THE WENLOCK FRANCHISE.

The Wenlock Franchise is bounded on the east by the Brimstree Hundred, on the south by the Stottesden Hundred, on the west by the Condover and Munslow Hundreds, and on the north by that of South Bradford. The borough and franchise of Wenlock were formerly co-extensive with the Hundred of Patintern, mentioned in Doomsday Book, which comprised the following parishes, viz.:—Much Wenlock, Little Wenlock, Broseley, Madeley, Benthall, Barrow, Tinley, Badger, Beckbury, Priors Ditton, Stoke St. Milborough, Eaton-under-Heywood, Hughley, Shipton, Monk Hopton, Willey, Deuxhill, and the Extra Parochial Liberty of Posenhall. By an order of quarter sessions, held at Shrewsbury, April 4th, 1836, the parishes of Badger, Deuxhill, and Beckbury, were added to the Brimstree Hundred; and the parishes of Eaton, Shipton, and Stoke St. Milborough, should thenceforward be considered as part of the Munslow Hundred. Ironstone, coal, limestone, and a superior clay, are found in this division of the county, which is celebrated for extensive iron-works, the manufacture of porcelain earthenware, tobacco pipes, bricks, tiles, and draining pipes. The manufacturing district is chiefly confined to the north and north-east verge of the franchise. It is intersected by the river Severn at the northern extremity, and the river afterwards forms the boundary of the franchise for some distance. At the census of 1841 this division of the county contained 3,703 inhabited houses, 155 uninhabited, and 29 building; and a population of 18,016 souls; of whom 8,936 were males and 9,080 females. Of the total population 16,518 persons were born in the county, and 1,498 elsewhere.

BARROW

is a small but pleasantly situated village and parish, in the Wenlock Franchise, two miles east from Much Wenlock, and two miles south-west from Broseley. The parish contains 2,989a. 0r. 39p. of land, the rateable value of which is £3,086. 6s. 1d. At the census in 1801 there were 479 inhabitants; 1831, 351; and in 1841 there were 85 houses and a population of 383 souls. Lord Forester and Sir Richard Acton, Bart., are the landowners. Willey Hall, a handsome mansion, is the occasional seat of Lord Forester. The lands in this parish abound with game, which is rigidly preserved. The Church is a venerable structure, dedicated to St. Giles, and consists of nave and chancel, with a turret, in which are two bells. The walls display many tabular monuments, and there is an antique font, with a capacious basin. On the south side of the church-yard is buried Tom Moody, the celebrated whipper-in to George Forester, Esq. The grave-stone is simply inscribed “Tom Moody, died 19th November, 1796.” The church was formerly an appendage to the Priory of Wenlock. The living is a perpetual curacy annexed to the rectory of Willey. The Rev. Henry Bridgeman is the incumbent.

The School and Almshouse.—John Slaney, merchant tailor of London, having, in his life-time, built in the parish of Barrow an almshouse for six poor aged men or women that had been ancient dwellers thereabout, and appointed six acres of ground to be laid out for their better relief and to the support of a school. He also directed an allowance of 1s. 4d. weekly to be made to each inmate, and every alternate year a good frieze gown to be given to each person, worth 13s. 4d., and hose and shoes to the value of 6s. 8d. Mr. Slaney also erected a school for the free teaching of twenty children, and ordained that a great part of the six acres of land above mentioned should be for the maintenance of the school; and he gave towards the maintenance of the schoolmaster £10 a-year for ever. For the performance of the said allowance he gave a rent charge of £30 per annum issuing out of his manor of Willey. And for the residue of his gift to make up the pensions of the said schoolhouse and almshouse, he charged his cousin, John Slaney, that he and his heirs and assignees should for ever pay the same as a rent charge out of his lands called the Hem, which lands he gave to his said cousin on his continuing the charities according to the conditions of his will. In this will Mr. Slaney is directed to keep the school and almshouse in continual repair, and to provide fuel. The premises thus conditionally devised became the property of John Stephens, Esq., who, in 1816, exchanged the lands with Cecil Weld Forester, Esq., lord of the manor of Willey, for lands situated near Barrow church. The almshouse having become much dilapidated, the said Cecil W. Forester, Esq., agreed to be at the expense of taking down and rebuilding the school and almshouse (at his own expense), and keeping the same in repair during the term of his natural life, and to find garments and coals, pursuant to the will of the founder. In pursuance of this arrangement, the almshouse was taken down, and a new one and a schoolhouse built on the lands which he had given in exchange. The yearly expenditure when the Charity Commissioners published their report was £33. 16s., of which the rent charge on the manor of Willey provides for £30; so that there remained for the annual charge upon the lands of Mr. Stephens £3. 16s., but which was then paid by Mr. Forester, besides the cost of twelve tons of coals. With respect to the terms of this exchange, it cannot escape observation that the £3. 16s. and the twelve tons of coals which are furnished by Mr. Forester, in pursuance of his agreement, and the expense that he may be at in repairs, are a part of the consideration that he was to give for the old schoolhouse and almshouse, and the land belonging to them; and not the annual supply which Mr. Stephens’s estates were charged by the will of Mr. Slaney to furnish. When the charity has received Mr. Forester’s supply, it has received nothing more than the stipulated equivalent for the old schoolhouse and almshouse premises. But before the exchange it was entitled to something more, namely, to the supply charged on Mr. Stephens’s estates. It must, therefore, continue still entitled to that supply since the exchange; unless the effect of the exchange has been to exonerate the estates of Mr. Stephens during the life of Mr. Forester at the expense of the charity. We think that such has not been the effect, but that Mr. Stephens’s estates are liable to make good to the charity the annual supply of £3. 16s. and twelve tons of coals yearly, and to continue that supply in future. The school teacher, in addition to the £10 prescribed by the will of Mr. Slaney, has the use of a schoolhouse, and about five acres of land attached to it, with the privilege of taking private scholars.

It appears from the parish books, that a sum of £9 poors’ stock, which had for many years been in the hands of successive parish officers, was applied in the year 1788 to the repairs of the church, as interest of which the sum of 10s. is distributed by the churchwardens at Christmas in fourpenny loaves among the poor of the parish.

Directory.—John Michael Howell, farmer, The Marsh; Thomas Instone, farmer, Swinney; Augusta Jones, schoolmistress; Robert Peake, farmer; William Thursfield, Esq., farmer and land agent to Lord Forester.

BENTHALL

is a small parish with a scattered population, three miles and a half from Much Wenlock, which comprises 1,195a. 3r. 1p. of land, the whole of which is the property of Lord Forester, who is also lord of the manor. The land has a bold swelling surface, and abounds in limestone. There are lime works in this parish, which give employment to a number of the inhabitants. There is also a tobacco pipe manufactory, and an establishment for the manufacture of earthenware, carried on by Mr. Edward Bathurst. At the census of 1801, the parish contained 636 inhabitants; 1831, 525; and in 1841 there were 131 inhabited houses, and 587 souls. The Church, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, consists of nave and chancel, and has a small turret, in which is one bell: it was rebuilt in 1667, and stands on a gentle eminence: it is neatly pewed with oak sittings, and has a gallery at the west end. On the north wall of the chancel there is a tablet to the memory of Ralph Brown, Esq. and Catherine, his wife; the former died in 1707: he was lord of the manor of Benthall. On the south wall is a neat memorial to Edward Brown, gentleman, of Broseley, who died January 29th, 1849, aged 74 years. In the nave of the church is buried Philip Benthall, Esq., who died July 26th, 1713, aged 81 years. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the vicarage of Much Wenlock; incumbent, Rev. W. H. Wayne; curate, Rev. Thomas H. Edwards. Benthall Hall is a stone mansion situated near the church, some portions of which were erected in the year 1535. It is the property of Lord Forester, but is now unoccupied. In the time of the civil wars it was garrisoned by the royalists, at which period tradition states the old church was destroyed.

Mrs. Ann Brown, by her will dated 30th May, 1764, directed that the dividends of £200 stock, consolidated three per cents, belonging to her, should be yearly, at Christmas, distributed by her brother, Francis Turner Blithe, and his heirs, and the minister of Benthall, as they should think fit. The dividends are received under the power of attorney, and are paid to the minister, who regularly distributes them about Christmas in small sums among the poor.

Edward Brown, Esq., of Broseley, bequeathed £200 to the minister and churchwardens for the time being of Bethnall in the county of Salop, on trust to invest the same in funds, or government or real securities, and to apply the interest in repairing and maintaining the vault and tombstone of his late brother in-law, Sir Humphrey Charlton, situated in the church yard at Benthall, and to apply the surplus to the relief of poor persons from time to time resident in the parish.

Posenhall is an extra parochial liberty, contiguous to Benthall, which at the census of 1841 is returned as containing five houses and twenty-two inhabitants. There is only one farm here, which is in the occupancy of Mr. Thomas Pitt; there is also an earthenware manufactory: the names will be found included in the Benthall directory.

Directory.—Edwin Bathurst, earthenware manufacturer, Benthall Pottery; John and Edward Burton, farmers and brick makers; Joseph Currier, shopkeeper; John Duckett, timber merchant; Rev. Thomas H. Edwards, B.A., curate, Benthall House; Mary Gother, vict., Britannia Inn; John Gother, joiner; Hiram Hill, lime burner, residence, Broseley; Joshua Instone, blacksmith; John Jones, vict., Leopard Inn; Warren Taylor Jones, earthenware manufacturer, Posenhall Pottery; John Patten, lime burner and barge owner; Ann Pitt, farmer; Thomas Pitt, farmer, Posenhall; Edward Roden, farmer and corn miller; Mary Roden, farmer; Noah Roden, tobacco pipe manufacturer; James Shepard, maltster.

