaton William, tailor, Shropshire street

Edge Robert, timber merchant, wheelwright, and victualler, Stag’s Head, Beast market

Elock Frances, boarding school, Stafford st

Embrey Thomas, grazier, Stafford street

Evans George, maltster and vict., Red Lion, Beast market

Farnell John, tailor, Bell lane

Farnell Zacharia, tailor, Cheshire street

Fell Robert, agent to Hazledine and Co., coal merchants, Old Wharf

Fielding Henry, patten and clog maker, Cheshire street

Frith Joseph, land agent, Stafford street

Fletcher Joseph, maltster, Cheshire street

Fletcher Elizabeth, beerhouse, Cheshire street

Foden James, victualler, Corbet Arms Hotel, Posting house, and Excise office, High st

Fox James, plumber & glazier, Shropshire st

Frith John, hair dresser, Shropshire street

Gad Thomas, chair maker, Shropshire street

Godwin William, grocer, and chemist & druggist, Shropshire street, hair seating manufacturer, and nurseryman, Kiln bank

Goodall George, maltster, Cheshire street

Goodall John, chemist and druggist, glass dealer, Stamp Office, and agent to Salop Fire Office, Cheshire street

Gower Andrew Woodgate & Son, agricultural implement manufacturers, Stafford street

Graham Robert, currier, Little Drayton

Grant Mr. Richard, postmaster, Beast markt

Green George, solicitor’s clerk, Terrace cottage

Green William Darbyshire, auctioneer, and high bailiff of County court, Cheshire st

Grimley Henry, Esq., solicitor, Stafford street

Griffith Benjamin, brazier and tin plate worker, Beast market

Griffith Isaac, builder, cabinet maker, and registrar of marriages, Stafford street

Griffith Thomas, cabinet maker and upholsterer, Cheshire street

Griffith William, hair dresser, Shropshire st

Groom Thomas, leather cutter and provision dealer, Stafford street

Grosvenor John, tailor, Shropshire street

Grosvenor Mary Ann, bonnet maker, Shropshire street

Grosvenor Robert, watch and clock maker, registrar of births and deaths, and parish clerk, Church street

Hall Thomas, cooper and beerhouse keeper, Shropshire street

Harding Miss Sarah, Shropshire street

Harper George, shopkeeper and cabinet maker, Shropshire street

Harper William, farmer, corn miller, provision and british wine dealer, High street

Haslam Joseph, hair seating manufacturer, Stafford street

Haslam Joseph N., surgeon, Shropshire street

Hawley William ap Richard, professor of music, Back lane

Hayward Charles, butcher, Shropshire street

Haywood Richard, hosier, Stafford street

Heatley Thomas, linen and woollen draper, silk mercer and hatter, High street

Hemming William, police officer, Cheshire st

Herbert John, coal agent, Victoria Wharf

Hill Ann, vict., Royal Oak, Cheshire street

Hill Mrs. Ann, Church street

Hill Henry, saddler & harness maker, High st

Hill Robert, saddler & harness maker, High st

Hill Thomas, tanner and currier, Cheshire st

Hinton Robert, plumber, glazier, and beerhouse keeper, Shropshire street

Holdcroft Mrs. Susannah B., The Sitch

Horner, Captain John, Cheshire street

Hope Thomas, provision dealer, Shropshire st

Hopkins Eliza, milliner, Beast market

Hopkins John, surgeon, Shropshire street

Hopkinson James, shopkeeper, Cheshire st

Hopwood John, saddler and harness maker, Stafford street

Hughes Enoch, blacksmith, Bell lane

Hughes Maria, bonnet maker, Shropshire st

Jackson John, porter agent, Shropshire street

Jarvis Joseph, butcher, Cheshire street

Jones John, nail maker, Shropshire street

Jones John, hatter and provision dealer, Shropshire street

Jones Josiah, joiner and builder, Cheshire st

Jones Richard, shoemaker, Little Drayton

Jones Samuel, shoemaker, Bell lane

Jones William, shoemaker, Little Drayton

Key John Sayers, malster and vict., Star Inn, Stafford street

Kirkham William, vic., Old Cheshire Cheese, High street

Lee Rev. John, M.A., vicar, Vicarage

Leigh Emily and Fanny, dress makers, Cheshire street

Lewis George, provision dealer and currier, Little Drayton

Liseter John, letter carrier, Beast Market

Lloyd Edmund, linen and woollen draper, silk mercer and hatter, Shropshire street

Lockett John, bookseller, printer, &c., (Silvester and Lockett), High street

Lockett George, butcher, Cheshire street

Manchester and Liverpool District Bank, Shropshire street; open on Wednesday; Samuel Walter Moore, manager

Massey Mary Ann, bonnet maker, Stafford st

Massie Thomas, grocer, tallow chandler, and hop dealer, Cheshire street

Matthews James, vict., Lamb Inn, Stafford st

Matthews Miles, farmer and veterinary surgeon, Cheshire street

Mc. Manus Chas., shopkeeper, Shropshire st

Minor Mrs. Elizabeth, Shropshire street

Montford Thomas, builder, cabinet maker, and upholsterer, Church street

Moody Hy., bone merchant, Victoria Wharf

Moore Ann, milliner, High street

Moore John, baker, provision dealer, and actuary at Savings’ Bank, Cheshire street

