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Frederick William Hackwood's Wednesbury Papers (1884)

XIV.

OUR RELATIONS 
WITH WEST BROMWICH

 
A MARKET TOWN

THE UNION

SOME OLD FAMILIES A TORY COUNTY

 

THE relations between Wednesbury and West Bromwich have always, from the very juxtaposition of the two places, been of the most intimate character. The relative standings of the two places at the beginning of the present century is thus indicated in Cooke's Topography (1801) - "About two miles south of Wednesbury is the village of West Bromwich." The former, from the fact of its being a market town, has always assumed a right of precedence, and it fairly substantiated this claim in 1868 when the parliamentary borough, which included the two townships, took the name of Wednesbury. This pre-eminence, however, will in all probabality end with the next Reform Bill ; 1882 saw West Bromwich created into a Municipal Borough, and it will scarcely be any prophecy to assert that 1885 will find it a parliamentary entity. The enterprise which has carried it forward so far, and at such a remarkable rate if progress, can hardly evaporate till this important stage has been reached.


A MARKET TOWN 

At the present time Wednesbury can claim very few advantages over West Bromwich. Our old-fashioned open market is certainly an institution, and as such remains with us still ; while the attempt of West Bromwich to establish a more modernsied system of trading in a covered Market Hall, has, so far, proved a signal failure. But the possession of such a main thoroughfare, whose dimensions, whether of length or of breadth, are of truly noble proportions, has done much towards placing West Bromwich in the front rank of Black Country towns ; not that any detraction from the enterprise which has characterised the policy of its authorities is attempted in this assertion ; but it cannot be denied that this street has been an artery which has indeed supplied a vast amount of vitality to the place. As this new-born independence of West Bromwich will tend more than ever to sever that close connection which has hitherto existed between the towns, it will perhaps be interesting to go back to the time when all civic life seemed to be centred not in trade and traffic, but in the church and the soil.

The Wednesbury Market, as a chartered privelege, and the Priory of Sandwell (A.D. 1155) sprang into existence about the same period, and no doubt the former owed much of its importance to the proximity of the latter. Monasterial establishments were large consumers and profitable customers. That the soil and the church were more particularly instrumental in connecting the two places is further evidenced by the fact that the same armorial bearings (probably those borne by the Berkleys of Weoley Castle, Northfield), were once to be found in the windows of both West Bromwich and Wednesbury Old Churches : then there is still in existence an old indenture between "William Comberford of Wednesburie" and Walter Stanley of West Bromwich, dated February 20th, 1594, and relating to the water rights in the Tame near to Bustleholme Mill ; in which definite arrangements are set forth respecting "the soyls" and the "dams" the "flud-gates" and the "fyshing." Another old deed, which is undated, speaks of one "Suetemon de Fyngespath," "called the Miller of ffyngespath," granting to another person a piece of land for his service and a certain sum of money, the latter to be "paid at Wodensbury ;" thereby indicating that Wednesbury, as a market town, was a recognised place of meeting for the transaction of business in those olden times. There is also an old document, dated 1501, having reference to land at "Blake Lake" on the "road leading from Wednesbury to Birmingham ;" and in this said land are concerned John Beaumont, Lord of Wednesbury, and John Gesson, of West Bromwich. Some arable lands lying at "Monney fields" and at "the Churchfeilde of Wednesbury," form the subject of another agreement (dated October 23rd 1573), between Richard Jennens, of Wednesbury, and Jhon Jesson, of West Bromwich. Alluson is also made in a settlement of John Haitley, bearing the date November 6th, 1620, to the fact that the "said John Haitley doe now dwelle, in finchepath, neare unto Wednesbure Bridge." It must not be imagined that the Wednesbury Bridge here referred to was a substantial and permanaent structure like the one shich now exists ; the low level of those old houses below the present road will readily indicate the existence of a ford there, even in the "good old coaching days." Another West Bromwich deed, of date 1661, mentions "the Great Portway leading from Wolverhampton towards Birmingham."


SOME OLD FAMILIES 

Family ties have also bound the two places together. In both townships there are thoroughfares known as "Ridding Lane," but whether derived from "La Riddinge," a locality mentioned in several ancient deeds, and situated near to Hateley Heath, is uncertain ; there is a "Big Ridding" near Moseley, Birmingham but possibly "Ridding" is only a family name after all. The Sheldon families of both places are probably connected with each other ; there was a Sir Richard Shilton, Knight Lord of West Bromwich Manor, who was some time Solicitor-General to the King (Charles I.) and a member of the King's Council Extraordinary ; he died in 1647, and was buried in West Bromwich Old Church. Then there was a John Shelton, lord of the manor of Wednesbury, which he sold to John Hoo, of Bradley in about 1701. These were in all probability, only two branches of the same family.


A TORY COUNTY 

The parish registers of West Bromwich record the burial of one Robert Vames, a "Wednesbury ffordgman," on October 11th, 1656, a noteworthy item in the chronicle of our staple trade. Then, on the other hand, we have the registration of a burial at Wednesbury of two men killed at West Bromwich, and connected with which interment are some interesting facts. It would appear that these two men were shot during a riot, by "Cornet Lowe," of Charlemont Hall, as they were in the act of unroofing the Meeting House at West Bromwich. In those times this district enjoyed the reputation of being "the least civilized and most Tory" of counties where the "excesses were great," and where "scarcely a Whig or Dissenter could escape insult or more serious injury." O tempora ! O mores ! The register of their burial is to the effect : - "Francis Gibbons of Sedgeley, and Thomas Royston, of Wolverhampton, who were both of them shot to death at West Bromwich by those persons who defended ye Presbyterian Meeting House from being pulled down, which afterwards was effected and burnt to ashes, July ye 14th day they were shot, and buried ye 17th, A.D. 1715." The riots prevailed round this part of Staffordshire, and reached such a pitch that His Majesty's troops had to be employed to restore order.

Mrs. Willets (to whom the writer is indebted for most of this information), mentions in her new "History of West Bromwich," that the Rev. John Rann, for many years Vicar of that parish (1710-1743), was somewhere described as "late of the Delves, and Minister of Wednesbury ;" but what this description signifies it would be hard to say. He may have been a native of the Delves, or he may have resided there, but he certainly was never Vicar of Wednesbury, although he died Vicar of Rushall in 1771. In conclusion, it may be explained that "Harvill's Hawthorne," a suburb of West Bromwich, on the borders of Wednesbury, is named after a family once lords of Wednesbury Manor, - the Heronvilles. On a Wednesbury deed, dating back to 1406, this name is spelt "Herville."


THE UNION

There is one other tie between the two parishes, and that an indissoluble one - both are in one Poor Law Union. * (* The old Wednesbury Workhouse is still standing in Meeting Street. In 1776 the Poor Rate collected in Wednesbury amounted to £116 9s. 4d. In mediæval times the Wednesbury poor went to Sandwell Monastery ; now they go to West Bromwich Union.)