BROSELEY,

anciently written Burwardsley, is a parish and considerable market town in the Wenlock franchise, four miles east from Much Wenlock, 13 miles south-east from Shrewsbury, and 146 miles north-west from London. The town is seated on an eminence above the Severn, and consists principally of one long irregular built street, with minor streets branching off in different directions. The houses are mostly of brick, some of them of respectable appearance, interspersed with others of a more humble description, inhabited chiefly by miners and the operatives employed in the brick and iron works. It stands in the middle of an extensive mining district, in which coal and ironstone are obtained; and there is an extensive iron foundry here, with others in the immediate vicinity. The town and neighbourhood are also famous for the manufacture of fire bricks and tobacco pipes, which are exported to all parts of the kingdom. Broseley is the only place in England where the celebrated glazed tobacco pipes are manufactured, and it is supposed this was the first place where the manufacture of this article commenced; upwards of two centuries ago they were made from clay procured in this locality, now the clay got here is used for the manufacture of bricks, tiles and earthenware, and the pipeclay is procured from Devonshire and Cornwall. Messrs. William Southron and Co. have an extensive establishment for the manufacture of the glazed pipes, employing upwards of forty operatives, and using forty tons of the Devonshire pipeclay annually. The bricks and tiles made at Broseley are not surpassed by any in the kingdom; there are several extensive establishments conducted by the Messrs. Davies and others. The parish contains 1,970a. 3r. 24p. of land, the principal owners of which are Lord Forester: Francis Harrison, Esq.; John Onions, Esq.; John Davenport, Esq.; and William Taylor, Esq. There are also a number of other freeholders. At the census in 1801, this parish had a population of 4,832 souls; 1831, 4,299; 1841, 4,829, and in 1851 there were 4,738 inhabitants, of whom 2,229 were males, and 2,509 females: at the latter period there were 1,005 inhabited houses, 43 uninhabited, and two building; rateable value of the parish, £7,891. 8s. 6d. The market held on a Wednesday is not very numerously attended. Fairs are held on the last Tuesday in April, and October 28th. The Market Hall is a brick structure, situated in High street, built about the year 1779. The Court Room, over the market hall, contains a fine oak chair beautifully carved, and dated 1626; in this room the petty sessions are held every six weeks. Here also was formerly held the court of requests, which had jurisdiction in eight of the neighbouring parishes; this, however, has been superseded by the new County Court Act.

The Church, dedicated to All Saints, is a free-stone structure, consisting of nave, chancel and side aisles, with a square tower in which are six bells; the nave is separated from the side aisles by five pointed arches on each side; over the side aisles and at the west end are galleries; upon the latter is placed an organ. The church was rebuilt in 1845, and in consequence of a grant of £400 from the Incorporated Society, 694 of the sittings are free and unappropriated for ever; there is now accommodation for 1,200 hearers; it is neatly fitted up with oak sittings, and the roof is of groined timber. The old church was a brick structure, with a low tower of free stone, and had sittings for 782 persons. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book at £7. 18s. 6d., in the patronage of Lord Forester: incumbent, the Hon. and Rev. Orlando Watkin Weld Forester, M.A.; curate, Rev. Andrew Burn, B.A. The tithes are commuted for £453. The Baptists have small chapels in Duke street and on Harris’s Green. The Independents have a chapel in Duke street. The Wesleyan Methodists have a chapel at Duke street and one at Coalford. The Primitive Methodists have a chapel at Broseley Wood. The National School is held in a spacious room over the Market Hall, which measures sixty-one feet long and twenty-one feet broad. The average attendance of scholars at the present time is one hundred and ninety-five.

Jackfield is a populous hamlet, in the parish of Broseley, stretching along the banks of the Severn, and situated near a mile north of the parish church. Here the inhabitants are busily engaged in extensive works for the manufacture of bricks and tiles. At this place is also situated the Ivanhoe Pottery, an establishment conducted by Mr. George Proudman, where all kinds of earthenware are manufactured. The clay used in the manufacture is got from mines on the premises, and is found in regular layers above the coal and limestone; some of the mines extend to the depth of one hundred yards. The Church (or Chapel of Ease) at Jackfield is a handsome brick structure, with stone finishings, consisting of nave and chancel, with a square tower. It is situated on an eminence overlooking Ironbridge and a part of Coalbrook Dale. It is dedicated to St. Mary, and was built in 1759, by Francis Turner Blythe, Esq. The interior has a neat appearance, and on the south side there is a neat marble tablet to the memory of Alexander Brodie, Esq., ironmaster, of Calcutt, who died June 5th, 1830. Another neat tablet remembers the founder of the church, Francis T. Blythe, Esq., who died September 22nd, 1770, aged 61 years. There is also a tablet to Thomas Carter Phillips, Esq., who died in 1783. The National School is a commodious brick structure, erected in the year 1844. The school-room is used as a place of worship on Sunday and Wednesday evenings. The rector and curate of Broseley officiate alternately.

Not far from Jackfield formerly stood the ancient mansion of the Tuckies. About sixty years ago this house was repaired for Lord Dundonald, father of Lord Cochrane, who resided here a considerable time, making chemical experiments, among the principal of which was that of extracting tar from coals. For this purpose many kilns or ovens were erected on the banks of the Severn, and the process was conducted in the following manner:—“A range of stoves was supplied with coal kept burning at the bottom; the smoke was conveyed by horizontal tunnels into a capacious funnel built of brick, supported by arches, and covered on the top by a shallow pond of water. The smoke, condensed by the chill of the water, fell on the bottom of the funnel in the form of tar, and was conveyed by pipes into a receiver, whence it was pumped into a large boiler, and boiled to a proper consistence, or otherwise inspissated into pitch; the volatile parts which arose during this inspissation were again condensed into oil used for varnish.” Great quantities of this useful article were sent for the use of the navy, and much of it was used in japanning. Lord Dundonald expended large sums of money in these undertakings, which were unsuccessful as to profitable remuneration. On the site of these operations was afterwards erected the great iron foundry where so many cannon were cast by Mr. Brodie during the late war.

A most melancholy accident occurred near Broseley on October 23rd, 1799. The passage boat in crossing the Severn, which at this place is very rapid, was overturned. There were forty-one persons in the boat who were employed in the china works of Messrs. Rose and Co., of these thirteen only escaped, the remaining twenty-eight were all drowned. Tradition states that a large house in Broseley was formerly in possession of some Dutchmen, who had a mint for coining money secreted in cellars under the house. They lived in a very expensive style, and kept race horses. There is a curious fossil found here in the stratum of coal resembling a fish with the head and tail cut off. It is covered with scales, and measures about eight inches long. Its solidity is much greater than the substance in which it is infolded, and when broken appears like limestone; if thrown into the fire it explodes with considerable violence.

In the year 1711 a very remarkable inflammable spring was discovered at Broseley, of which the Rev. Mr. Mason, professor at Cambridge, gives the following account:—“The well for four or five feet deep is six or seven feet wide, within that is another hole of like depth, dug in clay; in the bottom whereof is placed a cylindric earthern vessel, of about four or five inches diameter at the mouth, having the bottom taken off, and the sides well fixed in, the clay rammed close about it. Within the pot is a brown water as thick as puddle continually forced up with a violent motion, beyond that of boiling water, and a rumbling hollow noise rising and falling by fits; but there was no appearance of any vapour arising, which perhaps might have been visible had not the sun shone so bright. Upon putting the candle down at the end of a stick, at a quarter of a yard distance, it took fire, darting and flashing after a very violent manner, for about half a yard high, much in the manner of spirits in a lamp, but with great agitation. It was said that a tea kettle had been made to boil in about nine minutes time, and that it had been left burning for forty-eight hours without any sensible diminution. It was extinguished by putting a wet mop upon it, which it was necessary to keep there for a considerable time, otherwise it would not go out. Upon the removal of the mop there arises a sulphurous smoke, lasting about a minute, and yet the water is cold to the touch. The cause of this inflammable property is most probably the mixture of the waters with petroleum, which is one of the most inflammable substances in nature, and has the property of burning on the surface of water.” In the year 1755 this well entirely disappeared by the sinking of a coal pit in its neighbourhood.

Charities.—John Barrett, Esq., of the Madeiras, bequeathed the sum of £200 to the poor of Broseley. Frances Morgan left £50, the interest to be divided among twelve poor widows on Christmas-day annually. Richard Edwards, of Rowton, left £110 to be laid out in land, and the profits thereof to be distributed on Christmas-day and Easter-day, in equal proportions, among such poor widows of the parish as his heirs and the minister of the parish should judge proper objects of charity. Esther Hollyman left £20 to be added to the poor’s stock in 1730. It appears from entries in a modern parish book and from a memorandum in the handwriting of a late curate of the parish, that the several legacies above specified, amounting together to the sum of £380, were lent to the parish about the year 1777, and employed (with other monies borrowed and raised by subscriptions) in building a market house and shops, from the rents of which it was agreed that a sum not exceeding £18 should be annually distributed among the poor. By a more recent resolution, which purports to have been made at a parish meeting held on the 31st May, 1802, it was resolved—“That there should be paid to the poor, from the revenues of the market hall, in half yearly payments, the annual sum of £18 until the £3 above £15 should liquidate a debt which appeared due to the said poor of £43; and that then £15 per annum should be paid only as the permanent interest of £380 borrowed of the trustees of the said poor, and for the purpose of building the said market hall.” How the debt of £43 originated we are not able to state, the old parish books, which would probably have thrown some light upon the subject, having been lost. It appears to us, however, not improbable that this sum may be the remains of the poor’s stock arising from the benefactions which are recorded on the tables in the church, left by ten several donors, and amounting to £51. 10s. If the debt of £43, stated to be due from the parish to the poor, was part of the stock arising from the above benefactions, the resolution by which it was determined to distribute it by instalments among the poor seems to be at variance with the intentions of the respective donors, whose object clearly was the establishment of a fund that should continue permanently productive. It may be necessary to observe that although by the payment of £3 per annum, according to the terms of the resolution above mentioned, the debt of £43 would be wholly liquidated in the year 1816, yet the annual payment of £18 has been since continued without any abatement. This sum is distributed by the minister in equal moieties at Christmas and Easter, among the poor inhabitants of Broseley, in sums proportioned to their necessities.

William Lewis, by indenture, dated January 2nd, 1740, granted a yearly rent charge of 20s., issuing out of a messuage and two acres of land, situate near the church, in Broseley, with the penalty of 6s. for every day that the payment should be in arrear, and directed the same to be distributed among twenty poor widows. It further appears from the benefaction table that Andrew Langley, of the Woodhouse, left 12s. yearly to be distributed by the minister and churchwardens on St. Andrew’s-day yearly, and to be paid for ever by the owner of the Woodhouse estate.

Mary Cotton, who died in 1838, bequeathed to the minister and churchwardens for the time being of this parish the sum of £300, three per cent consolidated bank annuities, upon trust, to receive the interest and divide it among forty poor widows of this parish on the 29th of December, yearly. Fanny Pritchard left £100 in trust to the same parties, to be invested in government securities, and directed the interest to be divided among ten poor widows on St. Thomas’s day.

