Wellingtonia FREE ISSUE! Issue 5 : Autumn 2009 Newsletter of the Wellington History Group, rediscovering the past of Wellington in

 1837 SPECIAL 1901  Victorian Edition

he was just eighteen had been in some doubt at the years old when Victoria start of her reign. Slearned of the death of Wellington in Victorian times her uncle, King William VI, in reflected what was happening the early hours of Tuesday throughout the rest of the country: 20th June 1837. Her it had its own social and economic coronation took place a year problems, yet the period also later and Wellington, along witnessed many improvements. with countless towns and This edition of Wellingtonia cities throughout Britain, reveals just a few of the many marked the occasion in its facets of Victorian Wellington. own way. We hope you enjoy reading it. Victoria takes Communion during her As a monarch, Queen Coronation, 28th June 1838, by artist Charles Victoria presents historians N HIS SSUE Robert Leslie. The Royal Collection © 2009, with several anomalies. The I T I Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II period bearing her name is ****************** characterised by major Page technological developments, 2. Victorian Times economic power and social 3. Newspaper ‘Clipping’ reform and yet she preferred Railway Cutting the status quo, resisted change 4. Wrekin Road Schools and preferred to ignore the problems caused by Britain’s 5. A View of 1851 class-aware society. Wellington She reigned over a nation 6. Wellington’s Medical that was supposed to idealise Heritage motherhood and the family, 7. Datespotting yet she hated pregnancy and 8. Railway Expansion disliked babies and children 10. Impact of the Railway (apart from, presumably, the nine she had herself). 12. Edward Lawrence As a person, Victoria was 14. Songs of The Wrekin well aware of her position and 15. Ink and Paint prone to egotism, determined 16. Funeral Trip to hold onto political power at 17. Datespotting Answers all costs, yet her reign 18. Major Businesses, 1890s witnessed a transformation of the monarch’s position to that 19. And Finally ... of a ceremonial leader and 20. Announcements; thus preserved the role of the Contact details monarchy which, politically,

Produced with financial support from Awards for All churches set up Sunday Schools to VICTORIAN TIMES George Evans teach them to read the Bible and other ‘improving’ books. Boarding schools were common he great Queen-Empress, so for those who could afford them, far as I know, never came and Dame schools for the aspiring There, but her presence was but less well off. Even Prince’s universally felt, even when she Street Methodist school charged was mourning or hibernating in a 2d a week fees. Discipline was palace. was the centre of strict and corporal punishment the British Empire, on which the frequent. sun never set, the largest empire Adults were never addressed the World has ever known. Now, by Christian names except for barely a century later, people who family, close friends and understand Romans, Genghis underlings. Men carrying walking Kahn, Napoleon, Hitler and Mao, sticks wore suits with waistcoats know little of Victoria’s empire. bedecked with watch chains and My generation was brought up class-identifying hats. Women by Victorians. Our parents, never wore trousers; skirts and grandparents, teachers and coats were ankle length and shopkeepers were Victorians. They elaborate hats, jewellery and were proud of the Queen-Empress; course, Hesba Stretton’s charming umbrellas were de rigueur. everyone stood to attention for the books. The railways to Shrewsbury, National Anthem and prayed for In Victorian times there were Crewe, Stafford, London, the Queen’s health every Sunday. many paupers. They came in two and Much Wenlock came mid- World maps were coloured sorts – deserving and century. Coaches and other pink for ‘our’ Empire. This undeserving. Often that meant artefacts were made at the large, included around a third of the sober and drunk. Many children short-lived Shropshire Works, later globe; Canada, Australia, India, starved, and women starved Groom’s timber yard. Almost South Africa, Burma, Ceylon, themselves to feed their husbands. every village had a railway station Malaya, New Zealand, Northern Soup kitchens and ragged schools and Wellington passenger and and Southern Rhodesia, Kenya, were set up. Our Union goods stations were the hub of the British Somalia, British Guiana, Workhouse was in Walker Street system. This, with John Barber’s Nigeria, Jamaica and The Gold (later a brewery, now the library) Smithfield cattle market, Coast were only the larger ones. until a new one between Union stimulated a boom in agricultural We also ‘owned’ Gibraltar, Road and Street Lane was built. machinery manufacture (Corbett’s Singapore, Hong Kong, many Banks emerged and expanded. and Bromley’s) newspapers Pacific islands and goodness Their managers often resembled (Wellington Journal), publishing knows how many more. Britain Captain Mainwaring of Dad’s (Houlston’s) and small specialist was the ‘Mother Country’. Army. The North and South shops for farmers, their wives and Wellingtonians often visited the Bank became the Midland (now people from the industrial towns Empire. Men volunteered for the HSBC) and had a huge hardwood to the east. Army and were posted, like my counter, across which all business Victorian manners were formal. grandfather, to India. The was transacted by men in suits. Crime was rife but heavily Northwest Frontier was quite as Everybody was graded in punished by instant dismissal, wild as it is now. Men joined the classes and ‘knew their place’. The gaoling, flogging, deportation or Royal Navy, then as large as all the middle class expanded and lived hanging. Both drunkenness and other navies in the world put in rented villas to suit their teetotalism were common. Health together, or the Merchant Navy, income. Mrs Beaton was the guru and unemployment insurance again the largest on Earth. for housewives, who had few were by ‘Friendly Societies’ Other men – and women – labour-saving devices. Many (Oddfellows, Foresters, Buffaloes became missionaries, spreading private schools (including and Rechabites). Governments the Christian Gospel to far-flung Wellington College and Hiatts) didn’t govern so much as now. countries, whether they liked it or supplemented church schools Most people were proud to be not. These intrepid characters (National and Methodist). British and of the Queen and raised money locally and set off to Respectability was much sought- Empire. Black, brown or yellow exotic places to set up churches of after and demonstrated in dress, people were hardly ever seen. ‘We’ various denominations, returning manners, church attendance and went to ‘them’; they weren’t occasionally with pictures and speech. invited here. artefacts like Bible quotes written Families were large, especially Wellington was very different on bamboo to raise more money. among the poor, who were usually but is still a small, friendly market They also took Bibles and, of semi-literate at best. Many town.

