1833.
Measures called for by the state of Ireland occupied the first session of the Reformed Parliament. The Coercion Bill, for the repression of crime, was easily passed, and then came the Irish Church Bill, to abolish the Church cess or rate, in that country, to impose a graduated tax on clergymen, instead of taking first-fruits, and to abolish ten out of twenty-two bishoprics. The bill passed with little opposition; but a most important alteration was made in the Lords, as to the appropriation of the revenues of the suppressed sees. A motion, made in the Commons, for a repeal of half the Malt Tax, was carried by 162 to 152; but ministers, a few days afterwards, got the vote rescinded. Consols averaged 88; wheat averaged 52s. 11d.
January 25—A police force, organised by the Worcester City Commissioners, with Inspector Sharpe at their head.
January—The Worcester Philharmonic Society, just formed, gave their first concert.
March 26—Mr. G. R. Robinson moved for a committee to revise the taxation of the country, and to inquire into the propriety of substituting a property tax in lieu of a great portion of it. The motion was defeated by the opposition of Government: 155 members, however, voted in its favour; amongst the minority being the Hon. H. B. Lygon and Sir Thomas Winnington.
April 8—The Worcestershire Natural History Society formed, at a meeting held at the Guildhall, Worcester, with Sir C. S. Smith, Bart., in the chair.
May 1—The Hirondelle coach, passing through Worcester, was driven from Liverpool to Cheltenham, a distance of 136 miles, in 9 hours and 33 minutes—14 miles an hour, including stoppages.
May 17—On Mr. W. Whitmore’s motion to substitute a fixed duty on corn for the alterative duties then in force, Mr. G. R. Robinson and Mr. R. Godson voted in the minority. Colonel Davies also paired off in favour of the motion.
June 6—Colonel Davies moved a vote of confidence in ministers, with reference to their conduct towards Portugal, which was carried by a majority of 263.
July 22—Funeral of the Earl of Plymouth, in Tardebigg Church. The whole of the Yeomanry were assembled on the occasion, and great crowds gathered to witness the procession. The burial service was performed by the Lord Bishop of Worcester, assisted by the vicar of Tardebigg, the Right Hon. and Rev. Lord Aston.
September 9—The Government Commissioners made their inquiries at Worcester into the Charter and Corporation of the city. The forty-eight members of the old Corporation were, of course, self-elected, and the nomination virtually rested with a few of the body. They rigidly excluded all professional men and all Dissenters. The income of the body was stated to the Commissioners to be £2,100 per annum, and the expenditure about £2,000; this included subscriptions and donations for charitable purposes, amounting to about £300 a year. It was accidentally discovered, during the inquiry, that the sword bearer charged one penny per pot on all fruit brought into the market, though the toll was only one farthing. A complaint was made that the £20 charged upon persons, not freemen, who wished to trade within the limits of the city, had the effect of discouraging young men from entering upon small businesses.
October—The Bridgwater Treatises presented to the Rev. George Redford, by some members of the Worcester Literary and Scientific Institution, for “his just castigation of their scandalous libeller, ‘O. S.,’ for his refutation of the assertion ‘That the diffusion of useful knowledge leads to atheism,’ and for his defence of the anti-sectarian principles upon which the London University is founded.”
October 25—A prisoner, named M‘Kenzie, confined in the City Gaol for robbery, made his escape—slipping out of his cell just as the turnkey was locking up. He had to make a jump of eleven feet from the top of one building to another; and he afterwards said that, before making it, his courage failed him, so he knelt down and asked God to assist him, and, by God’s help, he succeeded! A truly curious instance of superstitious profanity. He was retaken at Bridgnorth.
November 14—Mr. Cockburn, the Government Commissioner for inquiring into Municipal Corporations, attended at Bewdley. The burgesses and capital burgesses of the borough were all elected, or chosen by the Corporation, and, before the passing of the Reform Act, the privilege of voting was thus confined to some thirty or forty persons. Previous to Mr. Robarts being elected the member, it was customary for the candidate who found favour to give some £300 or £400, and then there never was any opposition to his taking his seat. It was said that these “compliments” had always been applied to public purposes. Fifty guineas were allowed annually, out of the Corporation funds, for the bailiff’s feast. No satisfactory account was rendered of the Corporation property and receipts; and the corporate officers refused to answer any questions about the Bridge Trust, or the tolls taken thereat. The toll on foot passengers, it appeared, had been discontinued for eighteen years; but £400 a year was raised from the toll on carriages and horses.
Local Act—To enable the Stratford and Moreton Railway Company to make a branch to Shipston-on-Stour.