At a place called the Birches, between Buildwas and Ironbridge, and not far from Broseley, an extraordinary phenomenon occurred in May, 1775, of which the following account has been given by the Rev. John Fletcher, of Madeley. “When I went to the spot,” says Mr. Fletcher, “the first thing that struck me was the destruction of the little bridge that separated the parish of Madeley from that of Buildwas, and the total disappearing of the turnpike road to Buildwas bridge, instead of which nothing presented itself to my view but a confused heap of bushes, and huge clods of earth tumbled one over another. The river also wore a different aspect; it was shallow, turbid, noisy, boisterous, and came down from a different point. Whether I considered the water or the land the scene appeared to me entirely new, and as I could not fancy myself in another part of the country, I concluded that the God of nature had shaken his providential iron rod over the subverted spot before me. Following the track made by a great number of spectators, who came already from the neighbouring parishes, I climbed over the ruins and came to a field well grown with rye-grass, where the ground was greatly cracked in several places, and where large turfs, some entirely, others half turned up exhibited the appearance of straight or crooked furrows, imperfectly formed by a plough drawn at a venture. Getting from that field over the hedge, into a part of the road which was yet visible, I found it raised in one place, sunk in another, concave in a third, hanging on one side in a fourth, and contracted as if some uncommon force had pressed the two hedges together. But the higher part of it surprised me most, and brought directly to my remembrance those places of mount Vesuvius where the solid stony lava has been strongly worked by repeated earthquakes, for the hard beaten gravel that formed the surface of the road was broken every way into huge masses, partly detached from each other, with deep apertures between them exactly like the shattered lava. This striking likeness of circumstances made me conclude that the similar effect might proceed from the same cause, namely, a strong convulsion on the surface if not in the bowels of the earth. Going a little farther towards Buildwas I found that the road was again totally lost for a considerable space, having been overturned, absorbed, or tumbled with the hedges that bounded it to a considerable distance towards the river; this part of the desolation appeared then to me inexpressibly dreadful. Between a shattered field and the river there was that morning a bank on which besides a great deal of underwood grew twenty fine large oaks, this wood shot with such violence into the Severn before it that it forced the water in great columns a considerable height like mighty fountains, and gave the overflowing river a retrograde motion. This is not the only accident that happened to the Severn; for near the Grove, the channel which was chiefly of a soft blue rock burst in ten thousand pieces, and rose perpendicularly about ten yards, heaving up the immense quantity of water and the shoals of fishes that were therein. Among the rubbish at the bottom of the river, which was very deep in that place, there were one or two huge stones and a large piece of timber, or an oak tree, which from time immemorial had lain partly buried in the mud I suppose in consequence of some flood; the stones and tree were thrown up as if they had been only a pebble and a stick, and are now at some distance from the river, many feet higher than the surface of it. Ascending from the ruins of the road I came to those of a barn, which after travelling many yards towards the river had been absorbed in a chasm where the shattered roof was yet visible. Next to those remains of the barn, and partly parallel with the river, was a long edge which had been torn from a part of it yet adjoining to the garden hedge, and had been removed above forty yards downward together with some large trees that were in it and the land that it enclosed. The tossing, tearing, and shifting of so many acres of land below, was attended with the formation of stupendous chasms above. At some distance above, near the wood which crowns the desolated spot, another chasm, or rather a complication of chasms excited my admiration; it is an assemblage of chasms, one of which that seems to terminate the desolation to the north-east, runs some hundred yards towards the river and Madeley wood; it looked like the deep channel of some great serpentine river dried up, whose little islands, fords, and hollows appear without a watery veil. This long chasm at the top seems to be made up of two or three that run into each other, and their conjunction when it is viewed from a particular point exhibits the appearance of a ruined fortress whose ramparts have been blown up by mines that have done dreadful execution, and yet have spared here and there a pyramid of earth, or a shattered tower by which the spectators can judge of the nature and solidity of the demolished bulwark. Fortunately there was on the devoted spot but one house, inhabited by two poor countrymen and their families; it stands yet, though it has removed about a yard from its former situation. The morning in which the desolation happened, Samuel Wilcocks, one of those countrymen, got up about four o’clock, and opening the window to see if the weather was fair he took notice of a small crack in the earth about four or five inches wide, and observed the above mentioned field of corn heaving up and rolling about like the waves of the sea; the trees by the motion of the ground waved also, as if they had been blown with the wind, though the air was calm and serene; the river Severn, which for some days had overflowed its banks, was also very much agitated and seemed to turn back to its source. The man being astonished at such a sight, rubbed his eyes, supposing himself not quite awake, and being soon convinced that destruction stalked about, he alarmed his wife, and taking children in their arms they went out of the house as fast as they could, accompanied by the other man and his wife. A kind Providence directed their flight, for instead of running eastward across the fields that were just going to be overthrown, they fled westward into a wood that had little share in the destruction. When they were about twenty yards from the house they perceived a great crack run very quick up the ground from the river; immediately the land behind them with the trees and hedges moved towards the Severn with great swiftness and an uncommon noise, which Samuel Wilcocks compared to a large flock of sheep running swiftly by him. It was then chiefly that desolation expanded her wings over the devoted spot and the Birches saw a momentary representation of a partial chaos! then nature seemed to have forgotten her laws: trees commenced itinerant!—those that were at a distance from the river advanced towards it, while the submerged oak broke out of its watery confinements and by rising many feet recovered a place on dry land; the solid road was swept away as its dust had been on a stormy day;—then probably the rocky bottom of the Severn emerged, pushing towards heaven astonished shoals of fishes and hogsheads of water innumerable;—the wood like an embattled body of vegetable combatants stormed the bed of the overflowing river, and triumphantly waved its green colours over its recoiling flood;—fields became moveable,—nay, they fled when none pursued, and as they fled they rent the green carpets that covered them in a thousand pieces;—in a word, dry land exhibited the dreadful appearance of a sea-storm. Solid earth as if it had acquired the fluidity of water tossed itself into massy waves, which rose or sunk at the beck of him who raised the tempest; and what is most astonishing, the stupendous hollow of one of those waves ran for nearly a quarter of a mile through rooks and a stony soil with as much ease as if dry earth, stones, and rocks had been a part of the liquid element. Soon after the river was stopt, Samuel Cookson, a farmer who lives a quarter of a mile below the Birches, on the same side of the river, was much terrified by a dust of wind that beat against his windows as if shot had been thrown against it, but his fright greatly increased when getting up to see if the flood that was over his ground had abated he perceived that all the water was from his fields, and that scarce any remained in the Severn. He called up his family, ran to the river, and finding that it was dammed up, he made the best of his way to alarm the inhabitants of Buildwas, the next village above, which he supposed would soon be under water. He was happily mistaken, providence just prepared a way for their escape; the Severn, notwithstanding a considerable flood which at that time rendered it doubly rapid and powerful, having met with two dreadful shocks, the one from her rising bed and the other from the intruding wood, could do nothing but foam and turn back with impetuosity. The ascending and descending streams conflicted about Buildwas bridge; the river sensibly rose for some miles back, and continued rising till just as it was near entering into the houses at Buildwas it got a vent through the fields on the right, and after spreading far and near over them collected all its might to assault its powerful aggressor, I mean the grove, that had so unexpectedly turned it out of the bed which it had enjoyed for countless ages. Sharp was the attack, but the resistance was yet more vigorous, and the Severn repelled again and again was obliged to seek its old empty bed, by going the shortest way to the right, and the moment it found it again it precipitated therein with a dreadful roar, and for a time formed a considerable cataract with inconceivable fury, as if it wanted to be revenged on the first thing that came in its way, began to tear and wash away a fine rich meadow opposite to the grove, and there in a few hours worked itself a new channel about three hundred yards long, through which a barge from Shrewsbury ventured three or four day after, all wonder at the strangement of the overthrow. Some ascribe it to an earthquake, others to a slip of the ground, and not a few remain neuter, confessing that providence has conducted this phenomenon in such a manner as to confound the wisdom of the wise, and force even philosophers to adore in silence the God of nature whose ways are past finding out, who giveth not always account of his matters, and who perhaps strikes an ambiguous blow to convince us that the how of his vengeance has more than one string, and that, to say nothing of the other elements, our mother earth may afford us an untimely grave, either by the slipping of her back or the convulsion of her bowels. My employment and taste leading me more to search out the mysteries of heaven than to scrutinize the phenomena of the earth, and to point at the wonders of grace than those of nature; I leave the decision of the question about the slip and the earthquake to some abler philosopher.”

Post Office—At Mr. Jeremiah Ashwood’s. Letters arrive at 8 A.M., and are despatched 5.35 P.M.

Marked 1 are in Cape or King street; 2 Church street; 3 High street; 4 Queen street; 5 Barratt’s hill; 6 Broseley Wood; 7 Jackfield and neighbourhood; 8 Barber’s row; and 9 Duke street.

2 Amphlet Susannah, vict., The Dog

3 Ashwood Jeremiah, corn miller, maltster, and postmaster

3 Bartlam Edward Glover, Esq., surgeon, and coroner for borough of Wenlock

5 Bathurst Henry Martyn, schoolmaster (national)

5 Baker Mrs. Frances

3 Baker The Misses, drapers and mercers

2 Baugh George, Esq.

2 Bayliss Miss Helen, ladies’ boarding school

7 Beard Thomas, victualler, Werps Inn

3 Beddoes John, shoemaker

6 Beddow Thomas, grocer

6 Bill Jeremiah, butcher, shopkeeper and beerhouse

3 Birch Thomas, coalmaster

7 Boden Susannah, shopkpr.

3 Booth Henry, farmer and butcher

6 Bradley Richard, tobacco pipe maker

3 Bourne Wm., blacksmith and beerhouse-keeper

2 Boycott Richard, baker and confectioner

2 Broadhurst Thos., timber merchant & wheelwright

2 Brodie Mrs.

7 Brown Edwd., blacksmith, and vict., Summer House

3 Burnet Henry, hosier and haberdasher

3 Burnet Isaac, boot and shoemaker

3 Burnet John, grocer and dealer in hops

7 Burn Rev. Andrew, B.A., curate, Rock House

7 Burton Edward, brick and tile manufr. & barge owner

7 Burroughs John, rope manufacturer

3 Cartwright Chas., butcher

6 Cartwright James, butcher

3 Charlton Humphrey, wine and spirit and hop and seed merchant

4 Colley Bernard Wilkinson, maltster

8 Collins Thos., locksmith

2 Cooke Joseph, victualler, Old Crown

3 Corfield Thomas, butcher

3 Cowley Jas., grocer, ironmonger, and seedsman

3 Cox Robert, saddler

3 Crowder Leonard, painter, plumber, and glazier

3 Crump William, butcher

7 Crumpton William, ferryman and barge owner

7 Cullis William, victualler, Tumbling Sailors

7 Davies Ann, brick and tile maker

7 Davies James, sen., brick and tile maker, The Rock

7 Davies James, jun., brick and tile maker, The Rock

3 Davies John, farmer

6 Davies Samuel, butcher and maltster

7 Davies Thos., shopkeeper, and brick and tile maker

Davies Thomas, tailor, The Delph

6 Dean James, thatcher and beerhouse-keeper

1 Davies Thomas, victualler, Duke of Cumberland

7 Dillon Joseph, bargeowner, Salt house

7 Dodd Andrew, bargeowner, Salt-house

7 Doughty Geo., bargeowner, Salthouse

7 Doughty Robert, bargeowner, Salthouse

7 Doughty Theophilus, brick & tile maker, Lloyd Head

6 Easthope Mrs. Ann

2 Edwards Ann, victualler, Foresters’ Arms

3 Evans Edwin R. auctioneer, accountant, house & estate agent, valuer & appraiser, agent to the Sun Fire office, and superintendent registrar