2 Wellingtonia: Issue 5, Winter 2009 NEWSPAPER ‘CLIPPING’ Allan Frost RAILWAY CUTTING

rice wars are nothing new. Did a ghost really appear When the railway network at All Saints church? Or was it Pexpanded during the middle all a misunderstanding? of the nineteenth century, there was keen competition between the 1842 different railway companies to HOST ALARM!-For several attract passengers. days and nights lately, the This story shows how Gtown of Wellington and desperate competing companies neighbourhood for some miles round were to dominate. It was first have been greatly agitated with the tale published in the Wellington Journal that there were strange sights beheld in & Shrewsbury News some twenty Wellington Church and Church-yard. years after the event. The rumour having begun, many ‘In the year 1854, two of the most went to see, and returned confirming powerful railway companies in the the report, but could not tell what they (the Great Western saw, it was a non-descript, sometimes a and the London and North Western) long figure, sometimes short, and then were pitted against each other in the Top of All Saints tower in the late round or square; at any rate, it was like most violent and uncompromising 1800s. Did the ‘ghost’ appear here? an Ignis Fatuus. The tale increased, competition ever known in a similar and– ‘All who told it added something to do with it, by the escapement of the connection or ever since. Between the new, And all who heard it made gaseous fluid in some way or other, towns of Wellington and Shrewsbury, a enlargements too, In every ear it they knew not. At length, however, the distance of 10 miles, both companies spread, on every tongue it grew’ humble individual who was watchman had, as they have still, the right to use till at length of an evening and at night, of the belfry (lest elfs and hobgoblins the railway in common. It was in this great numbers of people were should frolic and dance to a merry section that, in the year referred to, the congregated together in the Church- peal), having some of the mental crux of the fierce competition was yard to the number of one or two ability of Archimedes, though perhaps experienced. hundred, they clipp’d the Church to he knew it not, bethought himself of a The fare between the two towns, turn away the Ghost, but all would not small window which looked out of the which was originally 10d [almost do. belfry into the body of the Church, equivalent to today’s 5p] each way, Some thought they saw a warrior which corresponded with an opposite gradually dwindled down to a penny, dressed in full armour, standing at the window, upon which the fine lights the lowest railway fare for 10 miles on top of the tower of the Church, from the gas lamps shone brilliantly, record. When matters had reached this equipped in all points, exactly ‘cap-a- and acted as a mirror to throw the point, the public, who largely availed pie’, with sword by side, which ‘ever- reflection down into the Church, themselves of the cheap ride, began to and-anon’ he shook, as if in wrath, varying in its form according to the wonder what would be the next towards the assembled multitude power of King AEolus upon the lights. development. below. Even some of the clergy made This part of the mystery being solved, It was rumoured that the North their appearance, but Mr. Ghost would the imagined figure on the tower was Western would carry third-class still be Lord Paramount. The question accounted for by considering that the passengers from Wellington to was, What could it be? There were ball and cross had lately been Shrewsbury without any charge great searchings of heart, some said, burnished, and in the late nuptial whatsoever, and that the Great Western all was not right in the Church-yard, rejoicings, A large flag had been Company threatened that if this was others, surely it portended the appended, but which Master AEolus done they would not only follow suit, prophecy of the ‘Monk of Dree’ was had severed into streamers. The but give each passenger a glass of free going to be fulfilled, but that it related shining ball with the strong light from beer at the end of the journey. Matters to Wellington as well as to London, and the lamps upon it, would very well never reached this absurd pass, both perhaps all England was going to be represent the warrior’s helmet, the companies coming speedily to the involved in a general ruin. vane and quarter points, his floating conclusion that the war was one of Whilst these cogitations were plumes; and the streamers shaking in mutual destruction and that on both working with many, some a little more the wind, the sword by side or lifted in sides ‘discretion was the better part of reflective began to suspect, that surely terrore ... it was something like a ghost. valour’!’ the late great improvement of [Editor’s note: The Medieval illuminating the town with gas, Monk of Dree was renowned for promoted by the public spirited St. J.C. his predictions. Aeolus was the Charlton, Esq., James Oliver, Esq., and King of the Winds in Greek some other influentials, had something mythology.]

