THIS IS TO GIVE NOTICE,
that if any Person brings the said parties to Justice, and prosecutes them, so as to satisfy the demands of COMMON HONESTY, he shall receive the above Reward.
The “Captain” stands about 5 feet 6 inches high; of a light complexion.—He has a mark on his left ear, occasioned by a wound received in one of his professional encounters.
The “Baker” is about 5 feet nothing, and a square built, Sancho-Panza kind of a Person; and rivals Punch in his admiration of the Law of the land, and Dogberry in his extensive acquaintance with it.
The Property, it is believed, is now deposited at the Albion Inn, Stone Street, Dudley, where, it is expected to be sold, on Tuesday or Wednesday next, to maintain the aforesaid queer Religion; and W. C. WOOD requests the attendance of his Friends on the occasion, to prevent the Property being sold below its value.
N.B.—It is ascertained that the “Captain’s” party visited, on the same day, the Premises of Mr. S. COOKE, and Mr. E. WOOD, from whence they succeeded in carrying off other Articles, for the same pious purpose; to wit, several pairs of
BLANKETS, AND A WATCH.
1840. At this time the town and neighbourhood was upon the balance of either increased depression and adversity, or improved development of the iron and coal trade. In 1836 Mr. Edward Smith built and started at Hartshill a new branch of the iron trade—viz., manufacturing iron hurdles and fencing of a very improved and superior style, strength, and appropriateness; more especially for our colonial possessions, where thousands of miles of iron and wire fencing have been exported by this eminent firm (Messrs. Hill, Smith, & Co., the Hartshill Works, near Dudley). The Woodside Iron Works were built in 1841 by Messrs. Bramah and Cochrane; but have been considerably enlarged at various times, and employ upwards of 1,000 hands when in full work. The extraordinary engineering and mining ability thrown into this very important iron work by the late esteemed A. B. Cochrane, Esq., J.P., soon placed this firm at the head of that species of iron manufactory for which it is now so world-known. We shall not soon forget that well-earned proud position which the late Mr. Cochrane secured when he exhibited to Lord Overstone and others of the Crystal Palace Exhibition Commissioners, in 1850, a large section of that future exhibition in Hyde Park, London, which brought all nations, kindreds, and tongues to witness the Great World’s Fair. The construction of the iron work of the Crystal Palace of 1851 at the Woodside Works was a marvel of engineering skill and accomplishment, and clearly demonstrated to the world the power and ingenuity which the Woodside Works possessed to make and erect anything in the substance and form of iron.
In 1853 Mr. Cochrane became possessed of these important works by the retirement of Mr. Bramah, and from that date to the period of his untimely death in June, 1863, this establishment secured and maintained almost unparalleled advancement and commercial success. Mr. Cochrane was only 50 years of age at his death, but his natural benevolence and philanthropic leanings stopped not at the usual benevolence which belongs to the large employers of labour in our locality, for his open handed charity induced him, in 1860, to build and maintain at his own cost, the handsome Holly Hall Schools, for the education of the children of his own workmen, and all who felt inclined to be benefitted by its establishment. In 1863 the Vicar of Dudley, the late Dr. Browne, commenced a series of Religious Services, which were conducted by the Rev. Robert Harper, M.A., of the Dudley Grammar School, but were discontinued at the end of eight months. However, on Good Friday, 1865, the Executors of the late Mr. A. B. Cochrane recommenced the Services with much success, under the spiritual guidance and care of the Rev. John Birch, M.A., and eventually the Schools and all their belongings were purchased by the Earl of Dudley, whose open-hearted liberality has so often been extended over almost every object of worth and public utility in Dudley and its neighbourhood. The noble Earl very handsomely provides the funds for the clergyman’s stipend, the Rev. Mr. Swindell, M.A., and, at the same time, pays the expenses of the school management, and discharges all its pecuniary liabilities. An effort is now being made to build a Church at Hartshill to accommodate that vastly increasing population.
In 1847, the late Mr. William Jeffries erected some extensive Iron Works at Hartshill (near Messrs. Cochranes’ Works), which are now known as Messrs Hingley and Smith’s Iron Works, and have been very much enlarged in late years. On June 2nd, 1848, an appalling accident took place at these Iron Works, by the sudden explosion of a large iron boiler, which dealt death and destruction all around; for it is melancholy to relate that 40 men and boys were blown to atoms, in almost an instant, and the destruction to the machinery and works was most serious to the owners.