3 Evans Mrs. Maria, draper and mercer

9 Evans Richard, registrar of births and deaths

6 Evans John, shopkeeper and poulterer

Evans Robert, Esq., J.P., The Dunge

8 Evans Susan, confectioner

3 Evans Thos., confectioner

8 Everall Robert, butcher and vict., The Plough

1 Everall Thomas, baker and grocer

3 Fawkes Arthur, victualler, Cape of Good Hope

8 Fenton John, brazier and tinman

2 Forester The Honourable and Rev. Orlando Watkin Weld, M.A., The Rectory

5 Firfield Mrs.

5 Francis Robert, tailor

8 Glover Edwd., hairdresser

6 Gough Mrs. Martha

2 Griffiths Edward, shopkeeper, Salt-house

2 Griffiths John, timber merchant and wheelwright

Griffiths Miss, milliner

3 Gwynn Geo., basket-maker

5 Gwynn Martha, basket-maker

7 Harris Richard, tailor, Salt-house

3 Hartshorne Edward, boot and shoemaker

2 Hartshone Frederick H., Esq., surgeon

3 Hartshorne George, auctioneer, appraiser, cabinet-maker, builder, and upholsterer

1 Harvey John, grocer, draper, accountant, agent to the Birmingham fire office, and medical, clerical, and general life office

9 Hayman John, glass dealer and victualler, The Fox

1 Holmes Wm., coalmaster

8 Hill Benjamin, joiner and builder

5 Hill Hiram, grocer and coal master

8 Hiskett Thomas, tin-plate worker

7 Holt Thomas, victualler, Woodbridge Inn

3 Humphries John, grocer, chandler, and hop dealer

2 Instone Samuel, grocer

2 Jones Adam, surveyor and victualler, The Pheasant Commercial Inn

Jackson Rev. Wm. (Baptist), Broseley Cottage

8 Johnson John, tailor and habit maker

7 Jones Isaac, blacksmith

7 Jones John, vict., Duke of Wellington, The Werps

6 Jones Samuel, baker

3 Jones Stephen, tailor and habit maker

Jones Rev. Wm. (Baptist), Chapel Hill

3 Jones Richard, painter, plumber, glazier, & paper hanger

7 Jones Thos., fishmonger, and beerhouse-keeper, The Rock

2 Knight Henry, Esq., professor of music

3 Leadbetter Enoch, agent to Crown Life Assurance office

9 Legge Mrs. Margaret

3 Lister Edward, victualler, The Elephant

6 Lister Thomas, Esq.

7 Lloyd Henry, waterman and vict., The Oak

6 Lloyd William, beerhouse-keeper

3 Mason James, shoemaker, and licensed to let post-horses

7 Mapp Thomas, cement manufacturer

6 Mason Henry, hatter and marine-store dealer

6 Mason John, grocer and tea dealer

7 Miles Francis, shopkeeper, Salt-house

3 Miles Thomas, victualler, The Albion

3 Molineux Thomas, boot and shoemaker

6 Morris John Cox, Esq.

Morgan Mrs., Rock House

Mortimer Mrs. Favell Lee, Broseley Hall

3 Nevitt Enoch, stationer

3 Nevitt Samuel, shopkeeper

Nicholas William, Esq., Field House

3 Oakley Jesse, druggist and grocer

3 Oare Charles, Esq.

2 Onions John, Esq., iron-founder, and brick & tile maker, White Hall

7 Oswell George, beerhouse-keeper and ferryman

Page Thomas, maltster

7 Parker Benj., bargeowner & vict., Lloyd’s Head Inn

7 Parker Charles, victualler, Black Swan

3 Parsons Wm., blacksmith

3 Perrin William, draper, mercer, and hatter

9 Peters Moses and Richard, nail makers & ironmongers

3 Potts Geo., Esq., solicitor, clerk to borough of Wenlock & to Madeley County Court, The Green

3 Potts & Nicholls, solicitors

2 Pountney Edwin, baker

3 Pountney Samuel, grocer

9 Pountney Samuel, tailor

6 Powell Richd., shopkeeper

7 Price Robert, mine agent, Calcott

3 Pritchard’s Boycott and Nicholas, bankers; draw on Barnett, Hoares, and Company, London

2 Pritchard George, Esq.

3 Pritchard John, Esq.

2 Pritchard Miss

7 Proudman Geo., earthenware manufacturer, Ivanhoe Pottery

3 Pugh Helen, milliner and dressmaker

3 Pugh Thos., china painter

5 Raspass Elizbeth, shopkpr.

7 Reynolds John, bargeowner

3 Rhodes Charles, vict., The Lion Commercial Inn

7 Richards Geo., beerhouse, The Salt-house

7 Richards Robert, victualler, Severn Trow

3 Richards Thomas, saddler

7 Robinson Jas., blacksmith

7 Roden Samuel, brick and tile manufacturer; house, Ironbridge

7 Roden Thomas, joiner, Salt-house

6 Rowe Chas., wheelwright

6 Rufus Hannah, victualler, King’s Head

2 Rushton Henry, joiner and builder

3 Rushton Richard, grocer

2 Shaw William P., agent to legal and general life assurance office, and to Salop fire office

6 Smith Moses, hosier

4 Salmon John, hosier

6 Southorn Ann, beerhouse

6 Southorn Joseph, tobacco-pipe manufacturer

6 Southorn Wm. & Co., tobacco-pipe manufacturers

4 Speak Thos., shopkeeper

5 Squires Richard, builder

2 Stable Mrs. Mary, The Deanery

2 Stables Miss Jane, The Deanery

3 Stephan Caroline, milliner and dressmaker

4 Taylor William, butcher

7 Taylor William, coal and brick master, The Tuckies

2 Thorn John, Esq., White Hall

4 Thursfield Richard, Esq., surgeon, and high bailiff to Madeley County Court

5 Tonkiss Richard, tobacco-pipe maker

5 Trupp Thomas, inland revenue officer

7 Transom Jas., bargeowner

9 Watkin Richd., shoemaker

Watkins Wm., victualler, Duke of York

6 Weaver Mary, shopkeeper

9 Weeks John, shoemaker

6 Weeks Thos., shoemaker

9 Weeks Richard, boot and shoemaker, & beerhouse

8 Willings Benjamin, boot and shoemaker

9 Westover John, attorney’s clerk

7 Wiggins John, schoolmaster (national)

7 Wild John, bargeowner

2 Wilkinson John, blacksmith

5 Wilkinson Mrs. Lucia

3 Williams Ann, shopkeeper and poulterer

7 Williams Edward, shopkeeper, and brick and tile maker, The Werps

7 Williams Edwd., jun., vict., Dog & Duck, Lloyd Head

7 Williams Mr. Silvanus, Salt-house

9 Whooton Herbert, butcher and farmer

Wyke Richard, surgeon, Salt-house

5 Yates Elizabeth, victualler, The Crown

7 Yates Robt., vict., Ash Tree

HUGHLEY

is a parish and village delightfully situated in a lovely vale four and a half miles S.W. from Much Wenlock; the Wenlock Edge bounds the parish on the eastern side, and on the west is a small mountain stream. The parish contains 1,111a. 3r. 38p. of land, the soil of which for the most part is of an inferior description, but produces tolerable crops of oats, and wheat is also grown. Rateable value £817. The land in this parish is the property of the Earl of Bradford, except about three roods and a small cottage. A bridge has recently been built over the stream here, which is a great advantage and convenience to the inhabitants, as the waters occasionally rush with great impetuosity from the hilly district, and render the fording of the stream dangerous. The bridge was built by subscriptions, under the superintendence and aid of the late rector. In former times the extensive woods with which Hughley was surrounded were long the retreat of robbers; a commission was issued in the reign of Richard II. to inquire into the best means of securing the banditti, and protecting travellers from their lawless depredations.

The Church, a small but interesting specimen of the gothic style of architecture, is dedicated to St. John the Baptist; it is very ancient, and consists of nave and chancel, the latter divided from the nave by a beautifully rood loft elaborately carved; on the roof also is some beautifully carved work. A recess in the wall containing a number of human bones is conjectured to have been a shrine; the bones are probably the remains of some reputed saint, and were formerly secured by a door, but this has long been destroyed. There is a piscina on a pedestal, whereon in former times would very probably stand the patron saint of the church. The living is a rectory valued in the King’s book at £4. 11s. 3d., now returned at £160, in the patronage of the Earl of Bradford, and enjoyed by the Rev. John Wakefield, M.A. The parish of Hughley, at the census of 1801, contained 83 inhabitants; 1831, 115; and in 1841 there were twenty houses and 127 souls. Job Littleford, in 1772, gave to the parish of Hughley 6s. yearly to maintain a poor child at school; 4s. to be distributed among the poor by the rector; and 2s. 6d. to the parish clerk yearly. The premises charged with this payment are situate at Holt Praed, and are the property of Mrs. Thursby.

Directory.—Richard Bullock, blacksmith; Edward Corfield, miller; Elizabeth Owen, farmer; Thomas Madeley, farmer; Rev. John Wakefield, M.A., rector; Andrew Walker, farmer, Upper Hill farm; Richard Walleter, farmer, Lower Hill farm.

LINLEY

is a small parish in the Wenlock franchise, situated about three and a half miles south-east from Much Wenlock. The parish comprises 636 acres of land, the principal owners of which are Lord Forester and John Stephens, Esq. At the census in 1801 there were 108 inhabitants; 1831, 111; and in 1851, 105; of whom 42 were males, and 63 females. At the same period there were 19 inhabited houses, and one uninhabited. Gross estimated rental of the parish, £809. 2s. Rateable value, £729. 18s. Lord Forester is lord of the manor and impropriator. The Church, a plain, unpresuming structure, has the appearance of great antiquity: the windows are small and square headed, and there is a short tower. The church is situated in a field, and near it stands a venerable yew tree, but there is no inclosed burial ground. The living is a rectory, annexed to that of Broseley. The Hon. and Rev. Orlando Forester is the incumbent. Divine service is only performed once a month. Linley Hall was formerly the seat of the ancient family of Lacon, who possessed the greater part of the parish. It is a plain brick structure, now occupied by Miss Martha Onions.