3 Company could not supply it for WREKIN ROAD SCHOOLS Mike Greatholder less than £80. He and Mr Webb had consequently made arrangements for sinking a well school board and putting down a force pump calling which would cost less than £40 attention to and give a good supply. the fact that It was agreed that the schools his foundry should be publicly opened on the with cupola evening of Monday, January 10, for casting but at the next meeting the purposes Wellington School Board adjoined the chairman, Mr T. R. Groom, site on explained that the opening had to which the be delayed until after the present board were schools had been examined. about to ollution problems might The clerk was instructed to erect their new school. He was of obtain hat and cloak pegs and a 12 seem to be a hazard of the opinion that the sulphur modern life but, looking at light gas meter for the schools. A P arising from the casting process tender was received from Mr T. the proposals for the building of might be inhaled by the children Wrekin Road Schools in 1879 in Shaw, a jeweller of New Street, to and ‘possibly prove injurious’. supply two clocks for the schools Wellington, it appears they were He thought it best to call their very relevant even then. Not that and keep them in repair for 12 attention to this before they months at £3 each. they were at first that obvious. started building. He was willing to A committee was set up to look Managers were appointed: Rev. give in exchange for this site one A. Grace, Mr W. Mansell (jun), Mr into the building of a new school of equal quantity of land because it had been reported that W. Smith, Mr J. Ashley, Mr R. A. belonging to him on the road Groom, Mr Mitchell and Mr W. there were 1,191 children of school leading out of Haygate Road to age in Wellington and, of these, Partridge. the Gasworks. Ann Parton, wife of Isaiah 953 were attending public This offer was turned down by elementary schools, 115 attended Parton of New Street, was chosen the board but Mr Mansell then from 14 applications to be ‘adventure’ or dame schools and agreed to purchase for them 123 were not attending any school. caretaker at 5s a week. Her another site in Wrekin Road from husband was employed to pump Of these, 87 were infants and 36 a Mr Clayton in exchange for the between seven and 13. water, attend to and keep in order land next to the foundry. the yard, playground, closets etc., So there were 238 children in There were 17 tenders for the Wellington not attending the and get in coal and clean ash pits building of the schools and in May for 1s 6d a week. public elementary schools. 1880 it was unanimously resolved Wellington School Board wrote The Wrekin Road Schools were that the tender of Mr W. Griffiths opened on Tuesday, January 18 to the Education Department to of Knockin for £1,590 be accepted. the effect that a new school should and in the first week 33 pupils It was agreed the Home Secretary were enrolled in the mixed be built on land in Wrekin Road should be made a party to the for 125 infants and 125 in the department and 14 in the infants. land exchange with Mr Mansell. By the second week this had risen mixed department. At the December monthly There were long discussions to 65 in the mixed and 27 in the meeting of the Wellington School infants. about the production of plans, one Board, Miss Hannah Jones of architect having designed schools By February 1881 the numbers Hixon, Stafford, was appointed had risen to 92 in the mixed school at £7 10s per child exclusive of mistress of the Wrekin Road master’s residence, while another and 34 in the infants. Mixed School at a salary of £60 a Miss Ruth Gough was undertook to build a school, year, with half grant on including fittings and boundary appointed assistant mistress of the examination and half grant for school at £25 a year and Agnes walls for £6 a head, or £5 without music, her duties to begin on boundary walls. Richards and Emma Turner were January 10, 1881. appointed monitors. Plans were received from no Miss Lucy Ellis of Wednesbury fewer than 70 applications and Mr S. Jones, schools officer, was appointed mistress of the reported that in 1872 there had those submitted by Messrs. infants school at a salary of £50 a Haddon Brothers of Malvern were been 1,315 children in elementary year. schools in Wellington. In 1875 accepted. This was in November The chairman told the meeting 1879. In December came the there were 1,915 and by 1881, that, since the last meeting, there were 2,226. It seems that bombshell. difficulty had arisen as to the Mr W. Mansell wrote to the Wrekin Road Schools were built water supply. The Waterworks just in time.