Moore Thomas, grocer and tea dealer, Cheshire street

Morris William, shoemaker, Stafford street

Noden William, carpenter, Cheshire street

Noneley Mrs. Margerette, Beast Market

Oldcroft Eliza, glass & china dealer, High st

Painter Richard, butcher, Kiln Bank

Parsonage Frederick, plumber and glazier, Stafford street

Peake Thomas, plumber and glazier and beerhouse keeper, Little Drayton

Pegg John, beerhouse keeper, Little Drayton

Pigott Creswell, Esq., solicitor, Stafford st

Pimlett Joshua, veterinary surgeon, Stafford street

Poole Thomas, butcher, Little Drayton

Povell James, shoemaker, Little Drayton

Powell William, draper and silk mercer, (Adams & Powell,) Shropshire street

Preston Geo., beerhousekeeper, Little Drayton

Preston Mrs. Dorothy, Back Lane

Ralphes Joseph, shoemaker, Little Drayton

Ray Uriah, chair maker, Cheshire street

Ridgway William, (executors of), grocers, chemists and druggists, and glass dealers, High street

Roberts Jane, dressmaker, Shropshire st

Roberts Samuel, gardener and seedsman, Beast market

Roberts Mr. Thomas, Church street

Robson James, stone mason, Beast Market

Roden Adam, carrier, Little Drayton

Roden William, pig dealer and beerhouse keeper, Cheshire street

Rodenhurst William and John, ironmongers, agricultural implement makers, grocers, and hop and seed dealers, Cheshire street

Rogers George, jeweller, silversmith, and watch and clock maker, High street

Roylance Thomas, shoemaker, Little Drayton

Ryder George, blacksmith, Little Drayton

Salter Samuel Colley, linen and woollen draper, and silk mercer, Shropshire street

Salter Sarah, shopkeeper, Shropshire street

Sandells Thomas, maltster and vict., Unicorn Inn, Stafford street

Sandbrook Benjamin Bayley, wine & spirit merchant, Shropshire street

Sandbrook William and Son, wine and spirit merchants, Shropshire street

Sandbrook William, hair seating manufacturer, Walk Mill

Saxton William Waring, Esq., banker and surgeon, Stafford street

Scott William, schoolmaster, (National), Shropshire street

Sergeant Matthew, butcher, Stafford street

Shaw John, tailor, Stafford street

Sherwin Harry John, woollen draper, tailor, and hatter, High street

Sherwin Margery, stay maker, Shropshire st

Shuker John, bricklayer, Back lane

Sillitoe Aaron, saddler and harness maker, Beast Market

Sillitoe Purney, Esq., Pell Wall House

Silvester and Lockett, booksellers, printers, stationers, bookbinders, and circulating library, High street

Silvester Samuel, bookseller, &c., (Silvester and Lockett), High street

Simester John, rope maker, Shropshire st

Simester William, rope maker, Cheshire st

Slaney Thomas, plumber, glazier, & painter, Cheshire street

Smith Henry Jn., solicitors’ clerk, Church st

Snow Thomas, furnishing ironmonger, brazier and tin plate worker, grocer, and hop, seed, and colour merchant, High st

Spencer Mr. Walter, The Mount

Spendelow William, grocer, chemist and druggist, and hop merchant, Shropshire st

Stevens Thomas, hatter and woollen draper and tailor, Shropshire street

Steventon John, shoemaker, Little Drayton

Steventon Wm., shoemaker, Little Drayton

Stubbs Elizabeth, beerhouse, Bell lane

Swinchett George Williamson, brazier and tin plate worker, High street

Swinnerton Samuel, surgeon, Shropshire st

Tayleur Mrs. Frances, The Fields

Taylor Mr. William, Stafford street

Taylor William, cooper, Stafford street

Tomlinson William, guano, corn, and salt dealer, Old Wharf

Trueman Charles, dyer, Cheshire street

Wade Hill, beerhouse keeper, Little Drayton

Walsh Joseph, brazier and tin plate worker, Shropshire street

Warren Charles, Esq., solicitor, Shropshire st

Warren Joseph Loxdale, Esq., solicitor, clerk to magistrates, clerk to county court, and deputy-lieutenant, The Lodge

Whitfield George, ironmonger, grocer and tea dealer, and hop and seed merchant, High street

Whitfield Thomas, Esq., Spring Field

Whittington Margt., schoolmistress, Cheshire street

Wilkes Jane, dressmaker, Church street

Wilkinson Joseph Edmund, Esq., solicitor, Shropshire street

Wilkinson William Manley, Esq., solicitor and superintendent registrar, Shropshire street

Williams Mrs. Elizabeth, Stafford street

Williams John, shoemaker. Little Drayton

Williams Sarah, bonnet maker, Shropshire st

Williamson James, boot and shoemaker, Shropshire street

Wilson John Edwards, Esq., The Grove

Woodcock Thos., beerhouse, Little Drayton

Woodhouse Thomas, tailor, Little Drayton

Wright Nathaniel, beerhouse & shopkeeper Shropshire street

Wycherley Samuel, wheelwright, Beast Market

Academies.