Directory.—George Carpenter, vict., Duke of Wellington Inn; Robert Harrison, farmer; Joseph Langmore, wheelwright and blacksmith; Ann Newton, vict., Britannia Inn; Miss Martha Onions, Linley Hall; Edward Owen, proprietor of Owen’s pills and drops, Linley Villa; Josiah Wellings, bailiff to Mr. Hembry.

LITTLE WENLOCK

is a parish and small rural village, styled in ancient records “Wenlock under the Wrekin,” and is situated three miles south from Wellington, thee miles north-west from Ironbridge, five miles N.N.E. from Much Wenlock, and eleven miles south-east from Shrewsbury. The village is pleasantly situated on a bold acclivity, near the eastern side of the Wrekin, commanding some fine views over a picturesque and delightful district. The Wrekin stands partly in this parish, and also extends into the parishes of Wellington, Wroxeter, and Uppington. The Willow Moor or Wrekin farm is situated in a sequestered vale near to the Wrekin. This valley is supposed to have been the scene of a battle at some remote period. As a labourer was cutting a drain in the year 1835, about a hundred yards from the turnpike from Little Wenlock to Wellington, he suddenly came upon a heap of broken spears, which had been thrown together, and which it is stated numbered between two and three hundred. In the immediate vicinity are five barrows, which were opened about sixteen years ago, but nothing was discovered in them. The parish comprises 2,460 acres of land, the soil of which is a mixture of clay and gravel, producing tolerable crops of wheat, barley, and turnips. The minerals are ironstone, coal, and limestone, but none of these valuable minerals are got except on the northern verge of the parish, probably in consequence of their abundance in the adjacent parishes, where extensive iron works and collieries have long been established. Lord Forester is the owner of the land, and lord of the manor. At the census in 1801 the parish contained a population of 980 souls; 1831, 1,057; and in 1841 there were 202 houses, and 1,091 inhabitants, of whom 578 were males, and 513 females; in 1851 there were 1,034 inhabitants, and 199 houses. Gross estimated rental of the parish, £3,760. 10s. Rateable value, £4,351. 8s.

The Church is a very ancient structure, dedicated to St. Lawrence. The body of the church appears of older date than the tower, which was built in 1667. The fabric was enlarged in 1822 by adding a south transept of brick; the rest of the structure is of free stone. The tower contains five bells. The pulpit is of carved oak, very ancient. There is accommodation for upwards of 600 persons: 520 of the seats are free and unappropriated. A neat marble font is placed at the west end. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s book at £11. 13s. 4d., in the patronage of Lord Forester: incumbent, Rev. George Edmonds, M.A. The tithes have been commuted for £584. 3s. 4d., and there are nine acres of glebe land. The parish register dates from the year 1689. In the church-yard are several venerable yew trees. The Rectory is a commodious brick residence, a short distance from the church, from which are seen some pleasing and picturesque views of the country. The house stands 600 feet above the level of the Severn, whose silvery waters flow in the vale beneath. Wenlock Hall is now divided into cottage tenements. Huntington is a hamlet about a mile north from the church. Coalmoor a hamlet a mile south from the church.

Charities.—Maurice Haywood, who died in 1760, bequeathed the sum of £10, the interest thereof to be distributed in bread to the poor of the parish on St. Thomas’s day, yearly. This legacy was paid to the churchwarden, and the parish has ever since made a distribution of bread to the amount of the interest at five per cent. Mrs. Alice Green gave an annuity of 11s. 6d. to the poor of this parish, payable out of an estate called the Dairy House Farm, at Brierley, in the parish of Sedgley, in Staffordshire, of which 10s. was to be given to the poor, and 1s. 6d. to the person who fetched it for his trouble. The estate on which this annuity is charged is the property of Mrs. Foley. Much irregularity has taken place in the payment of this little annuity, in consequence apparently of the distance from which it was to be procured.

Mrs. Mary Tipton, in the year 1844, bequeathed £50, and directed so much of the interest as should be necessary to be applied in painting and keeping in repair her monument in the church-yard, and the residue to be annually distributed among the poor. Mrs. Hannah Shepherd bequeathed the sum of £100, the interest to be applied in the purchase of suitable clothing for the benefit of the poor.

Marked 1 are at Coalmoor, 2 Huntingdon, and the rest in Little Wenlock or where specified.

Boore Edward, maltster

Boore George, grocer

Boore John, farmer

1 Boycott Richard, charter master

1 Boycott William, draper, grocer and farmer

Chant Thomas, shoemaker

Davis Richard, farmer

Davis Thomas, farmer and maltster

2 Dawes Benjamin, maltster

Edmonds Rev. George, A.M. rector, The Rectory

Edmonds William, Esq.

1 Garbitt Wm., vict., Peacock

Harper Daniel, farmer, Wrekin farm

Harris Edwin, vict., Spread Eagle

Hulse John, beerhouse keeper

2 Jervis Francis, farmer, maltster, and collector of taxes

Jones Martha, beerhouse keeper

1 Milner William, farmer and maltster

1 Maun James, vict., Labour in Vain

Poole Mrs. Charlotte

Poole Henry, blacksmith and shopkeeper

1 Ralphs John, sawyer and beerhouse

1 Shepherd, Richard, farmer

Steele William, farmer and vict., Five Bells

Walker Edward, farmer, Willow Moor

Wellings, Walter, farmer

Williams Mrs. Emma

Wilson John, farmer

2 Yates Catherine, farmer

MADELEY

is a considerable parish and market town in the Wenlock Franchise, four and a half miles S.W. from Shiffnal, nine miles N.N. by W. from Bridgnorth, and fifteen miles S.E. from Shrewsbury. This parish is celebrated for its valuable mines of coal and ironstone, its extensive and flourishing ironworks, the Coalport china manufactory, and the manufacture of superior bricks. The parish comprises 2,810 acres of land; at the census of 1801 there were 4,758 inhabitants; 1831, 5,822; 1841, 7367; and in 1851, 8,524; of whom 4,163 were males and 4,361 females; at the latter period there were 1,711 inhabited houses, 47 uninhabited, and four houses building. Rateable value, £19,900. The principal landowners are Joseph Reynolds, Esq., James Foster, Esq., Abraham Darby, Esq., Rev. John Bartlet, Francis and John Yates, Esqrs., and the representatives of the late Francis Darby, Esq. Joseph Reynolds, Esq., is lord of the manor. The town of Madeley so far as regards that portion in the vicinity of the church is irregularly built, and consists chiefly of detached ranges of cottages rather than streets; in the immediate vicinity are a number of handsome villa residences and neat cottages. The Prior and convent of Wenlock in the 53rd of Henry III. had the grant of a market on Tuesday, to be held at Madeley, and a fair on the eve, the day, and the morrow of St. Matthew the apostle and evangelist. This market subsequently became obsolete, but was revived in 1763, when a new market house was built in the Dale at Ironbridge; here a flourishing market is held on Friday, and fairs are held on January 26th, May 29th. and October 12th. The extensive establishment of Abraham Darby and Company, ironmasters, and the porcelain manufactory of Messrs. Rose and Co., give employment to a great number of the labouring population. The Madeley Wood Company’s iron works employ about eight hundred operatives, and in the establishment of James Foster and Company are employed upwards of five hundred hands, chiefly in making pig iron. A house and barn not far from the church at Madeley, afforded shelter to the unfortunate Charles II., after his defeat at the battle of Worcester. Madeley Court House, an antique old mansion in the Elizabethan style of architecture, was formerly the residence of Sir Basil Brooke, fourth in descent from Sir Basil Brooke, a zealous royalist in the time of Charles I. It is now the residence of Mr. George Jones; in the grounds is a curious old sun-dial. The Madeley County Court, for the recovery of debts, embraces the following parishes and places, viz.: Albrighton, Badger, Barrow, Beckbury, Benthall, Blymhill, Bonninghall, Broseley, Buildwas, Dawley, Donnington, Kemberton, Linley, Little Wenlock, Madeley, Much Wenlock, Patshull, Posenhall, Ryton, Sheriff Hales, Shiffnal, Stirchley, Stockton, Sutton Maddock, Tong, Weston-under-Lizard, and Willey. Judge, Uvedule Corbet, Esq.: Clerk, George Potts, Esq.: Assistant Clerk, Mr. William Bailey: High Bailiff, Mr. Richard Thursfield.

The Madeley Poor Law Union comprehends twelve parishes, embracing an area of forty-three square miles, with a population returned at the census of 1831 of 22,164 souls: in 1841 the inhabitants had increased to 26,172, and at the last census in 1851 there were 27,626 inhabitants, of whom 13,668 were males and 13,958 females. The Union House is a plain brick structure which will accommodate 140 inmates; the average number of paupers is about 70. The parishes embraced within the Union are Madeley, Little Wenlock, Buildwas, Dawley, Stirchley, Broseley, Benthall, Posenhall, Barrow, Linley, Willey, and Much Wenlock. Clerk to Guardians, William Reynolds Anstice, Esq.: Superintendent Registrar; Mr. Edwin R. Evans: Chaplain, Rev. James H. Gwyther: Governor, William Wildblood.

The Church is a handsome and spacious octagonal structure, with a finely-proportioned square tower in which is a peal of bells. This fabric was built in 1795, and subsequently enlarged; it is partly fitted up and provided with commodious galleries, having accommodation for upwards of a thousand worshippers; the organ is a handsome fine-toned instrument. The old church which was taken down on the erection of the present building exhibited the Norman style of architecture; a chantry was erected in the ancient structure and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, in the 11th of Richard II. Several of the ancient monuments were removed from the old church when it was taken down and are now placed in the new one. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king’s book at £4. 17s. 10d., now returned at £305; incumbent, Rev. James H. Gwyther, who is also chaplain to the Madeley Union, and the Right Hon. Lord Milford. The tithes have been commuted, and £226 apportioned to the vicar, and £115. 10s. to Sir Joseph Hawley, Bart., the impropriator. The vicarage, situated near the church, is a good residence mantled with ivy, and is an object of attraction to strangers, as being the residence of the celebrated pious Fletcher, formerly vicar of Madeley, a short account of whose life will be found on the following page. The Catholic Chapel, a neat structure, was built about the year 1760, and will hold 300 persons. The interior has a chaste appearance, and the altar is beautified with some fine workmanship. The Rev. William Molloy, the priest, resides in a house adjoining the chapel. The Wesleyan Methodists have a neat chapel built in 1841, capable of holding about 600 hearers. The National School is a handsome structure of brick with stone finishings, built in the year 1845, exhibiting the Elizabethan style of architecture. The cost of the building was £859. 1s. 4d., towards which the sum of £629. 1s. 4d. was raised by local subscriptions, and a grant of £230 was obtained from the Committee of Council on Education. One hundred and thirty boys and one hundred and twenty-five girls attend the school; it is conducted by Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and three pupil teachers.