4 Wellingtonia: Issue 5, Winter 2009 and George & Dragon were all A VIEW OF 1851 WELLINGTON Jan Johnstone situated in what was then New Street. The White Lion, Market Tavern, Crown Inn and Fox & named Delvecchio & Dotti in New walk through Wellington’s Hounds jostled for custom in Street, timber merchants, streets today will reveal a Crown Street, while the Fox & pawnbrokers, book binders and Avariety of shops serving Grapes in Market Street or stationers, silk mercers, a the consumer. You’ll find a grocer, Butcher’s Row saw proprietors postmaster, namely Benjamin butchers, bakers, sandwich bars, Ann and Helen Shakeshaft also Smith, father of the Wellington pubs, outfitters, book shops, trading as braziers. authoress Hesba Stretton, a toy florists, newsagents and charity Then there was the Wicketts dealer, a seedsman, several shops to mention just a few. (note the spelling), the name travelling drapers, an agent for the Go back to 1851, however, and referred to a small gate, the Red intriguingly named London Bone as well as some of the services Lion and the Holly Bush (the latter and Guano Company in Wrekin listed above, you’d have found a now a private house), all to be Road, veterinary surgeons, an iron very different picture. found on Street Lane. The Dun founders, Mansell’s in Foundry Some of the streets have Cow not surprisingly in Dun Cow Lane, a corn miller, an agent for changed name since the 1850s, Lane, the Charlton Arms on brick and tile makers, ironmongers names that once reflected their Church Street, the Britannia on and tallow chandlers. use, such as Duke Street known King Street, the Sun Inn, Queen’s A familiar name still to some then as Dun Cow Lane and Head, Groom & Horses and The Wellingtonians is Hobsons. In 1851 Market Street which was Butcher’s Raven Inn, for some reason now Robert Hobson was already Row. Bell Street was Swine renamed Rasputin’s, on Walker established selling stationery and Market, Glebe Street was Jarratt’s Street; and lastly, the Cock Inn on books, publishing the Wellington Lane and Holyhead Road, in Watling Street. Advertiser and acting as Honorary much quieter times before the Of these, just a few still exist. Secretary for the London Art advent of motor vehicles, was Some have been demolished and Union. The shop exists still in the Street Lane. some, such as the Fox & Hounds Square but is now a travel agency. Wellington had no less than and the Bull’s Head have been Professions represented eleven butchers, seven grocers, utilised as shops and offices. throughout the town included three bakers, two confectioners, a People in and around surgeons, clerks, the High Bailiff fruitier and a fishmonger. There Wellington in the 1850s relied on to the County Court, highway was no excuse for not looking their market town; travel was surveyors, solicitors, Robert your best when there were restricted, the combustion engine Newill (a name still linked locally fourteen tailors, seven had yet to be thought of; trains with the legal profession) based in dressmakers, five hatters, eighteen were relatively new and not New Street, curates and sextons, a shoemakers, three bonnet makers, generally for the working classes superintendent of police, a bootmaker, a patten and clog who would have walked unless schoolteachers, Inland Revenue maker, a hosier, two milliners and able to find alternative methods officers, the manager of the seven drapers for those little bits such as getting a lift on a horse Shropshire Union railway, a and pieces. Last but not least there drawn cart. scripture reader and a Professor of was an old clothes dealer for those Wellington, the hub of the area, music, auctioneers, boarding down on their luck. certainly filled most needs. Trades were extremely well school proprietors and many, represented, plumbers and many more. glaziers, painters, cabinet makers, People in Wellington never * * * builders, bricklayers, carpenters went thirsty in 1851. There were The original Fox & Hounds inn, and joiners abounded. Particularly no less than thirty-four beerhouses Crown Street. pertinent to the time were basket which were often makers, coopers, tin plate workers, someone’s front braziers, tanners, saddlers and room where home- curriers, rope and twine makers, made beer was umbrella makers, chair makers, served. Twenty- six nail makers, wheelwrights, coach pubs catered for builders, stonemasons, thirsty customers: blacksmiths, a brass and iron The Bell Inn, Kings founders in King Street and watch Head, Bull’s Head, and clock makers. Odd Fellows’ Arms, There were chemists, provision Nelson Inn, Red and smallware dealers, salt and Lion, Duke of tea dealers, hairdressers, jewellers Wellington, Queen’s represented by the delightfully Head, Duke’s Head

5 WELLINGTON’S MEDICAL HERITAGE John Westwood

hat a rich vein of after him). Dr. Hollies took on Wellington’s history young Harry as his student in Wwould be available to us practice at a time when medicine had more of the district’s leading was moving forward in step with citizens published their memoirs. late Victorian times. Imagine, for example, the Personal and professional diaries and/or notebooks of hygiene was at last beginning to doyens like stock agent John be recognised as the solution to so Barber, brewer O.D. Murphy, many surgical disasters, and to so schoolmaster John Bayley, rebel many mysteriously rampant workhouse reformer Edward outbreaks of deadly disease Lawrence, or timber king Alfred among the general, and Groom. particularly urban, population. Thankfully however, we do Under his eminent uncle’s have the late Dr. H.W. (Harry) watchful eye, H.W. was on his Pooler’s two autobiographies way to an eminence of his own. covering his life, and general He moved to Birmingham to medical practice, written in the complete his medical Dr. Harry Pooler in the 1890s late 1940s. Dr. Pooler was born in qualifications, and remained in Wellington in 1866 and grew up in included visits by military bands that city for many years as a busy the town during its Victorian era. and fairground folk with dancing general practitioner, medical And it was a glorious time – bears. The family also witnessed innovator, and highly respected not just for Wellington, but for all the triumphant return of Captain City Councillor. of England as industrial and Matthew Webb following his first Of his time learning the commercial innovation, world successful swim. profession in Wellington, he trade, and increased general well- ‘Then, too, there were the annual writes: ‘Medical work in the being gradually began to improve parades of the various Friendly 1870s…there were no telephones and the lives of a growing population. Societies – Foresters, Oddfellows, no cars. I used to start out (on As a boy, Harry Pooler lived Druids, and the like – in full regalia horseback) about 10am, lunch at the with his parents, five sisters and on their way to Church’, he writes. nearest suitable pub, and return home infant brother in a large ‘And at Christmas the Morris about 4pm, perhaps to find a message townhouse and shop overlooking dancers with their accordion player, waiting for another patient 7 or 8 The Square. Pooler senior was a and their St. George and the Dragon, miles away; this involved saddling prosperous master draper (see a fearsome beast, but nonetheless another (fresh) horse and attending to advert opposite) and highly welcomed by us children from our box his needs on my return. It was hard respected as an ardent Church of seats in The Square. but pleasant work, for the countryside England worshipper. Every day at ‘By no means to be forgotten [was] was beautiful.’ home in Market Square there were the Town Crier in his uniform with Dr. Pooler recalls how prayers involving family and gold lace and red lapels and his cocked frustrating it could be treating servants – an unfailing ritual. hat, like a Field Marshall’s, and his critical patients in Victorian Young Pooler loved the bell – Oh Yes, Oh Yes! England – with no more than a countryside around the town, and ‘And yet again, the annual visits little knowledge, or guesswork, as was familiar with the folds, nooks of the circus, and the front view we the practitioner’s only remedy. and crannies of The Wrekin. He had of the procession through The ‘The greatest scourge of children writes lovingly of Wrekin and Square, with the elephants and caged in those days was diphtheria, and the Ercall, of vigorous rambles and lions, a dancing bear, and horses and lay person could hardly imagine the picnics on summer Sundays, then, ponies, and the beautiful ladies in horror which seized a household when tired out, journeying home at widely flowing skirts, but above all, diphtheria made its presence known. I twilight by horse-drawn wagon. the clowns. can well remember how the Vicar of The little Pooler clan enjoyed ‘In this house we continued to live Wellington lost three children in a the advantage of a grandstand until I was about twelve years old. month. It broke him up completely, view from the front window of Then we moved to a house on the and ultimately was the cause of his their town house when anything outskirts of the town called Winton utter ruin.’ of public interest occurred in The Lodge [in King Street].’ * * * Square. In the days before cinema, Dr. Pooler was the nephew of [To discover more, read Dr. motorised road transport, and one of Wellington’s pioneer H.W. Pooler’s books My Life in radio, events bordering on the medical practitioners, Dr. George General Practice and My Life in sensational (for the times) Hollies (Hollies Road was named Three Counties.]