Arkinstall The Misses, (boarding), Beast Market

Bratton Miss, (boarding), Beast Market

Eaton George, Cheshire st

Bratton Mary, Back lane

Elcock Frances, Stafford st

Grammar School, Churchyard side; head master, Rev. Charles Cooke, M.A.; second master, C. F. King

National, William Scott and Eliza Green, Back lane

Whittingham Margaret, Cheshire street

Wigley Henry William, (boarding), Shropshire st

Agricultural Implement Manufacturers.

Bradbury John, Longslow lane

Gower and Son, Stafford st

Rodenhurst William & John Cheshire street

Ale & Porter Merchants.

Foden James, High street

Jackson John, Shropshire st

Rogers George, (Burton ales) High street

Sandalls Thomas, Stafford st

Attornies.

Grimley Henry, Stafford st

Pigott Creswell, Stafford st

Warren Charles, Shropshire street

Warren & Burd, Cheshire st

Wilkinson William M. and Joseph E., Shropshire st

Auctioneer.

Green William Darbyshire, Cheshire street

Banks.

Manchester and Liverpool District Bank, Shropshire street, open on Wednesday, Samuel Walker Moore, manager

Savings’ Bank, Shropshire st.; John Moore, actuary

Saxton Brothers, High-st., draw upon Williams and Co., London

Blacksmiths.

Brookshaw Benjamin, Stafford street

Brookshaw William, Beast Market

Hughes Enock, Bell lane

Ryder George, Little Drayton

Bone Merchant.

Moody Henry Church, Victoria Wharf

Booksellers, Printers, Stationers, Bookbinders, and Circulating Libraries.

Bennion Thomas Platt, High

Silvester & Lockett, High st

Boot and Shoemakers.

Bradbury John, Cheshire st.

Corfield Joseph, Cheshire st.

Oraston Edward (dealer), High street

Done Robert, Stafford street

Jones Richard, Little Drayton

Jones Samuel, Bell lane

Jones Wm., Little Drayton

Morris William, Stafford st.

Povell James, Little Drayton

Ralphes Joseph, Little Drayton

Roylance Thomas, Little Drayton

Steventon John, Little Drayton

Steventon William, Little Drayton

Williams John, Little Drayton

Williamson James, Shropshire street

Braziers and Tin Plate Workers.

Griffith Benjamin, Beast market

Snow Thomas, High street

Swinchatt Geo. Williamson, High street

Walsh Joseph, Shropshire street

Butchers.

Barker John, Beast market

Dale Mary, Stafford street

Hayward Charles, Shropshire street

Jarvis Joseph, Cheshire st.

Lockett George, Cheshire st.

Painter Richard, Kiln Bank

Poole Thomas, Little Drayton

Sergeant Matthew, Stafford street

Cabinet Makers and Upholsterers.

Bradshaw John, Beast Market

Griffith Isaac, Stafford street

Griffith Thos., Cheshire street

Harper George, Shropshire street

Montford Thomas, Church street

Carpenters and Builders.

Barratt Thomas, Stafford st.

Brown Thomas, Cheshire st.

Griffith Isaac, Stafford street

Jones Josiah, Shropshire st.

Montford Thomas, Church street

Noden Wm., Cheshire street

Chemists and Druggists.

Godwin William, Shropshire street

Goodall John, Cheshire street

Ridgway William (executors of), High street

Spendelow Richard William, Shropshire street

Coach Builder.

Critchley Cornelius, Beast Market

Coal Merchants.

Hazledine & Co., Old Wharf, Robert Fell, agent

Ryley & Sandbrook, Victoria Wharf, John Herbert, agent

Confectioners.

Deakin Peter, Shropshire st.

Harper William (and British wine dealer), High street

Coopers.

Drury Thomas, Shropshire street

Hall Thomas, Shropshire st.

Taylor William, Stafford st.

Corn Millers.

Davies Richard, Almington

Harper William, High street

Curriers.

Hill Thomas, Cheshire street

Lewis and Graham, Little Drayton

Dyers.

Hayward Richard, Stafford street

Trueman Charles, Cheshire street

Farmers.

Beeston James, Almington

Davies Richard (and corn miller), Almington

Embrey Thomas, Stafford street

Harper William, High street

Matthews Miles, Cheshire st.

Poole Thos., Little Drayton

Fire and Life Office Agents.

Clerical & Medical, William Waring Saxton, Stafford street

Crown, Charles Warren, Shropshire street

Law, Henry Grimley, Stafford street

Legal and Commercial, Joseph Edmund Wilkinson, Shropshire street

Manchester, George Rogers, High street

Market Drayton Cattle Club, Wm. D. Green, Cheshire street

Norwich Union, Joseph L. Warren, Cheshire, st.

Royal Farmers and General, Wm. D. Green, Cheshire street

Salop, Jn. Goodall, Cheshire street

Shropshire and North Wales, Joseph Firth, Stafford st.

Glass and China Dealers.

Marked * are glass only.

* Goodall John, Cheshire st.

Oldcroft Eliza, High street

* Ridgway William (executors of), High street

Grocers and Tea Dealers.