Ironbridge, a populous and interesting portion of the parish of Madeley, takes its name from an iron bridge which has been erected across the Severn at this place. Here are many handsome residences, good inns, and shops in all the different branches of the retail trade. A flourishing market is held on Friday. A market hall has been built, gas introduced, and the whole has a thriving and prosperous appearance, and may be considered the focus of commercial pursuits in the parish. The iron bridge which spans the Severn is a magnificent structure, and was cast at the Coalbrook Dale Works, in 1799. The span of the arch is one hundred feet six inches, height forty feet, and the road way twenty four feet broad. It was the first iron bridge erected in England. The total weight of the iron in the bridge is three hundred and seventy-eight tons, and the whole was erected in the space of three months. The abutments of the bridge are of stone, covered with plates of iron, with mortices, in which stand two upright pillars of the same. Against the foot of the inner pillar, the bottom of the main rib bears on the base plate. This rib consists of two pieces connected by a dove-tail point, in an iron key, and secured by screws. The cross stays, braces circle in the spandrils, and the brackets connect the larger pieces, so as to keep the bridge perfectly steady; while a diagonal and cross stays, and top plates, connect the pillars and ribs together in opposite directions. The bridge is covered with iron top plates, projecting over the ribs on each side, and on this projection stands the balustrade of cast iron. The bridge being private property a small charge is made to pass over. Large quantities of iron, all kinds of castings, coal, and lime are shipped at the wharf to distant parts of the country. Near to the Lodge Farm are several beds of fine sand, which is much used by the Coalbrook Dale Company in their beautiful castings.

The Church, a handsome structure of brick, dedicated to St. Luke, is situated on elevated ground, and approached by a flight of steps one hundred and nineteen in number. It was built in the year 1836, and consists of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a tower, in which is one bell. The east window is richly beautified with stained glass, and has full length figures of St. Peter, St. James, and St. John, executed by the celebrated Evans, of Shrewsbury. The church is provided with galleries, and has a small organ. There are a thousand and sixty-two sittings, of which six hundred and sixty-two are free and unappropriated. The living is a perpetual curacy in the gift of the vicar of Madeley. Incumbent, Rev. John Andrew Jetter. The Wesleyan Methodists have a chapel at Madeley Wood, built in the year 1837, which will hold about seven hundred persons. They have also a place of worship near to the wharf, and a spacious Sunday school at Madeley Wood, where four hundred children are instructed. The Wesleyan New Connection have a chapel situated at Foxholes. The Dispensary and Savings’ Bank are at Mrs. Rogers’s, Bridge-street; Mr. William Smith is the secretary of the latter. The Parochial School, situate on the Madeley road, is numerously attended, and there is a Ragged School situated in Milner’s-lane. The Mechanics’ Institution was established in the year 1840. The objects of the institution are to afford to mechanics and others opportunities of acquiring at their leisure hours the principles of science and the arts, and for the cultivation of literature. The Gas Works, situated near the Madeley Wood brick works, were established in 1839, and the streets in Ironbridge were first lighted with gas on November 5th, 1839; Mr. Charles W. Smith is the manager and secretary. An extraordinary phenomenon occurred at the Birches not far from the iron bridge in 1775, a particular account of which has been given with Broseley.

Coalbrook Dale, a winding glen two miles from Madeley, hemmed in by lofty hills and hanging woods, is celebrated for the most considerable iron works in England; the forges, mills, and steam engines, with all their vast machinery,—the flaming furnaces, and smoking chimneys, with handsome residences nestling under the cliffs of the hills, have altogether a most romantic and singular appearance, and perhaps in no part of the globe are features of so diversified and wonderful a character brought together within so limited a compass,—here art has triumphed over nature, and the barren wilderness has been converted into one of the most animating abodes of commerce, and being studded with residences of taste and elegance, it gives the whole a very interesting appearance. Coalbrook Dale is chiefly the property of the Darby family, who carry on the extensive iron works here and in the adjoining parish of Dawley, where they have been already noticed. The Coalbrook Dale Company is one of the largest establishments in England, justly celebrated for the superiority of their castings, and for the manufacture of every description of iron goods. The Friends’ Meeting House, a neat brick structure, was built in 1789, and has a small burial ground attached. It stands near the site of a former meeting house. The Wesleyan Chapel, a plain brick structure, was occasionally the scene of the labours of the eminent Fletcher, the vicar of Madeley. A spacious school room has been built at the expense of the Coalbrook Dale Company, where about eighty boys are instructed. It is chiefly supported by the liberality of the same company. The room above the school is used as an episcopal place of worship, and here the curate of Madeley usually officiates twice on the Sabbath. A commodious school for girls has been built near the works, which is supported by Mrs. Abraham Darby; here about one hundred girls and an equal number of infants are now receiving instruction. Sunny-side House, a good brick residence on the heights above the dale, was unoccupied when our agent visited Coalbrook Dale. The residences of Abraham Darby, Esq., Richard Darby, Esq., and the Mrs. Darby, are handsome mansions, situated near the works in the dale. East Field is a good residence at the bottom of the dale, the seat of Barnard Dickinson, Esq., near to which is Severn House, the residence of Henry Dickinson, Esq., besides which there are several other handsome residences.

Coalport, celebrated for its rich and extensive china works, is situated about two miles from Ironbridge. The eminent firm of Rose and Company has been established here upwards of half a century; and the articles produced at this manufactory, for superior taste and elegant workmanship, are nowhere excelled. The establishment is known as the Coalbrook Dale China Manufactory, and is the most extensive in the kingdom. The firm employs 537 operatives.

Charities.—By an Indenture dated 29th May, 1706, we find that Basil Brook, by his will bequeathed to the poor of the parish of Madeley the sum of £40, which the churchwardens and parishioners desired might be laid out in the purchase of lands and tenements for the use of the poor of the parish. It was witnessed that Comerford Brook, in consideration of the said £40, and also of a further sum of £30 paid to him by Audley Bowdler and eight others, parties to the said indenture, granted to Audley Bowdler and others three cottages with gardens thereto, on trust, to employ the rents and profits thereof for the use of the poor. By another indenture, dated 26th December, 1713, William Johnson, in consideration of £30, conveyed a tenement in Madeley Wood to the trustees mentioned in the former deed, upon similar trusts. No further account can be obtained of the source from whence the two sums of £30 consideration money were derived. In course of time, the cottages having become out of repair, and there being no fund for repairing them, it was thought advisable to sell them for long terms at nominal rents, and apply the money received for the leases towards the building of a house of industry. Accordingly, on the 2nd January, 1797, the vicar, parish officers, and trustees granted six leases of the trust property for terms of 999 years, in consideration of a sum of £235. 15s. and a nominal rent of 4s. 6d. per annum. The sum thus received was added to a subscription raised in the parish to the further amount of £806. 13s. 6d., making together £1,042. 8s. 6d., and applied in the erection on a part of the charity land of a house of industry, the cost of which was £1,086. 14s. 7½d.; and a lease of that piece of land, with the house so erected upon it, containing 3r. 12p., was granted to certain trustees for the use of the parish for a term of 999 years, at the yearly rent of £18. The income of these premises, amounting to £18. 14s. 6d., together with 5s. a year derived from another fund, has been for many years applied in providing clothing for the poor.

The annuity of 5s. above mentioned was formerly paid out of premises belonging to Mr. Beddoes, but by whom given is not known. In the returns made under the Act of the 26th George III., it is attributed to a person of the name of Johnson, and there was formerly such a person who had property in this parish. A person of the name of Bowdler, who held the premises after Beddoes, became bankrupt, when the premises were sold, and there being no means of establishing a claim to this annuity against the purchase, it was agreed that the trustees of the other charity should receive from the assignees the sum of £5, in lieu and in discharge of this annuity. This sum, and 20s. for four years arrears, was accordingly paid to the trustees, and by them placed in the savings bank. Mr. William Yate, in 1810, bequeathed four kneelings in his pew in the gallery of the church for the benefit of the Sunday school.

The following biographical sketch of the Rev. John Fletcher, formerly vicar of Madeley, is taken from the account of that celebrated individual published by the Rev. Robert Cox, curate of St. Leonard’s, Bridgnorth, and other authorities:—“John Guillaume de la Flechere, or as he was generally designated in this his adopted country, John William Fletcher, was born in Switzerland, at Nijon, in the Pays de Vaud. His father, in the early part of his life, had been an officer in the French service, but on his marriage retired from the army, and afterwards became a colonel in the militia of his own country. Young Fletcher having passed the early part of his boyhood at Nion, was sent to the University of Geneva, where he was soon distinguished by the superiority of his talents, and the intensity of his application. About this period Fletcher met with a providential escape, which he never afterwards mentioned without the strongest expressions of gratitude. He lived for some time at a place very near the Rhine, where he frequently bathed, being careful to keep near the shore that the stream might not carry him away. Once, however, being less careful than usual, he was drawn into mid-channel, where the course of the water was very swift. He endeavoured to swim against it, but in vain, till he was hurried a distance of five miles from home. At last, despairing of life, he was cheered by the sight of a fine smooth creek, into which he was swiftly carried by a violent stream. A powder mill stood directly across it, and the last thing he could remember was the striking of his breast against one of the piles on which it stood. He then lost his senses, and knew nothing more till he rose on the other side of the mill, in a calm safe place, perfectly well. Many persons gladly welcomed him on shore; and one gentleman in particular said, ‘I looked when you went under the mill, and again when you rose on the other side. The time of your being immerged among the piles was exactly twenty minutes.’”

After Fletcher had gone through the usual course of study at the university, he was sent to Leutzbourg, a small town in the Swiss cantons, when, in addition to his other literary pursuits, he studied Hebrew and German. Hitherto it had been the intention of Fletcher to enter into the church; but, contrary to all expectation, before he had arrived at the age of twenty, he manifested views of a very different nature. Disgusted by the necessity of subscribing to the high Calvinism of the Geneva articles, and disinclined to enter upon so sacred an office from any secular motives, he yielded to the desire of some of his friends, and entered the army. Soon after he obtained a commission in the Portuguese service, and was ordered to hold himself in readiness to sail to Brazil; but an accident, occasioned by a servant overturning a kettle of boiling water on his leg, confined him to his bed until the ship had sailed. Being disappointed in a subsequent attempt to enter into the Dutch service, he resolved to visit England, partly from a desire for further improvement, and partly from a hope of obtaining some situation for his future support.