6 Wellingtonia: Issue 5, Winter 2009 DATESPOTTING Shelagh Nabb 3

ates are all around us, yet we seldom notice them. 1 DShame, really, as our forefathers thought it important to record when something special was erected for the benefit of Wellingtonians. 4 Dates can be important signposts to the past, indicating stages in the development of the town. Here we have a little test: do you know where these dates appear in Wellington? All were created during the late Victorian 2 5 period. Answers are given on page 17, but see if you can identify where they are located before turning to that page. Next time you’re in town, see if you can spot any more.

* * * Advertisements from R. Hobson’s Wellington Directory & Almanack 1878.

7 RAILWAY EXPANSION Allan Frost

he railway that came to Wellington in June 1849 was Tintended for passengers only. In time, it expanded to include engine sheds and facilities for transporting goods like Royal Mail letters and parcels, milk churns and other relatively small- scale items. Consequently, the station became an important facet of the town’s economy. In its early years, the station was the gateway to travel between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton and beyond. But growth of the railway network was seen as vital to Britain’s economy, so additional lines were laid, linking small town and villages to the main arteries of travel. As with Wellington, most new stations were intended for passenger transport but it wasn’t long before special yards were constructed to accommodate industrial needs. Consequently, special facilities were provided in various locations on the east Shropshire coalfield for Detail from Cruchley’s County Maps of England for Cyclists, Tourists, &c.: the distribution of raw materials SHROPSHIRE showing the eventual rail network around Wellington, late 1800s. (as at Madeley) and at important In Wellington, there was barely business than limiting railway manufacturing centres (Joseph enough space for the passenger services. Sankey’s at Hadley, for example). station, located as it needed to be The Goods Yard had originally These sidings afforded vital links in the town centre to attract been the site used by the Great to the national rail network via clients, so the obvious area for the Western and London North East junctions: Wellington enabled siting of a ‘Goods Yard’ was just Railways as a manufacturing goods to be transported on north- outside the western edge of town, depot for making and storing and southbound lines as well as where it would remain until its materials needed to construct the east and west. demise in the 1980s, a sign that new railway. As soon as the depot, road transport was better suited to now known as The Shropshire Spot the differences: meet the needs of modern Works, was no longer needed, it 1882 (left) and 1901 (right)

8 Wellingtonia: Issue 5, Winter 2009 was sold to Richard Groom who developed it into a massive timberworks which continued in business until the 1970s. Groom’s became the largest importers of foreign timber, and the most important stockists of indigenous timber, in Britain. The fact that The Shropshire Works was linked directly to the railway was vital to the success of the business. As might be expected, the Goods Yard adjacent to the works played another important role in Wellington’s economy. Long trains of rolling stock carried all manner of goods into the town, where they could be collected or transported from the yard to locations in and around the town by horse drawn wagons belonging to the railway. Coal was particularly important to the local as well as national economy, and the town’s gas works as well as coal merchants found it most convenient to set up in business as near to the goods yard as possible. Some time after the new Smithfield was opened in 1868 on the northern side of the railway, John Barber successfully negotiated with the railway companies for the provision of Particulars for the sale of The Shropshire Works, 1857. Advertisements such as sidings for the exclusive handling this can provide a fascinating amount of historical information, all the more of livestock arriving at and leaving valuable because they provide eye witness accounts of situations at that time. his auctions. for freedom, much to the alarm of So, Wellington’s growth was This led to an interesting bystanders. Less hassle was stimulated during Victorian times situation where animals arriving caused by woollen fleeces, which not only by its passenger railway at the southern sidings had to be arrived by the sheet-(or sack-)load station but also by its ability to led by drovers into Bridge Road to be stored in marquees erected store and transport goods and raw and across the bridge into the on a field (now part of North materials both locally and to Smithfield yard: a few recalcitrant Road) for auction to national national (indeed, international) cattle were known to make a bid buyers from June 1860 onwards. destinations.