Davenport James, High st.

Godwin William, Shropshire street

Harper William, High street

Massie Thomas, Cheshire street

Moore Thomas, Cheshire street

Ridgway William (executors of), High street

Rodenhurst William and John, Cheshire street

Snow Thomas, High street

Spendelow Richard William, Shropshire street

Whitfield George, High st.

Hair Dressers.

Davies Thomas, Stafford street

Frith John, Shropshire street

Griffith Wm., Shropshire st.

Hair Seating Manufacturers.

Godwin William, Kiln bank

Haslam Joseph, Stafford st.

Sandbrook H. and W., Walk Mill

Hatters.

(See also Linen Drapers and Hatters.)

Craston Edward, High street

Jones John, Shropshire street

Sherwin Harry John, High street

Stevens Thomas, Shropshire street

Hosier.

Haywood Richard, Stafford street

Hotels, Inns, and Taverns.

Crown, Henry Boulton, Stafford street

Corbet Arms Hotel (posting house and excise office), James Foden, High street

Elephant and Castle, Sarah Dale, Shropshire street

George, Martha Barnett, Beast market

Lamb, Jas. Matthews, Stafford street

Man in the Moon, James Beeston, Almington

Old Cheshire Cheese, James Kirkham, High street

Red Lion, George Evans, Beast market

Royal Oak, Ann Hill, Cheshire street

Stag’s Head, Robert Edge, Beast market

Star, John Sayers Key, Stafford street

Unicorn, Thomas Sandalls, Stafford street

Wheat Sheaf, John Barnett, Old wharf

Beerhouses.

Brasnell John, Little Drayton

Brookshaw Benjamin, Old wharf

Brown Thomas, Cheshire street

Fletcher Elizabeth, Cheshire street

Hall Thomas, Shropshire st.

Hinton Robert, Shropshire street

Peake Thos., Little Drayton

Pegg John, Little Drayton

Preston George, Little Drayton

Roden William, Cheshire street

Stubbs Elizabeth, Bell lane

Wade Hill, Little Drayton

Woodcock Thomas, Little Drayton

Wright Nathaniel, Shropshire street

Hop and Seed Merchants.

Groom Thomas, Stafford st.

Godwin William (seed), Shropshire street

Massie Thomas, Cheshire st.

Rodenhurst William and John, Cheshire street

Snow Thomas, High street

Spendelow Richard William, Shropshire street

Whitfield George, High street

Ironmongers.

Rodenhurst William & John, Cheshire street

Snow Thomas, High street

Whitfield Geo., High street

Ironfounders.

Rodenhurst William and John, Cheshire street

Linen and Woollen Drapers, Silk Mercers, and Hatters.

Adams and Powell, Shropshire street

Bradbury Walter, High street

Brayn Joseph, High street

Heatley Thomas, High street

Lloyd Edmund, Shropshire street

Salter Samuel Colley, Shropshire street

Maltsters.

Evans George, Beast Market

Fletcher Joseph, Cheshire street

Goodall George, Cheshire st.

Hill Ann, Cheshire street

Key John Sayers, Stafford st.

Sandalls Thomas, Stafford st.

Milliners and Dress Makers.

Cartwright Martha, Shropshire street

Hopkins Eliza, Beast Market

Leigh Emily and Fanny, Cheshire street

Moore Ann, High street

Roberts Jane, Shropshire st.

Virgen Betsy, Longslow lane

Wilkes Jane, Church street

Nail Maker.

Jones John, Shropshire st.

Painter.

(See also Plumbers, Glaziers, and Painters.)

Cocayne Edward (coach and house), Stafford street

Patten and Clog Maker.

Fielding Henry, Cheshire st.

Plumbers, Glaziers, and Painters.

Fox James, Shropshire street

Hinton Robert, Shropshire street

Parsonage Frederick, Stafford street

Peake Thos., Little Drayton

Slaney Thomas, Cheshire st

Professor of Music.

Hawley William Ap Richard, Back lane

Pump Maker.

Bonell Samuel, Stafford street

Rope Makers.

Simester John, Shropshire street

Simester William, Cheshire street

Saddlers & Harness Makers.

Hill Henry, High street

Hill Robert, High street

Hopwood John, Stafford st.

Sillitoe Aaron, Beast market

Shopkeepers, Dealers in Sundries, and Grocers.

Bate Mary, Shropshire street

Bradshaw John, Beast Market

Cutler Joseph, Little Drayton

Davies Thomas, Stafford st.

Groom Thomas, Stafford st.

Harper George, Shropshire street

Hope Thomas, Shropshire street

Hopkinson James, Cheshire street

Jones John, Shropshire st.

Lewis George, Little Drayton

Mc Manus Charles, Shropshire street

Moore John, Cheshire street

Salter Sarah, Shropshire st.

Wright Nathaniel, Shropshire street

Straw Bonnet Makers.

Boughey and Woodcock, Church street

Bradbury Maria, Shropshire street

Grosvenor Mary Ann, Shropshire street

Hughes Maria, Shropshire street

Keeling Mary Ann, Little Drayton

Massey Mary Ann, Stafford st

Ryder Elizabeth, Little Drayton

Williams Sarah, Shropshire street

Surgeons.