After the arrival of Mr. Fletcher in this country, he resided about eighteen months in the house of a Mr. Burchell, in Herefordshire, under whose directions he studied the English and various branches of polite literature. At length he was engaged as a tutor in the family of Mr. Hill, M.P. for Shrewsbury, who resided at Tern Hall, in this county. Mr. Fletcher generally accompanied the family to London, when Mr. Hill went to attend his parliamentary duties; and on one of these journeys he accidentally met with a poor woman who, he said, talked to him so delightfully of Jesus Christ, that he knew not how the time passed away. This little circumstance was attended with the most important results; and although at first he felt somewhat indignant at the idea of not being perfectly acquainted with the nature of religion, yet at length he obtained that lively faith which, through the grace of God, will incite men to do all they can do, whilst it teaches them to rely upon nothing which they have done.

Not long after this period, Mr. Fletcher’s attention was again directed to the work of the ministry; but being diffident of his qualifications for so weighty an office, two years elapsed before his ordination. “Before,” said he, “I was afraid; but now I tremble to meddle with holy things.” At length his reluctance being overcome, he solemnly determined to offer himself as a candidate for holy orders in the English Church, and was accordingly ordained deacon at the Chapel Royal of St. James’s, on the 6th of March, 1757, and preached on the following day. After having preached to some French refugees in his own language, and also in several chapels belonging to Mr. Wesley, with whom he was now acquainted, he determined to return to the charge of his pupils at Tern Hall. The churches of Atcham, Wroxeter, St. Alkmunds, and the Abbey Church in Shrewsbury, were now the occasional scenes of his gratuitous services. In the summer of 1779 he was frequently engaged in performing the duty of Madeley, and during the following year was presented to the vicarage of that place. This living he accepted in preference to another of above double the value, which was offered to him about the same time; his affection for the people to whom he had ministered would not allow him to be separated from them. The circumstance of his appointment to Madeley is worthy of notice. One day, Mr. Hill informed him that the living of Dunham, in Cheshire, then vacant, was at his service: “The parish,” he continued, “is small, the duty light, the income good (£400 per annum), and it is situated in a fine healthy sporting country.” After thanking Mr. Hill most cordially for his kindness, Mr. Fletcher added, “Alas, sir! Dunham will not suit me; there is too much money, and too little labour.” “Few clergymen make such objections,” said Mr. Hill, “it is a pity to decline such a living, as I do not know that I can find you another: What shall we do? Would you like to go to Madeley?” “That, sir, would be the very place for me.” “My object, Mr. Fletcher, is to make you comfortable in your own way; if you prefer Madeley, I shall find no difficulty in persuading Chambray, the present vicar, to exchange it for Dunham, which is worth more than twice as much!” In this way he became vicar of Madeley, with which he was so perfectly satisfied that he never after sought any other honour or preferment. The inhabitants of Madeley, at this period, were notorious for ignorance and impiety; and in this benighted village Fletcher stood forth as a preacher of righteousness for the space of twenty-five years.

There was an energy in his preaching, observes Mr. Gilpin, that was irresistible; his subjects, his language, his gestures, the tone of his voice, and the turn of his countenance, all conspired to fix the attention and affect the heart. Without aiming at sublimity, he was truly sublime, and uncommonly eloquent without affecting the orator. He was wonderously skilled in adapting himself to the different capacities and conditions of his hearers. He could stoop to the illiterate and rise with the learned; he had incontrovertible arguments for the sceptic, and powerful persuasions for the listless believer; he had sharp remonstrance for the obstinate, and strong consolation for the mourner. Mr. Wesley describes him as superior to Whitfield in his qualifications as a public preacher. Instead of being confined, says he, to a country village, he ought to have shone in every corner of our land. He was full as much called to sound an alarm through all the nation as Mr. Whitfield himself; nay, abundantly more so, seeing he was much better qualified for that important work. He had a more striking person, an equally winning address, together with a richer flow of fancy, a stronger understanding, a far greater treasure of learning, both in languages, philosophy, philology, and divinity; and above all, which I can speak with full assurance, a more deep and constant communion with the Father and with the Son Jesus Christ. It is not to be supposed that so zealous a minister of the gospel would meet with no opposition. The drunken colliers and self-interested publicans were his special enemies. The voluptuary detested his temperance; the licentious were offended at his gravity and strictness; and the formal were roused to indignation by that spirit of zeal and devotion which influenced his whole conduct. And to these opponents must be added some of the neighbouring clergy and magistrates, who objected to his well-intended but unauthorised interference in their parishes. In spite, however, of these oppositions, his piety and benevolence won upon the people, and the church, which at first was so thinly attended that he was discouraged by the smallness of the congregation, began to overflow, and he saw an effectual change take place in many of his flock. Madeley abounded with persons in extreme indigence, and over this destitute part of his flock Mr. Fletcher watched with peculiar concern. The whole rents of his small patrimonial estate were set apart for charitable uses, and he drew so liberally from his other funds as at times almost to deprive himself of the necessaries of life. In order to feed the hungry, he led a life of self-denial and abstinence; and to cover the naked he clothed himself in the most homely attire.

The incessant labours of Mr. Fletcher, both in public and in private, with intense application to his studies, at length impaired his health, and in 1777 he was induced to visit Switzerland for the benefit of his native air. He continued at Nijon, the place of his nativity, and its vicinity for nearly three years; during which period, though his health was gradually improving, he was still too weak to undertake much public duty, but he employed his time in writing, giving private exhortations, and in instructing the children who assembled, in the first principles of religion. The fearless intrepidity of Mr. Fletcher’s Christian character was strikingly exemplified in his conduct towards one of his nephews during his residence in Switzerland. This young man had been in the Sardinian service, where his profligate ungentlemanly conduct had given such general offence to his brother officers that they were determined to compel him to leave their corps or fight them all in succession. After engaging in several duels he was obliged to quit the service, and return to his native country. As a desperate man he resorted to desperate measures. He waited on his uncle, General de Gons; and having obtained a private audience, he presented a pistol, and said, “Uncle de Gons, if you do not give me a draft on your banker for five hundred crowns, I will shoot you.” The general, though a brave man, yet seeing himself in the hands of a desperado capable of any mischief, promised to give him the draft if he withdrew the pistol. “But there is another thing, uncle, you must do; you must promise me, on your honour as a gentleman and a soldier, to use no means to recover the draft or bring me to justice.” The general pledged his honour, gave him the draft for the money, and at the same time expostulated freely with him on his infamous conduct. In the evening, passing the door of his uncle, Fletcher, the fancy took him to call and pay a visit. As soon as he was introduced he began to tell him, with exultation, that he had just called upon his uncle, General de Gons, who had treated him with unexpected kindness, and generously given him five hundred crowns. “I shall have some difficulty,” said Mr. Fletcher, “to believe the last part of your intelligence.” “If you will not believe me, see the proof under his own hand,” holding out the draft. “Let me see,” said Mr. Fletcher, taking the draft and looking at it with astonishment; “It is indeed my brother’s writing, and it astonishes me to see it, because he is not in affluent circumstances; and I am the more astonished because I know how much and how justly he disapproves your conduct, and you are last of his family to whom he would make such a present.” Then folding the draft, and putting it into his pocket: “It strikes me, young man, that you have possessed yourself of this note by some indirect method, and in honesty I cannot return it, but with my brother’s knowledge and approbation.” The pistol was immediately at his breast; and he was told as he valued life instantly to return the draft. ‘My life,’ replied Mr. Fletcher, ‘is secure in the protection of Almighty power who guards it, nor will he suffer it to be the forfeit of my integrity and your rashness.’ This firmness drew from the other the observation that his Uncle de Gons, though an old soldier, was more afraid of death than he was. ‘Afraid of death,’ rejoined Mr. Fletcher, ‘do you think that I have been twenty-five years the minister of the Lord of life to be afraid of death now? No, sir; thanks be to God who giveth me the victory! It is for you to fear death who have reason to fear it. You are a gamester—a cheat. You call yourself a gentleman. You are a duellist, and your hand is red with your brother’s blood; and for this you style yourself a man of honour. Look there, sir; look there. See, the broad eye of heaven is fixed upon us. Tremble in the presence of your Maker, who can in a moment kill your body, and for ever punish your soul in hell!’ By this time the unhappy man was pale: he trembled alternately with fear and passion: he threatened, he argued, he entreated. Sometimes he withdrew the pistol, and fixing his back against the door, stood as a sentinel to prevent all egress; and at other times he closed on his uncle, threatening instant death. Under these perilous circumstances Mr. Fletcher gave no alarm to the family, sought for no weapon, and attempted neither escape nor manual opposition. He conversed with him calmly; and at length perceiving that the young man was affected, addressed him in language truly paternal until he had fairly disarmed and subdued him. ‘I cannot,’ said he, ‘return my brother’s draft; yet I feel for the distress in which you have so thoughtlessly involved yourself, and will endeavour to relieve it. My brother de Gons, at my request will, I am sure, voluntarily give you a hundred crowns. I will do the same. Perhaps my brother Henry will do as much. And I hope your other family will make out the sum among them. He then prayed with him and for him. By Mr. Fletcher’s mediation, the family made up the sum he had promised; and with much good advice on one side, and fair promises on the other, they parted.

In March, 1781, Mr. Fletcher took a final leave of Switzerland and returned to England, and in the autumn of the same year was married to Miss Bosanquet, a lady of respectable family and eminent piety. From the time of his marriage Mr. Fletcher experienced no return of his consumptive symptoms, and his general health materially improved. In compliance with the solicitation of Mr. Wesley, Mr. Fletcher was sometimes present at the annual conference, when his sermons and pious conversation became the theme of every tongue. No employment of Mr. Fletcher’s seemed more pleasing to him than that of being engaged in preparing food or medicines for the poor. On Sundays he provided for numbers of poor people who came to the church from a distance. Indeed he scarcely seemed to enjoy his meals unless he knew that some sick or indigent neighbours should partake of them. But with all his generosity he was still careful to live within his income. If he overtook a poor person on the road with a burden too heavy for him, he did not fail to offer his assistance to bear part of it; and under such circumstances he would not easily take a denial. As he approached the end of his course the graces he had kept in continual exercise for so long a season became more illustrious and powerful, his faith was more assured, his hope more lively, his charity more abundant, his humility more profound, and his resignation more complete. After lingering some time under the pressure of an exhausted constitution, but supported by the hopes and consolations of Christianity, Mr. Fletcher calmly expired on the 14th August, 1785, in the fifty-sixth year of his age.