9 IMPACT OF THE RAILWAY Allan Frost

t’s impossible to overemphasise with ice ... at a time when the impact railway services had refrigeration was otherwise Ion the development of impossible. Yes, large estates (like Wellington during the Victorian Apley Castle) had ice houses, era, or the effect they had on the wherein ice cut from frozen lakes way of life of its residents. in winter was stored below The passenger station, of ground to enable it to be used course, enabled people to move during summer months but, until around the country on a scale and travel via rail and ocean-going with such ease as had never before vessels became faster, few could been experienced, provided the enjoy its benefits. fare could be raised ... not Enter Wenham Lake Ice, a trade everyone could afford the initial in which epitomised what high cost of travel and poorer folk improved transport in Victorian had to make do with the long- times was all about. established practice of walking or seeking a lift on a horse drawn wagon. Nevertheless, one of the most and fruiterer John Bowring in noticeable aspects of the Railway New Street. Age was that employment could If ice could be transported such be sought in distant towns and, a distance without melting, perhaps equally important, new importing fresh fish from British businesses created. ports and fruit, timber (and How did this affect Wellington? guano!) from far flung corners of By increasing the number of small Wenham Lake (above, c.1900) is the Empire in particular and the businesses catering for the social in Massachusetts, New England, world in general presented fewer and service needs of a growing USA: its high-density winter ice logistical problems as time went community: solicitors and was considered as clear and pure by. Businessmen benefitted while accountants dealt with legal as spring water. From the 1840s to their customers gained access to matters; in the absence of early 1900s, tons of this ice were an increasingly widening variety supermarkets, in town shopping being cut annually, transported by of goods. included everything to keep a rail to the coast and thence 3,000 Many products, like tea, home functioning smoothly miles by ship to Britain (and also became affordable, no longer the (butchers, bakers, grocers, as far away as India) where it was preserve of wealthy households, fishmongers and fruiterers, etc.), again loaded into railway trucks as transport costs fell dramatically. DIY stores (ironmongers, candle for dispersal to towns throughout Similarly, speed of delivery and rope makers, timber the land ... and to our fishmonger encouraged increased trade in all merchants, etc.) as well as a wide manner of goods: items ordered range of artisans able to make or from, for example, a supplier in install whatever else might be London by sending a postcard in required (furniture, heating and the morning could be delivered water supply systems, carriages, later that same day, or next day at buildings). the very latest, thanks to railway The list is endless and the services. The introduction of article on 1851 Wellington in this telegraphic services and, later, issue gives some idea what the telephones, almost guaranteed situation was like after just two same-day deliveries for customers years of the railway arriving. ... an aspect of modern customer The railway enabled goods to service virtually unknown; so be transported far faster and in much for progress! greater bulk than ever before, with Railways reduced the cost of the result that residents benefitted transporting goods in bulk and from a greater variety of, for made deliveries faster, thus example, foodstuffs than hitherto: leading to lower prices ... which in fresh game, and fish from Grimsby turn led to increased demand .... and other ports could be delivered which led to more jobs being daily and stored in cellars packed created ... which led to higher

10 Wellingtonia: Issue 5, Winter 2009 agricultural machinery works in Park Street is a prime example: the firm’s contraptions were exported all over the world. Coal became the mainstay of the British economy, not just for the heat it provided for smelting iron and other ores but also because it produced another essential fuel: town gas which, as time passed, lit the streets and homes as well as Rail travel gave new meaning to an heating homes and factories. old concept: impatience. In this Punch Coach and carriage works (like cartoon, an inconsiderate woman Clift’s on Tan Bank) also gained explores every option before buying a custom partly because of the ticket for a journey in a few days’ time railway: as Victoria’s reign ... while desperate passengers queue to continued, the concept of tourism buy tickets for the train about to developed so that an influx of depart. Nothing changes. visitors arrived, wanting to hire vehicles to take them to see National and local newspapers, important archaeological sites in too, gained popularity, as did the district as well as to climb The reading generally, encouraged by profits and more jobs ... and more Wrekin Hill. speedy rail deliveries which disposable income ... and so on. Visitors also encouraged the ultimately led to the introduction It’s easy to overlook the fact smartening up of hotel and other of more daily (in addition to the that, whereas travel between overnight accommodation, customary weekly) newspapers. stations became easier as the whether in conventional hotels Improving rail services also network expanded, passenger (like the Charlton Arms, Duke of improved postal deliveries. travel and the carriage of goods to Wellington, Ercall, Wrekin and Easier and more comfortable and from stations and goods depots Station) or in ‘Temperate’ ones like travel didn’t just mean ordinary continued to rely on more Wycherley’s in Crown Street and people could travel around the traditional forms of transport. Ruskins in Walker Street, both of countryside in search of jobs, it The carrying of raw materials which catered for a niche market. also enabled people from different and finished goods via rail made By the same token, locals took areas to interact as never before, a manufacturing an important advantage of cheap day trips by fact confirmed by decennial aspect of Wellington’s economy. rail to the seaside. And what do censuses where ‘Place of Birth’ Whereas small-scale domestic holidaymakers buy while on was increasingly less likely to be ‘factories’ had been in existence holiday? Souvenirs. So, just like the town in which census details for decades (nail making being many other towns, Wellington were being recorded. one of many), more impressive witnessed stationers (like Entertainment provided by industries took hold: Samuel Hobson’s in Market Square) travelling theatres and musicians Corbett’s award winning producing illustrated books and became more frequent and varied postcards, and A.E. Bourne in ... companies of players found it New Street doing a brisk trade in easier to stage events in several low-cost porcelain and china townships in fairly rapid ephemera bearing images of The succession, whereas before rail Wrekin, the Halfway House and services came about, short (after 1889) the Forest Glen ‘seasons’ often entailed several Pavilions as well as imprints of an days interim travel. imaginary ‘official’ town crest. There is absolutely no doubt Talking of stationery, easier that, by the 1870s, the rail network travel boosted interest in the throughout Britain presented the usefulness of town directories both nation with greater benefits than to local residents as well as casual would have been thought possible visitors, so much so that their when Victoria ascended the number and frequency grew as the throne. The world had become a nineteenth century progressed. smaller place. People, materials Hobson’s in Market Square, for and manufactured goods could be example, apparently first conveyed with ease ... and there published a directory in 1874 and was money to be made by those continued to do so (although not prepared to work hard. ‘Progress’ for every year) until the late 1930s. became synonymous with ‘profit’.

