The Curiosities of Dudley and the Black Country, From 1800 to 1860 / Also an Account of the Trials and Sufferings of Dud Dudley, with His Mettallum Martis: Etc.

by C. F. G. Clark

THE DUDLEY DISPENSARY.

1845. May 14. The foundation of this most valuable and humane institution bears date from this period. A public meeting of the inhabitants was held at the Town Hall, on May 14th, 1845, under the presidency of Edward Terry, Esq., the Mayor, “For the purpose of adopting such means as might be deemed best calculated to afford efficient medical relief gratuitously to indigent persons residing in the district, and especially of considering whether the establishment of a hospital at Dennis Park, to be called the Dudley and Stourbridge Hospital, be desirable or otherwise.” The subject was discussed with much animation and consideration for the wants of the indigent poor in the Dudley district. It was, moreover, considered that the wealth and kindly feeling of the inhabitants of Dudley and its immediate neighbourhood was a sufficient guarantee that a dispensary should and could be handsomely supported and maintained in the town of Dudley, irrespective of any pecuniary assistance from the Stourbridge district. After much discussion, the following resolutions were unanimously carried:—1st, “That in consequence of the distance of the intended hospital from this town and parish, such an institution would not be attended with so much advantage to Dudley and its immediate locality as a Dispensary.” 2nd, “That this meeting is fully of opinion that the establishment of a Dispensary to provide gratuitous medical assistance to those who are unable to procure professional relief for themselves, is the most desirable plan that can be adopted for this immediate district, and that a subscription be now opened to carry this object into effect.” The handsome sum of £178 was speedily collected in donations, and premises were taken in the Upper High Street at a rental of £40 per annum, and converted into a Public Dispensary. Mr. Richard Meredith was appointed the first resident Medical Officer, and the Institution was opened with an annual subscription list of £289. In 1860 it was deemed necessary to enlarge the usefulness of this charitable institution by erecting a more commodious building better adapted to its yearly increasing requirements. The noble Earl of Dudley, under the circumstances, presented the committee with a very eligible building site in the Priory Road; and that ever-to-be-remembered humble and unostentatious townsman, Joseph Guest, Esq., and friend to every good cause in Dudley, at once volunteered to erect the new dispensary at his sole cost. This noble and truly Christian offer was at once accepted, and the present Dudley Dispensary stands amongst us as a living testimony of the benevolent consideration of a worthy Dudley gentleman, the late Joseph Guest, Esq. It was said that the dispensary cost upwards of £1,600 in its erection. There is one feature in the management of this valuable institution which requires immediate rectification, viz., that a large number of patients who now derive benefit from this valuable institution are not the kind of people (the indigent poor) for whom it was originally established, and the rules of the institution are constantly broken by subscribers giving tickets to such applicants for medical relief.

Railway speculations, and numberless new railway projects cropped up all over the kingdom, and at Dudley we had the honour of entertaining what was called “The Battle of the Gauges,” a most scientific difference of opinion, “whether the Narrow Gauge, or the Broad Gauge,” was likely to be the most conducive to the public good. We had numerous private, and two public, meetings held to discuss this important question, inasmuch as two Railway lines were projected from Wolverhampton (via Dudley), to London and Bristol, &c. The one named the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway (Broad Gauge), the other was called the Tring Railway (Narrow Gauge), branching off to Birmingham in its route to London. After much ignorant conception and argument about the merits of each project (for we were entirely in the hands of the Speculators, Lawyers, and Engineers), it was unfortunately for the future advantage of Dudley decided to support the “Broad Gauge” (the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton line), which Bill passed the House of Lords on July 31st, 1845, and was commenced shortly afterwards.

1846. Mr. C. F. G. Clark, Chemist of this town, who had taken a very prominent part in supporting sound Odd Fellowship in this town and district, delivered a very luminous and entertaining lecture in the Lancaster School-room, Dudley (Dr. Browne, Vicar in the chair), “On the Origin, History and Principles of the Society of Odd Fellows.” This lecture (on a novel subject) attracted upwards of 500 of the public, and the clear, and lucid manner in which the lecturer stripped Odd Fellowship of many of its believed absurdities, and shewed “the advantages of a society, which not only affords a vast amount of assistance to its own members, but also relieves the Poor Rates, and other burdens upon parishes to an unparalleled extent, by teaching its members to be provident, sober, loyal, and industrious.” The profits of the sale of this lecture were given to the Widows and Orphans’ Fund, when upwards of £50 was added to that excellent Fund. Mr. Clark continued to lecture in this laudable cause for some years in this district.