As a clergyman he was never exceeded in zeal, disinterestedness, affection for his flock, or anxiety for their spiritual welfare. As a writer Mr. Fletcher was considerably above mediocrity, and had he been a candidate for literary distinction he had talents to have occupied no inconsiderable rank. His deportment and manners were of the most engaging and courteous kind, presenting such a combination of gravity, condescension, and gentleness as few have ever witnessed. Of his appearance in the pulpit the liveliest fancy could not frame from any of the ancient saints an aspect more venerable or more apostolic. The abundant current of his charity flowed in affection towards all, and his liberal heart rejoiced in the spiritual welfare of other denominations.

In the church-yard is a plain and simple tomb to his endeared memory, covered with a cast iron plate, on which in raised letters is the following memorial:—

“He lies the body of The Rev. John William De La Flechere, vicar of Madeley. He was born in Nijon, in Switzerland, September 12th, MDCCXXIX, and finished his course in this village, August 14th, MDCCLXXXV, where his unexampled labours will be long remembered. He exercised his ministry for the space of twenty-five years in this parish, with uncommon zeal and ability. Many believed his report and became his joy and crown of rejoicing, while others constrained him to take up the lamentation of the prophet:— ‘All day long I have stretched out my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people, yet surely my judgment is with the Lord and my works with my God.’ ‘He being dead yet speaketh.’”

The following is a copy of the entry in the parish register:—“John Fletcher, clerk, died on Sunday evening, August 14th, 1785. He was one of the most apostolic men of the age in which he lived. His abilities were extraordinary, and his labours unparalleled. He was a burning and shining light, and as his life had been a common blessing to the inhabitants of this parish, so the death of this great man was lamented by them as a common and irreparable loss. This little testimony was inserted by one who sincerely loved and honoured him. Joshua Gilpin, vicar of Wrockwardine.”

MADELEY DIRECTORY.

Albert William, plumber, glazier, & painter

Alker Thomas, plumber, glazier, & painter

Bailey John, builder

Bailey John, chartermaster

Bailey Joseph, chartermaster

Bailey William, assistant clerk, county court

Barker John, boot and shoemaker

Bartley Thomas, grocer and draper

Bartlett Rev. John, M.A., Marnwood

Beddell Thomas, beerseller

Blanthorne Isabella, beerseller

Bowdler Henry, farmer, Cuckoo Oak

Brewer Francis, grocer

Brickhill Mr. Solomon

Bryan Arnold F., draper

Cartwright George, butcher

Caswell John, boot and shoemaker

Chalmers Rev. John, curate

Currier Thomas, cabinet maker

Dainty William, chartermaster

Davies John, brick, tile, & draining pipe mkr

Dawes William, organ builder

Dyas Charles, vict., Royal Oak

Dyas William, butcher, farmer, maltster, and grocer

Eastwick Miss Mary

Edwards Mr. Edward

Farmer Miss Ann

Farr James, wheelwright

Farr John, beerseller

Fenton Samuel, brazier and tin plate worker

Ferriday Charles James, Esq.

Ferriday Miss Jane

Fisher Jesse, manufacturing chemist

Ford John C., draper

Foster & Co., iron & coal masters; Francis Pearce, agent

Garner Joseph, stone mason

Glaze George, beerseller

Glover Thomas, hair dresser

Green Henry, beerseller

Griffiths Philip, tailor and clothier

Groom Richard, tailor

Guy Benjamin, beerseller

Gwyther Rev. James H., vicar, surrogate for granting marriage licenses, and chaplain to Madeley union

Harper Ann, draper and grocer

Harper William, farmer

Harris William, chartermaster

Harvey Richard and Randall John, grocers and ironmongers

Harvey Thomas J., vict., Horse Shoes

Headley James, chemist and druggist

Heaford William, tailor and woollen draper

Holmes John, chartermaster

Hopley Peter, farmer and chartermaster

Hopley William, chartermaster

Jacks John, chartermaster

Jacks Joseph, painter and glazier

Johnson William, schoolmaster

Jones George, mine agent to James Foster, Esq., Madeley Court

Jones Jonas, chartermaster

Kearsley James, chartermaster

Kearsley Sarah, milliner

Keay John, beerseller and grocer

Keay John, chartermaster

Keay Peter, beerseller

Lane John, wheelwright

Lavender Samuel, draper and milliner

Lissiter William, beerseller

Madeley Wood Company ironmasters; Mr. Anstice, agent

Millard Thomas, gardener and seedsman

Mollineaux Thomas, grocer

Molloy Rev. William

Morgan Mr. Joseph, Gothic Villa

Morris Richard, blacksmith

Munday Thomas, bookseller and stationer

Onions James, confectioner

Owen Thomas, saddler and harness maker

Page William, butcher

Patrick Miss Mary Ann

Pearce Francis, agent to James Foster, Esq., Park Cottage

Peirce Richard, surgeon

Penn Thomas, furnace manager to James Foster, Esq.

Powell William, beerseller

Rayner Mr. Charles, Holley House

Roberts Charles, boot and shoemaker

Rodgers William M., grocer

Rose Mrs. Appilona

Rushton Jane, milliner

Rushton Samuel, blacksmith

Rushton William, grocer

Smith Edward, ale and porter merchant, and maltster and limeburner

Smith Samuel and Co., brick, tile, and drainage pipe manufacturers

Smith Thos., architect, builder, & surveyor

Street Elizabeth, earthenware dealer

Thompson Matthew, chartermaster

Trevor Thomas, grocer and chandler

Walker John, beerseller

Wall William, shopkeeper

Ward Mrs. Alice

Ward George, mine agent to Madeley Wood Company

Ward William, chartermaster

Watson Andrew, tailor

Webb Matthew, surgeon

Wilkins James, grocer and ironmonger

Willcox Mr. Thomas

Williams Mrs. Elizabeth

Williams James, beerseller

Williams Joseph, wheelwright

Williams Richard, farmer, and furnace manager to Madeley Wood Company

Williams Richard, farmer, The Cottage

Williams Susannah, beerseller

Wones John, beerseller and shopkeeper

Yate Joseph, Esq., Madeley Hall

Post Office at Mr. Henry P. Baldwin’s, Bridge street. Letters arrive at 7 45 A.M., and are despatched at 5 50 P.M.

Ironbridge and Madeley Wood Directories.

Anstice John, Esq., manager to Madeley Wood Company, The Lloyds

Anstice Wm. Reynolds, solicitor and clerk to Madeley Board of Guardians, Church street

Bartlett Rev. John, M.A., Marnwood

Ball William, supervisor, Church street

Bayliss William, engineer to Madeley Wood Company, The Lloyds

Cartwright Mrs., Hodge Bower

Clarke William, tea and whiskey dealer, Severn Terrace

Cock Miss Ann, Brockholes

Cooke Emanuel, locksmith, Lincoln’s Hill

Davies Mrs., The Orchard

Evans William, secretary to Mechanics’ Institution, house, Broseley

Fisher, John, Esq., Madeley Wood

Ford John, parish clerk, Church street

Gordon, Wm. Pierson, Esq., solicitor & clerk to magistrates, residence, Linley

Haywood John, wire worker, Bridge street

Jetter Rev. John Andrew, incumbent, The Parsonage

Jones Thomas, nail maker, Madeley Wood

Kelsall Rev. Henry, curate, Brockholes

Lewis John Bennett, inland revenue officer, Severn Terrace

Lewis Edward, manager to Joseph Reynolds, Esq., Coalport

Madeley Wood Company, ironmasters, and brick and tile manufacturers, John Anstice, Esq., manager, The Lloyds

Nicholas Joseph, patten maker, Lincoln Hill

Nickless Enoch, ale, porter and cider merchant, Lincoln Terrace

Pugh Charles, agent to Lilleshall Company and Beriah Botfield, Esq., Coalport

Pugh William, Esq., porcelain manufacturer, Coalport

Reeves William, chartermaster, Lincoln Hill

Riddiough William, patten and clog maker, Madeley Wood

Rose John & Co., porcelain manufacturers

Rose William, Esq., porcelain manufacturer, Coalport

Stokes William Smith, gent., Old Parsonage

Wase John, farmer, The Hay

Whiteley Mr. James, agent to Jno. Rose & Co. porcelain manufacturers, Coalport

Wildblood Wm., governor of Union House, Brockholes

Woodruff James, gent., Lincoln Terrace

Wright Henry, ale & porter dealer, Lincoln’s Hill

Yates Adam, gent, Madeley Wood

Weare William, auctioneer, house and estate agent, accountant, agent to Shropshire and North Wales Fire Office, and British Empire Life Office, Madeley Wood

Academies.

Brassington & Southern, the Misses, (Ragged School), Severn Side

Evans Wm., Waterloo street, house, Broseley

Johnston John, (Boarding) Brockholes

Lusmore Miss, (Parochial) Severn Side

Timmis Mrs and the Misses, (Ladies Brdng) Dale Coppy

White Miss, (Ladies Boarding) Church street

Attornies.

Anstice Wm. Reynolds, and clerk to Madeley Board of Guardians, Church street

Gordon Wm. Pierson, & clerk to magistrates for borough of Wenlock, house, Linley

Bakers and Flour Dealers.

See also Shopkeepers.

Broadbridge Chas., Bridge st

Milner George, Bridge street

Bankers.

Savings Bank, Church street, William Smith, manager, residence, Bridgnorth

Shropshire Banking Compy., Hy. C. T. Dickenson, Esq., manager, The Elms

Barge Owners.

Bailey James, The Lloyds

Burton J. & Edw., The Wharf

Goodwin George, The Wharf

Owen Benjamin, The Wharf

Owen Thomas, The Wharf

Owen Edward, The Wharf

Yates Francis and John, The Wharf

Blacksmiths.

Bisall John, Madeley Wood

Edwards Jno., Madeley Wood

Walton John, Church street

Booksellers, Binders, Printers and Stationers.

Slater John, Bridge street

Smith Geo. Mortimer, Market square

Smith Saml. C. Bridge street

Boot & Shoe Makers.

Blocksidge John, Coalport

Crowder John, The Lloyds

Dodd Richd., Church street

Hughes Chas., Bridge street

Lloyd Benj., Madeley Wood

Price Thos., Madeley Wood

Roberts Thos., The Wharfage

Wood Thos., The Wharfage

Braziers & Tin-plate Workers.

Bartham Chas., Bridge street

Fenton Thomas, & constable, Waterloo street

Brick & Tile Manufacturers.

Bayliss John and George, Madeley Wood

Burton John and Edward, The Wharfage

Davis John, Madeley Green

Madeley Wood Company, Waterloo street

Roden Saml., Hodge Bower

Butchers.

Barnett Thos., Bridge street

Barnett Wm., Bridge street

Delves Joseph, Bridge street

Dyas William, Bridge street

Page John, Bridge street