11 Porter was stormy and when the EDWARD LAWRENCE Joy Rebello unfortunate man came in wearing a new suit, Lawrence observed in his diary “The man who cut it should burial board. Seemingly go and learn the art of cutting.” And ‘Oh, that God would compassionate and seeking justice on a suspicious, sarcastic note “The make me a good, happy man!’ for the poor, his radicalism Assistant Matron and Porter are The fervent prayer of the nevertheless caused controversy. RATHER friendly”. Wellington Workhouse His character flaws were well- Lawrence’s mastership was master ... Was it ever known. According to the short-lived. He continued to upset Government Board’s Inspector, as answered? the guardians: those who had a businessman he was ‘in very low voted against him had not water, and is said to be supported by changed their opinion and his xtracts from his diary reveal his wife, who keeps a small school in generally rude and insulting way his frustrations, opinions, the town. His general character for of speaking to the Board had won and a craving for fulfilment sobriety and morality is not good, E him no friends. But they needed a and happiness. though there is nothing that the board valid excuse to get rid of him. When the workhouse master can lay hold of in this respect.’ An They didn’t have too long to died in 1890, Edward Lawrence anonymous letter commented on wait. Lawrence resented the Farm applied for the position. Despite his love of ‘the drink’ and hinted at Committee appointed by the being a guardian of the poor law illegitimate children. Board to advise him and used union, his application was not No surprise, then, that ‘heated language’ on at least one well received as it had not come Lawrence was not viewed as an occasion, Here was the excuse the through the prescribed channels ideal candidate. Lawrence finally Board needed. A submission was and, moreover, there were doubts achieved his ambition of becoming made to the Local Government about his administrative ability, master, albeit by a narrow margin, Board (LGB) on the grounds of his personal life, uncompromising and without the support of most ‘wilful disobedience to the orders of views and sarcastic manner. of the guardians. He recorded he the Farming Committee and want of Edward Lawrence was born was now “monarch of this small respect to the Board in general’. The around 1839. His father was a world” and felt he had returned “to LGB had also received an successful draper and tailor in the people I have loved so well!”, anonymous letter alleging that New Street, and put Edward in “prayed to God to help me and to Lawrence ‘spends most of his time charge of the shop ... thwarting his forgive my past misspent life.” He away from the house and he has been ambitions to study law. was determined not to“stick to the turned out of nearly every respectable “Oh, that my dear mother had old narrow-minded ways, but do what public house or hotel in the town’. been allowed her way and made me a my conscience tells me is right.” He denied the accusations and lawyer; where might I not have gone However, within three weeks reminded the LGB of his years of to?” he wrote: “the men are bone idle and public service. He regretted On his father’s death, Edward refuse to obey orders, the women are having spoken as he did, but felt became owner of the family house thieves, liars and as false as hell” and justified in disregarding the and shop, but set up as an he rebuked the inmates for Committee’s views. auctioneer and appraiser in coughing so much when he read “When a Guardian, they could Walker Street. The business failed the prayers. And some time later trust me to spend a thousand pounds and his wife Sarah opened a small “The same routine day by day. The but, now Master, I cannot be trusted private boarding school at same petty jealousy existing all to spend fifty shillings. Poor miserable Sunfield. round.” lot”... “Could not take the word of His opinions of colleagues are ONE ... must have a committee. Alas forcibly expressed in his diary: no breed”... “Shall see what the “He styles himself a minister of morning looks like. But go to bed with religion yet fails to shew the world my own opinions still uppermost.” what his tenets are.”... “(he) is An appointed inspector determined to hold his own and really concluded that ‘the master has by knows how to do it”... “If he had his his offensive and disrespectful manner Lawrence was a keen racegoer own way would never come at all” ... towards the board of guardians and and founder member of the “Very much annoyed the Clerk, but his disregard of the Farm Committee Charlton Bowling Club; he also that I care not for one jot”... “Met Dr proved himself unfitted for his post’. followed the Hawkstone otter Caesar. Don’t like this man.” He was immediately dismissed, hounds and contributed to the He was as scathing of his co- despite a petition of public ‘Wellington Journal’ on the sport. workers: “Matron cannot support, but was nonetheless, re- He served on the local understand the Journal. Her views on elected to the Board of Guardians improvement commission, the it are just simply ridiculous and in 1891. school board, highway board and petty”. His relationship with the Lawrence set up an antique