Haslam Joseph Nickson, Shropshire street

Hopkins John, Cheshire st.

Saxton William Waring, Stafford street

Swinnerton Samuel, Shropshire street

Tailors.

Marked * are Woollen Drapers and Hatters.

Allen John, Beast Market

Arkinstall William, Shropshire street

Eaton William, Shropshire street

Farnell John, Bell lane

Farnell Zachariah, Cheshire street

Grosvenor John, Shropshire street

Shaw John, Stafford street

* Sherwin Harry John, High street

* Stevens Thos., Shropshire street

Woodhouse Thomas, Little Drayton

Tallow Chandlers.

Davenport James, High st.

Massie Thomas, Cheshire street

Tanner.

Hill Thomas, Cheshire street

Timber merchants.

Barratt Thomas, Stafford st.

Dymock and Co., Shropshire street, residence, Shelton

Edge Robert, Beast market

Veterinary Surgeons.

Matthews Miles, Cheshire street

Pimlett Joshua, Stafford st.

Watch and Clock Makers.

Bowker George, Cheshire st.

Grosvenor Robert, Church street

Rogers George (and silversmith and jeweller), High street

Wheelwrights.

Bradbury John, Longslow lane

Wicherley Samuel, Beast market

Wine and Spirit Merchants.

Sandbrook William and Son, Shropshire street

Wine and Spirit Vaults.

Barnett Lydia, High street

Wood Turners and Chair Makers.

Gad Thomas, Shropshire st.

Ray Uriah, Cheshire street

Carriers by Water.

Crowley and Co., general carriers to all parts of England; William Tomkinson, agent, Old wharf

Grand Junction Canal Company (to London); Wm. Tomkinson, agent, Old wharf

Shropshire Union Railway and Canal Company, general carriers to all parts of England; William Tomkinson, agent, Old wharf

BETTON

is a township and small rural village, in the parish of Market Drayton, two miles N.N. by E. from the parish church. The township comprises 2,185a. 0r. 27p. of land, the principal owners of which are Peter Broughton, Esq., and William Church Norcop, Esq. The other proprietors are Richard Corbet, Esq., Purney Sillitoe, Esq., and Sir John Chetwode, Bart. In 1841 there were 38 houses and 254 inhabitants within the bounds of the township. Rateable value, £2,963. 2s. The tithes have been commuted, and £223. 5s. 9d. apportioned to William Church Norcop, Esq.; £40. 7s. 6d. to Peter Broughton, Esq.; £32. 18s. 3d. to Richard Corbet, Esq.; and to the Vicar of Drayton, £5. 13s. 6d. Betton Hall, a handsome and pleasantly situated mansion on elevated ground, is the residence and property of William Church Norcop, Esq. It was considerably enlarged and beautified about forty years ago. A pillar, in the field a little south from the hall, marks the site of an ancient chapel that formerly stood here, but no remains have been seen of it within the memory of man. Tunstall Hall, a spacious and elegant mansion, situated in park-like grounds, about a mile from Market Drayton, is the seat and property of Peter Broughton, Esq. Betton Moss is a tract of unenclosed land, containing 56a. 0r. 33p. Oakley Corn Mill is situated on the banks of the river Tern, which divides this township from the county of Stafford.

Bourne John, farmer, Betton Coppice

Broughton Peter, Esq., Tunstall Hall

Crutchley John, farmer, Brownhills

Davies Richard, farmer, Brownhills

Dobson Thomas, farmer, Ridgewardine

Duckers Charles, farmer, Ridgewardine

Heath William, farmer, Betton

Johnson Robert, farmer, Betton

Norcop William Church, Esq., Betton Hall

Spragg John, farmer, Ridgewardine

LONGSLOW,

a small township in the parish of Market Drayton, one mile and three quarters N.W. by N. from the church, contains 645a. 2r. 3p. of land, the whole of which is the property of the Earl of Powis. Rateable value, £1,866. 13s. Richard Corbet, Esq., is the impropriator of the large tithes, which are commuted for £81. 12s. 6d. The vicarial tithes are commuted for £21. 4s. 1d. At the census in 1841 there were 12 houses and a population of 70 souls. The principal residents are George Harris, farmer; Joseph Kemp, farmer; Joseph Sillitoe, farmer; John Thomas, farmer; and Robert Bruckshaw, blacksmith and general agricultural implement manufacturer.

SUTTON,

a township in the parish of Drayton, pleasantly situated about a mile and a half S.E. from the church, in 1841 had 32 houses and 177 inhabitants. The township contains 1,915a. 2r. 3p. of land. Rateable value, £326. 15s. The rectoral tithes are commuted for £268. 13s. 4d., of which £60 was apportioned to John Tayleur, Esq., and £208. 13s. 4d. to Richard Corbet, Esq. The small tithes, payable to the Vicar of Drayton, are commuted for £33. 9s. 1d. Buntingsdale Hall is a brick mansion of considerable extent, the seat and property of John Tayleur, Esq., a considerable landowner. P. Sillitoe, Esq., is also a landowner. The township is watered by the river Tern, which turns several corn mills within the bounds of the township. This locality has a bold undulating surface, is well timbered, and the scenery beautifully picturesque.

