1837.
The subjects which occupied the attention of the legislature this year were many and important, but no measures of great public polity actually passed. Ecclesiastical matters formed the prominent topic, and a bill to abolish church rates, and provide for the reparation of churches, by putting the property of bishops, deans, and chapters into commission, was read a second time, but the majority was so small, five votes only, that ministers could not proceed with it. King William IV died on the 20th of June; and, in the elections which followed the accession of the young Queen, the Whigs with difficulty maintained their majority. Consols averaged 91½; wheat averaged 55s. 10d.
September—Great excitement in Bromsgrove over politico-parochial matters. Two parties were appointed by the Conservative party at the usual time—Easter week; but this appointment, on an appeal to Dr. Phillimore, the Chancellor of the Diocese, was declared informal and illegal. There was, consequently, a fresh election in this month, when the whole parish was routed up to vote. The result was, the choice of the two liberals—Messrs. Ellins (who had 945 votes) and Hill (who had 915). The Conservatives were Messrs. Edwards and Penn, who obtained 381 and 372 votes respectively. A scrutiny was demanded, and it dragged out a weary length with all sorts of expenses, but left the result of the election unaltered.
September 13—Bazaar at Evesham, for the restoration of St. Lawrence’s Church, producing £250.
October 30—Public meeting of the burgesses of Worcester at the Bell Inn, to consider the best means of declaring their grateful sense of Mr. Hebb’s constant endeavours in the behalf of civil and religious liberty, and their approval of his conduct during the two years he had filled the office of chief magistrate. It was determined that he should be requested to sit for his portrait, and that the Council should be asked to place it in the Assembly Room, where it now hangs.
Local Acts—For amending and enlarging the powers of the act for erecting a County Hall and Courts of Assize; the New Cattle Market Act; Birmingham and Gloucester Railway Amendment Act, with powers to make branches to Worcester and Tewkesbury.
1838.
Irish Tithes and Corporations—Church Rates—Jamaica and the Negro Apprenticeship System, and the Canadas—formed the subjects of discussion in Parliament. In the year previous had commenced that series of deficits which contributed so much to the weakness and ultimate downfall of the Melbourne administration: for finance is, after all, the life-blood of a ministry. The Whigs could not, however, fairly be blamed for the state of the national exchequer, which, in truth, was the unavoidable consequence of the measures of former years. Immediately after the restriction of small notes, in the year 1829, the prices of merchandise and the amount of mercantile transactions rapidly declined; though as the seasons were unfavourable, speculators managed, by aid of the sliding scale, to keep up the price of corn till 1833, when it fell to less than 40s. a quarter. Speculation in the American trade gained for a time the appearance of prosperity; but on the failure of the United States Bank in 1836, affairs were brought to a crisis, and our manufacturers and merchants were plunged into extreme distress—trade was utterly stagnated—and when the scarcity of 1839 necessitated large importations of corn, and a drain of gold to pay for it, the Bank of England was well nigh brought into the peril of 1825. Consols averaged 93; wheat averaged 64s. 7d.
January—The Worcestershire Chronicle established by a joint stock company, at the head of which were some of the leading Reformers of the city and county. It was designed to supply a want, then beginning to be generally felt by this party, of an organ for the advocacy of their opinions, and the advancement of their interests through the medium of the press. The first number was published on the 3rd of January, 1838. In the year 1842 the concern passed into private hands, and was transferred to the present proprietors.
January 22—Mr. Pakington made his Parliamentary debût in a speech on Canadian affairs, which was very well received.