“Odd Fellowship, M.U.—On Friday evening week, March 27th, 1846, a lecture was delivered in the Lancasterian School Room, Stafford Street, Dudley, by Mr. C. F. G. Clark, “On the Origin, History, and Principles of the Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows.” The audience was very numerous, and the room, which is large, was well filled. The chair was taken by Dr. Browne, Vicar of Dudley, who briefly claimed for the lecturer a patient hearing. Mr. Clark opened his lecture with an introduction on the character of benefit societies in general, showing the superiority of Odd Fellowship over most other similar institutions. No society, he observed, that had ever been established in this country had afforded the amount of real benefit to its members which had been conferred by the Loyal and Independent Order of Odd Fellows of the Manchester Unity. He briefly noticed the origin of these institutions, expressing his opinion that they were to be traced from the Ancient Guilds, established by the church, in the time of the Saxons. He explained several of the laws of the societies of Guilds, and showed that they were established for a similar object to that of the societies of Odd Fellows. The Manchester Unity, he observed, was established in 1812 by twenty-seven working men, in Manchester, and remained in obscurity for some years, until in 1820 it was introduced into many of the large towns in the kingdom by the migrations of the Manchester brethren, and from that time its progress was rapid and signal. In 1838, it was introduced into Scotland, where it has been fostered with a spirit highly creditable to that far-seeing and intelligent people. In the Isle of Man, the doctrines of the Order had been so propagated that scarcely a man of any degree of station or character remained unconnected with it. There were upwards of 4,000 lodges in the Unity, and they were dispersed throughout Great Britain and Ireland, Malta, India, Australia, the Canadas, the United States of America, and other possessions of the British empire. In the year 1844 the society received into its funds £326,207, out of which was expended in purposes of relief £170,182, and for carrying on the extensive working of the system £71,420. Mr. Clark next noticed the system of government adopted by the institution, and most minutely explained the advantages arising from its completeness and comprehensiveness. He then called attention to several individual cases of benefit, and showed that Noah Clarke, of the Cumberland Lodge, received up to his death in 1843, upwards of £300 from the funds of the Cumberland Lodge, in the Manchester District. He noticed the objections which had been raised by many men to the Order, which he replied to with much ability. In closing his remarks, the lecturer noticed the benefit which the institution had afforded in Dudley. In the year 1842 and 1843, when trade was so bad, £432 3s. 3d. was paid on account of sickness and distress by the Wellington Lodge alone. During fifteen years and a half, David Pearson, of the Good Intent Lodge, held in High Street, had received upwards of £145; and Thomas Tomlinson, of the Wellington Lodge, in Stone Street, during fourteen years and a half, upwards of £120. He concluded by reading an eloquent tribute to the Order written by Dr. Wright, of Birmingham, and sat down amidst loud applause. Thanks were afterwards voted to the chairman for his kindness in presiding, and to Mr. Clark for his eloquent and instructive lecture.”—From the Birmingham Journal.

Died June 22nd, 1846, Mr. Jeffrey Finch, of Portersfield, Fender Manufacturer; a true specimen of a kind, genial, “Dudley man of ancient descent.” Aged 59 years.

Died June 24th, 1846, Mr. Rice, Castle Street. Aged 56 years.

1846. June 30th. The jury at Worcester Sessions awarded the sum of £3,440 to Mr. Ralph Musselwhite, Draper, for his shop and house being pulled down, standing on the Market flat, he demanding from the Dudley Town Commissioners £4,800!!!

1846. November 10th. A piece of very handsome silver plate was this day presented to Captain Wm. Bennett, of this town, as the result of a public subscription, “to mark the sense of his public services and worth.” The testimonial was presented by Lord Ward in a very complimentary speech.

Died February 1st, 1847, Mr. James Morris, Chemist and Druggist, of Dudley, a famous freemason. Aged 48 years.