The principal residents are John Tayleur, Esq., Buntingsdale Hall; John Adams, corn miller, Tern Hill; Samuel Blenford, blacksmith; James Foden, farmer, Holly Grove; George Harding, farmer, Cliff Gravel; George Harding, farmer, Coalhurst; William Harper, corn miller, Sutton Mill—residence, Drayton; John Harris, farmer; Samuel Shaw, corn miller, Rosehill; George Smith, farmer.

WOODSEAVES,

a township and village in the parish of Drayton, on the eastern verge of the county, bordering on Staffordshire, three miles south from Market Drayton, contains 1,781a. 0r. 31p. of land, and in 1841 had 55 houses and 268 inhabitants. Rateable value, £2,040. 15s. The principal landowners are John Tayleur, Esq., Walter Minor, Esq., Purney Sillitoe, Esq., Mr. Beeston, Mr. Adams, and Mr. Silvester. Richard Corbet, Esq., is the impropriator of the rectoral tithes, which are commuted for £105. 4s. 4d. The small tithes are commuted for £27. 0s. 6d. A small Episcopal Chapel has been built at Woodseaves, by Mrs. Nonely; divine service is performed every Friday evening.

Directory.—James Boughey, farmer; John Breeze, boot and shoemaker; Richard Delves, shopkeeper; Clement Dickenson, farmer, Rose Hill; Peter Duckers, farmer and butcher; Joseph Ellis, farmer; William Hendley, gentleman; John Hill, farmer, Sutton Heath; Richard Lewis, farmer; Joseph Meakin, farmer; James Poole, farmer, butcher, and victualler, Fox Inn; George Pye, blacksmith; Mary Steel and Sons, shoemakers; Richard Steel, farmer and beerhouse-keeper; William Sutton, farmer; Thomas Thomas, farmer; Charles Townsend, farmer.

ERCALL CHILDS,

a parish and village, pleasantly situated seven miles S.W. from Market Drayton, and seven miles N.W. from Newport. The parish comprises 3,585a. 0r. 8p. of land, and in 1801 here were 466 inhabitants; 1831, 416; and in 1841, 82 houses and 471 inhabitants. The soil is chiefly a light fertile loam. Richard Corbet, Esq., is owner of the whole parish, except about fifty acres, which are the property of the Duke of Sutherland. The tithes are commuted for £730.

The Church, an ancient structure, dedicated to St. Michael, exhibits various styles of architecture, and no doubt has been erected at different periods. It consists of nave, chancel, south aisle, and a tower at the west end. Four pointed arches divide the nave from the side aisle, at the east end of which there is an ancient piscina. A neat marble tablet remembers the Cooke family. There are also two small brass memorials. The living is a perpetual curacy, returned at £72, in the patronage of Richard Corbet, Esq. The Rev. Bertie Entwisle Johnson is the incumbent, and also rector of Hinstock. The Parsonage is a handsome brick residence, a little north-west from the church; it was built by the present incumbent in the year 1846; in consideration of which the Governors of Queen Ann’s Bounty made a grant of £200 towards the augmentation of the living of Ercall. There is a National School in the village, situated near the west end of the church-yard; sixty-two boys and forty-two girls attend. Dodecote Grange is a pleasantly situated house, and extensive farm comprising upwards of 500 acres, in the occupancy of Mr. Richard Heatley. There is a considerable tract of land covered with thriving plantations in the parish.

HUNGARY HATTON,

a township in the parish of Childs Ercall, one mile north from the church, and about five miles and a half south from Market Drayton, has a scattered population, the returns of which were included in Ercall at the census of 1841. On the north verge of the township there is a plantation of thriving timber covering upwards of thirty acres, which joins the estate and plantations of Henry Justice, Esq., in Hinstock parish. The acres and tithes are included in the returns of Ercall.

Those marked * are in Hungary Hatton, and the rest reside in Ercall Childs.

