a small village pleasantly situated four miles W. by S. from Ellesmere, is returned as having 21 houses and 106 inhabitants at the census of 1841; the landowners are the trustees of the late Earl of Bridgewater; the township contains 587a. 0r. 14p. of land, mostly an undulating surface, having a fertile soil, which produces good crops of grain. Dr. Thomas Bray, an eminent, learned, and pious divine of the seventeenth century, was born at Marton, in Shropshire, in 1656. He was educated at Oswestry Grammar School, and was the principal promoter of the Missionary Society denominated The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Dr. Bray was instrumental in raising lending libraries in many parts of England and Wales, in connection with episcopal places of worship, out of which the neighbouring clergy might borrow the books they had occasion for, and where they might consult upon matters relating to their function and learning; similar libraries were also established in the American colonies for the use of the missionaries, which were subsequently secured to posterity by an act of parliament passed for that purpose in 1708. In the year 1712 the Dr. printed his “Martyrology, or Papal Usurpation,” in folio. This work consists of some choice and learned treatises of celebrated authors, which were grown very scarce, ranged and digested into a regular history. He proposed to compile a second volume, and had, at no small expense and pains, furnished himself with materials for it, but he was afterwards obliged to lay the prosecution of his design aside, and bequeathed by will his valuable collection of martyrological memoirs, both printed and manuscript, to Zion College. In the year 1726 he was employed in composing and printing his Directorium Missionarium, and his Primordia Bibliothecaria. About this time he also wrote a short account of Mr. Rawlet, the author of the Christian Monitor, and reprinted the life of Mr. Gilpin. Some of these were calculated for the use of missionaries, and in one of these he has endeavoured to show that civilizing the Indians must be the first step in any successful attempt for their conversion. As the furnishing the parochial clergy with the means of instruction would be an effectual method to promote Christian knowledge, so another expedient manifestly subservient to the same end would be, he thought, to imprint on the minds of those who are designed for the ministry, previously to their admission, a just sense of its various duties, and their great importance. With a view to this he reprinted the Ecclesiastes of Erasmus, a name of great authority in the republic of letters, and to whom the re-establishment of polite literature was principally owing. Dr. Bray was a frequent visitor of the prisons, the inmates of which always excited the highest degree of compassion in his breast, and to the temporal benefits which he munificently bestowed, he always subjoined spiritual comforts. He died on the 15th February, 1730, in the 73rd year of his age.
Directory.—John Bate, farmer and maltster; John Cooke, farmer; John Gabriel, wheelwright; Edward Lewis, maltster and shopkeeper; John Lewis, farmer; John Powell, blacksmith; William Williams, boot and shoemaker.
NEWNES
is a very small township on the turnpike road from Ellesmere to Oswestry, about a mile S.S. by W. from the former town. It contains 333a. 2r. 36p. of land, of which 310 acres are now vested in the trustees of the late Earl of Bridgewater. In 1841 there were six houses and 46 inhabitants. The resident farmers are Henry Pearce and James Thomas; Edward Lloyd, nurseryman. There is an erroneous tradition that the celebrated Whittington, Lord Mayor of London, was born at Newnes.
NORTHWOOD,
a village and township on the verge of the county, two and a half miles N. from Ellesmere, is separated from the county of Flint by a small stream, on the banks of which is a corn mill. The township is well wooded, has an undulating surface, and contains 1,321a. 3r. 5p. of land, the principal owners of which are the trustees of the late Earl of Bridgewater. Mr. Richard Evans and Mrs. Sarah Lindop are also proprietors. In 1841 there were 29 houses and 150 inhabitants. The resident farmers are John Cooke, Richard Evans, Mary Hassall, Sarah Lindop, Thomas Madeley, and Andrew Wycherley; Charles Reeves, corn miller. When our agent visited Northwood there were two farms unoccupied.
OTELEY, NEWTON, AND SPOONHILL,
a township with a scattered population, extending from half a mile to a mile and a half E. from Ellesmere, contains, 1,221a. 1r. 24p. of land, the whole of which is the property of Charles Kynaston Mainwaring, Esq., who resides at Oteley Park, an elegant mansion built of the Cafn free stone in 1827, and exhibiting a fine specimen of the florid English style of architecture, which prevailed during the reign of Henry VII. The mansion is most delightfully situated upon an elevated plot of ground, overlooking a magnificent sheet of water covering a surface of one hundred and sixty acres. In the front of the hall is one of the finest terraces in the country, it is surrounded with ornamental vases, filled with scarlet geraniums, which have a most beautiful appearance during the summer months, and give an additional charm to the fairy scene. The interior of the mansion is most superbly furnished, and contains an extensive and costly collection of antique, china, and curious ornaments of the most elaborate workmanship. There is a fine collection of family portraits, executed by the most celebrated Italian, Dutch, Flemish, and English masters. The library contains a fine collection of books, and is richly ornamented with carved oak. The entrance to the corridor is of stained glass, tracing the royal tribes of Wales, and the window of the hall traces the pedigree of the family: these are beautifully executed by Evans, of Shrewsbury. A little north from the hall is the billiard room, the interior of which is ornamented with Flemish tapestry. The shrubberies and pleasure grounds, which cover upwards of eighteen acres, are kept in the most admirable order, and beautified with rockeries, rustic bridges, and a very tastefully designed Swiss cottage. The grounds contain some fine shrubs, and the cyprus and the arbavitus, which are very numerous, exhibit the greatest luxuriance of growth. The park has a fine undulating surface, and is stocked with deer. This township at the census of 1841 contained 14 houses and 87 inhabitants.
Directory.—Charles Kynaston Mainwaring, Esq., Oteley Park; Robert Butter, farmer and maltster and vict., Dog Inn, Ellesmere; Edward Edwards, farmer, Crimps; George Foulkes, farmer and carpenter; Edward Groom, gardener to C. K. Mainwaring, Esq.; Elizabeth Price, farmer; Mary Whitfield, farmer; Thomas Whitfield, farmer, Spoonhill.