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

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THE EARLDOM OF DUDLEY.

February 13th, 1860. The Right Honourable Lord Ward was created “Earl of Dudley and Viscount Ednam.” This important event was received with great satisfaction, both in the town of Dudley and the surrounding villages and hamlets, and the ancient town of Dudley was especially aware of marked consideration, in having the new elevation in the Peerage of the House of Himley called after our loyal and trusty old Borough. Deputations of congratulations to the noble Earl poured in upon him from all quarters, and the most notable must be claimed, the “Great Deputation,” which in much pomp and state emanated from the then Mayor, Theophilus Tinsley, Esq., and the principal inhabitants of Dudley, who were most graciously received by the new Earl of Dudley, at Himley Hall, on February 18th, 1860. The following is a report of these congratulatory deputations.

PRESENTATION OF AN ADDRESS TO THE EARL OF DUDLEY.

Thursday was the day named by the Earl of Dudley as the day when he should be happy to receive the deputation who had expressed a wish to wait upon his lordship, to present to him, on behalf of the town of Dudley, an address, upon his recent elevation to the title of Earl of Dudley. Himley was named as the place where his lordship would receive the deputation, and, accordingly, between one and two yesterday afternoon, the following gentlemen assembled at Himley Hall:—The Mayor (T. Tinsley, Esq.), the High Bailiff (Mr. C. F. G. Clark), Rev. Dr. Davison, Rev. G. Lewis, Captain Bennitt, Messrs. A. B. Cochrane, J. E. Swindell, W. Haden, S. D. Fereday, J. G. Walker, J. S. Bourne, Williscroft, Renaud, Grainger, Rudge, Hollier, Jordan, S. Price, Aston, Sanders, H. M. Wainwright, W. S. Wood, and Danks.

His Lordship received the deputation in his accustomed urbane manner, and after the ceremony of recognition had been gone through, the Mayor read the following address: “To the Right Honourable the Earl of Dudley,—We, the Mayor, Magistrates, clergy, gentry, and inhabitants of the parish and borough of Dudley, beg to offer to your Lordship our sincere and hearty congratulations on the occasion of your Lordship’s elevation to the Earldom of Dudley; and humbly pray that your Lordship may be long spared to enjoy that dignity, and that it may by God’s blessing be handed down in direct succession to the remotest posterity. Dudley, February 16th, 1860.”

The address, engrossed on vellum in a highly decorative style, bore the inscription, “To the Right Honourable the Earl of Dudley,” and was superbly illuminated in gold and colours, his lordship’s motto, “Comme je fus,” preceding the address. To it were added nearly 700 signatures, including the leading inhabitants of Dudley, Netherton, and the outlying districts comprehended within the borough of 40,000 inhabitants from which his lordship derives the title. The address and signatures thereto occupied twelve sheets of vellum, and the whole was enclosed in a handsome Russian cover, on which, in letters of gold, appeared the following dedication—“To the Right Honourable the Earl of Dudley, of Dudley Castle, in the county of Stafford, Viscount Ednam, of Ednam, in the county of Roxburgh.”

After the Mayor had read the address, and presented it to the Earl, the High Bailiff made a few remarks in support of the sentiments conveyed in that document. He said that although the occasion of his lordship’s elevation to an earldom was no doubt of great importance to himself privately, still it was also of great importance to the borough of Dudley, and his lordship had paid a very high compliment to the borough in taking his title from it. Therefore they had considered it their duty to present to his lordship that address, signed, as it was, by all classes and all denominations of the inhabitants of the borough, and by those who were sincerely attached to both his lordship’s person and house.