Aston William, farmer

* Atkin William, farmer and maltster

Benbow Mary, farmer

Bourne Edward, farmer, Old Hall

* Boughey George, farmer

Bourne Thomas, brickmaker

* Bruckshaw Benjamin, farmer

* Bruckshaw Thomas, blacksmith

Carnall John, farmer

* Cheshire John, blacksmith

Dawes Thomas, farmer

* Downes William, shoemaker

Edwards Joseph, farmer, Caynton Wood

Evason Francis, farmer

Evanson George, tailor

* Freeman John, farmer

Green Thomas, shoemaker

Harper Charles, wheelwright

Heatley Richard, farmer, Dodecote Grange

Hewitt George, schoolmaster & parish clerk

Heycock William, blacksmith

Johnson Rev. Bertie Entwisle, M.A., Parsonage

* Morgan George, farmer

* Morgan John, farmer

Morgan John H., carpenter

Palmer William, farmer, Nagington

* Rister Philip, wheelwright

Thacker James, victualler, Elephant

Woodhouse George, maltster

HINSTOCK

is a considerable parish and village, pleasantly situated on the turnpike road from Newport to Market Drayton, six miles N.N.W. from the former, and five miles S. from the latter. The population of this parish is widely scattered, and there are a great number of small detached cottages. The parish contains 3,036a. 1r. 16p. of land, the soil of which is various; in some parts a strong loam, and in other parts a light sandy soil prevails. The land has a bold undulating surface, and on the western verge of the parish are some thriving plantations. In 1801 the parish contained a population of 536 souls; 1831, 805; and in 1841 there were 173 houses and 897 inhabitants. There are 14a. 1r. 37p. of glebe land. The tithes have been commuted for £530. Rateable value of the parish, £4.722. 19s. 1d. Henry Justice, Esq., is a considerable landowner. The other principal landowners are Robert Masefield, Esq., Richard Corbet Esq., Mr. William Griffiths, Mr. Henry Meakin, Rev. Matthew Davies, the Trustees of Drayton Poor, Mr. John Griffiths, William Howard, Esq., Mr. Walter Meakin, Mrs. Masefield, Mr. Thomas Poole, Mr. Rowley, Mr. John Adams, Mr. Thomas Beeston, the Executors of the late Colonel Dawes, and the Devisees of the Mr. Thomas James; besides whom there are upwards of seventy small freeholders, who, in most instances, own the cottages in which they live, and a small plot or a few acres of land contiguous thereto.

The Church is a small venerable fabric, dedicated to St. Oswald, and is situated on an elevated plot of land, nearly in the centre of the village. The structure consists of nave, chancel, and a small south aisle, with a square tower at the west end. A small gallery was erected in 1831, with funds raised by subscriptions. The font is very ancient, and is of a circular shape with an octagonal base. A neat marble tablet has been erected in memory of Hannah Davies, who died in 1828, wife of the Rev. Matthew Davies, formerly curate of Hinstock. There is also a tablet in memory of the Vaughans, with the date of 171⁴/₅. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book at £5. 16s., now returned at £556., and enjoyed by the Rev. Bertie E. Johnson, M.A. There is a small Methodist Chapel in the village. The National School, a neat brick structure, was erected in 1839; seventy-five children attend. The Rectory is an ancient residence on the north side of the church-yard. Hinstock Hall, a handsome mansion of freestone, delightfully situated on elevated ground, about a mile north-west from the church, is the seat and property of Henry Justice, Esq. It is a modern structure, built about sixteen years ago, beautified with pleasure grounds and shrubberies, and sheltered with rising plantations. The situation commands extensive views over the fertile plains of Shropshire and the adjoining county of Stafford. Pixley are two good farm houses, situated near a mile west from the church. The land is partly in this parish and partly in that of Chetwynd; 89a. 1r. 32p. are in the latter parish.

Post Office.—At Mr. Samuel Cooper’s Falcon Inn.

Justice Henry, Esq., Hinstock Hall

Abbotts Ann, schoolmistress

Adams John, farmer

Ash Charles, land surveyor

Blagg John, farmer

Bowring Robert, shopkeeper

Cappur Thomas, farmer, Gill of Stafford

Challenor John, shopkeeper

Churm John, farmer, Mount Pleasant

Churton Rev. Charles, M.A., curate

Cooper Samuel, victualler, Falcon Inn

Crump John, shopkeeper

Davies William, farmer

Eccleston James, farmer

Freeman John, farmer, Pixley

Glover Thomas, beerhouse

Goodwin George, wheelwright

Griffiths William, farmer

Hamlet William, shopkeeper

Hardy Sarah, farmer

Hardy William, farmer

Harvey James, maltster

Jackson George, shoemaker

Jackson John, farmer

Jackson Thomas, blacksmith

Jackson William, farmer

Lockley John, wheelwright

Lockley Thomas, farmer

Machin Jn., farmer & maltstr

Machin Mary, vict., Cock Inn

Maltby John, Esq., Hinstock Villa

Matthews John, horse dealer

Meakin Henry, farmer, Longpools

Meakin Walter, farmer

Morgan William, bricklayer

Nagington William, farmer, corn miller, and maltster, Shakeford

Pearse William, farmer and shoemaker, Lockley

Phillips John, farmer

Pitt George, shopkeeper

Podmore William, tailor

Poole Thomas, farmer

Pooler Benjamin, blacksmith

Reeves John, shoemaker

Reeves Mary, schoolmistress

Robinson Richard, farmer, Pixley

Sambrook Job, bricklayer

Sambrook John, bricklayer

Sambrook William, bricklayer

Sutton Mary & Ann, farmers

Talbot William, tailor

Titley Wm., farmer & butcher

Ward John, schoolmaster

Watts Andrew, farmer

Weat Wm., farmer & butcher

Woodcock William, farmer

Worrall Mary, farmer

Williams William, beerhouse

Wynn William, clock maker

HODNET

is a pleasantly situated and considerable village on the turnpike road from Shrewsbury to Market Drayton, thirteen miles N.N. by E. from the former, and six miles S.S. by W. from the latter. At the Domesday survey Earl Roger held Odenet, which gave name to the hundred, which has since undergone the denomination of Bradford North. In the 20th of Edward I., a quo warranto was brought against William de Hodenet, to show what right he claimed to hold a market, take assize of bread and beer, and have free warren in the manor of Hodnet; for plea he produced the charter of King Henry, father of the then king, which proved his right, and so was dismissed with honour. The jury at the same assizes found that the serjeantry of William de Hodenet was to be steward of the castle of Montgomery, and to defend the outworks of the castle with his family and servants, and that this serjeantry had been given to his ancestors by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Salop. The market at Hodnet has long been obsolete, but fairs are held on the Monday before the second Wednesday in March, May 4th, and the Monday before October 24th. These fairs are usually well attended by the farmers residing in the surrounding district. The parish of Hodnet contains the townships of Hodnet, Bolas Parva, Hawkstone, Hopton and Espley, Kenstone, Losford, Marchamley, Peplow, Woollerton and Weston under Red Castle. There are 11,596a. 1r. 6p. of land, the rateable value of which is £13,396. 6s. Population in 1801, 1386; 1831, 2097, and in 1841 there were 408 houses and 2185 inhabitants. The township of Hodnet at the census of 1841 contained 120 houses and 596 inhabitants, Odo Hodenet came into England with William the Conqueror, and fixed his seat here; from this family the estates passed by a female heiress to the Vernons, and Elisabeth Vernon carried the estates by marriage into the Heber family, from which family it again passed in like manner by an heiress to the present proprietor, Algernon Charles Heber Percy, Esq., who resides at Hodnet Hall, a plain stuccoed mansion, in a low situation, a little south from the church; it was formerly of considerable extent, and composed of timber and plaster, and the cloisters were adorned with ancient armorial bearings, but only a part of the original house is now standing, and that has been greatly modernized. Near the hall is a large mound called Castle Hill, supposed to have been the ancient residence of the Hodenets. The mound is planted with trees, and was probably the keep of the castle, but not a vestige of the stone work remains; the whole was surrounded by a moat, which may still be traced. The high grounds above the hall, which are studded with thriving plantations, were in former tithes a densely wooded park of considerable extent, and well stocked with deer. No deer have been kept there since the death of Sir Richard Vernon, who caused most of the timber to be cut down. Viscount Hill is also a considerable land owner. A. C. H. Percy is lord of the manor and patron of the living.

The Church is a spacious and elegant structure, consisting of nave and south aisle, equal in size to the nave, and an octagonal Norman tower at the west end, in which are six bells. The side aisle is divided from the nave by seven pointed arches, rising from octagonal and circular pillars alternately, and the roof is of timber stained in imitation of oak. The structure has recently undergone a complete reparation, the entire cost of which, with various embellishments, was £3,200, of which the munificent sum of £1,000 was given by Thomas Cholmondely, Esq., late of Hodnet Hall; Charles Cholmondely, Esq., gave £500; Lord Hill, £100; the parishioners raised by voluntary subscriptions £170; and the rest, £1,430, was given by the present rector. The organ cost £150, and was the gift of Richard Cholmondely, Esq.; the communion plate cost £100. The interior has a very chaste and imposing appearance, and at the east end of the chancel there is a beautiful stained glass window, commemorative of Mary Heber, who died in 1846, sister to the late Bishop Heber. At the east end of the aisle are twelve stalls, six on each side, which are for the use of the rector and the lord of the manor. The organ stands at the west end of the nave in a beautiful recessed arch. At the east end of the south aisle is a stained glass window, with representations of the four evangelists, beautifully executed by Evans, of Shrewsbury. The font is very ancient, and of an octagonal shape rudely carved. Several handsome monuments ornament the church, particularly one of fine statuary marble, exquisitely executed by Chantrey, in memory of Bishop Heber, formerly rector of this parish. Opposite it are two beautifully executed monuments of Grinshill free stone, near to which is another in the same gothic style to the memory of Charles Cooper Cholmondely, formerly rector of Hodnet, who died in 1831. Near the west end of the nave, a handsome marble tablet remembers Lord Hill and his Lady, the former died in 1814 and the latter in 1842; not far from which Sir Rowland Hill, Bart., is remembered on an elegant tablet; he died in 1783, and was buried in this church. On the same side is an elaborately ornamented tablet to the Vernon family. A lofty slate coloured marble tablet commemorates the death of several members of the Hill family; there is also an antique tablet near the pulpit to the memory of Hugh Pigot, who died in 1697, besides which there are various other monuments which our limits will not allow us to notice. The living is a rectory valued in the king’s book at £26 0s. 10d., now returned at £2,336. The Rev. Samuel H. Macauley, B.D., is the incumbent, and resides at the rectory, an elegant mansion of free stone, built by the late Bishop Heber, in 1812; the house stands on an eminence a little S.W. from the church, and commands most delightful views of the surrounding country. The old rectory stood on the grounds adjoining the hall, a little south from the church; not far from the rectory stood the tithe barn of capacious dimensions, which, with the old parsonage, was taken down soon after the erection of the present rectory. The tithes of this parish have been commuted for £1,735. There is a national school where fifty girls and sixty boys are educated. Hodnet Common, situated on the south and south-east side of the township, contains 375 acres, the whole of which is the property of A. C. H. Percy, Esq., except about thirty acres. A considerable tract of the common was enclosed in 1850. There is a small lock-up with two cells situated on the Shrewsbury road.