12 Wellingtonia: Issue 5, Winter 2009 business at 6 Walker Street, and born under an unlucky star or died in 1910. His wife survived planet’. him by four years. It was said she His diary reveals a frustrated ‘suffered silently and without idealist with frequent references complaining.’ to: “... did my best all the day to do His Will stated his funeral was my duty” and his desire to “feel a to be brief and simple; his coffin really happy man” which is not would only bear his initials and be borne out with his comment “very carried by six workhouse inmates, happy and very low; strange queer no funeral attire, no flowers, and feelings. Oh the curse attached to no mourning coaches. poverty and a misspent life are The Wellington Journal called dreadful to bear.” him ‘the people’s Edward’ (sound Prevented from studying law, familiar?) and reported on the unsuccessful in business, perhaps crowds of people lining the streets, Lawrence saw the mastership as a many in their working clothes, chance of fulfilling his potential. commenting that ‘his kindly Described as contemptuous, consideration for the inmates [of the intolerant, sarcastic, supercilious workhouse] became proverbial’. and directly rude in his dealings Conditions under his with fellow guardians, he seems to mastership had improved with have remained unfulfilled but regard to the provision of the food, unable to find the cause – or the gas and lighting and his diary cure. notes that he cut flowers from the Top: Workhouse Inmates, c.1900. garden and took them into the Below: Workhouse plan, 1882. infirmary. He defied the establishment, shocking his colleagues by defiantly wearing black and white check trousers at funerals, but seemed surprised that “the commissioners at the funeral were cold and distant”. His obituary described him as ‘a man of striking personality and distinctive individuality. Endowed with far above average intelligence, possessing a retentive memory and an exceptional gift of humour, he was always entertaining in company’, making allowances for his cynicism and sarcasm which was ‘always tempered with such witticism as relieved it of its sting’. However, to a friend he was ‘a very unfortunate man …

13 helped him win the approval of SONGS OF THE WREKIN Rob Francis his new Wellington clientele. In 1847, four years after Hayward’s Wrekin Waltzes, the Cluddley – home to Wellington’s ountless English towns, composer George Jackson was most distinguished families (the cities and landmarks have tapping into the same vein of local Charltons, the Eytons and the Cbeen immortalised in music pride when he penned his Lays of Cluddes). over the centuries, but are The Wrekin. Three years later in 1843, Mr Wellington and The Wrekin In a rare illustration of mid- Hayward came up with The Wrekin among them? Deep in the vaults 19th century Wellington, the front Waltzes, clearly intended for of the British Library is a collection cover of this volume is as similar at-home gatherings. of Victorian sheet music that interesting as the music itself. It This was divided into six short proves that they are – or at least shows a well-dressed couple tunes, the first entitled The Wrekin, once were. walking arm in arm through an and the four that followed In 1876, aged just 18, arc of romantically wispy willow honouring ‘the noted rocks on the Wellington’s Samuel Corbett (son trees, an exaggeratedly-steep mountain’, comprising The Raven’s of that industrious local metal- Wrekin and Ercall creating the Cup, The Cuckoo’s Nest, The Needle’s working family) had one of his perfect Elysian backdrop behind. Eye and The Bladder Stone. The compositions put into print. An Also prominent is an almost collection rounds off with the accomplished organist, his musical brand-new Christ Church and, Wellington Galop, a fast-paced talent was notable not only in light most interesting of all, the dance designed to tax the pianist of his young age, but also the fact windmill that gave Mill Bank its and exhaust the dancing couples. that he was blind. name – a structure I’ve never seen As his adopted home town and His first published composition depicted anywhere else. These place of business, it is not was entitled The Wrekin Polka, and features locate the scene surprising that Thomas Hayward was written for that must-have somewhere to the south of where acknowledged Wellington in the home entertainment system of the Wrekin College now stands. titles of his dance collections. He Victorian middle classes, the piano Light-hearted and nostalgic, advertised his shop on the front forte. the Lays of The Wrekin were not page of The Wrekin Waltzes: dances but songs, and ideal for an ‘Musical Instruments of All Kinds, after-dinner recital or sing-along. and all the most fashionable music, The first song, Ah who when in sold by T. Hayward, Wellington’. Living at 29 Church Street, Mr Hayward described himself as a Professor of Music in the census of 1851, where he was listed alongside his wife Caroline and three children. A native of For over thirty years by this Shifnal, he had time, publishers had been married and churning out sheet music for started his family Britain’s budding amateur in Broseley, pianists, and Corbett’s polka perhaps moving wasn’t the first to celebrate this to Wellington corner of Shropshire in musical because its form. growing size and In 1840, another local musician importance named Thomas Hayward had seemed to offer published a collection of tunes better prospects. entitled The Wellington Quadrilles Certainly for the Piano Forte. It comprised producing his four dances, the first named after own sheet music the town, and the three that with a followed taking the names of distinctive local nearby estates: Apley, Eyton and feel would have

14 Wellingtonia: Issue 5, Winter 2009 childhood, was ‘respectfully dedicated to Mrs Cludde and the Ladies of INK AND PAINT Allan Frost Shropshire’, and the second song, When the wine sparkles bright, dedicated to ‘His Grace the Duke of ellington has several Cleveland and the Gentlemen of claims to fame when it Shropshire’. Wcomes to the writing and Like Hayward, Jackson was art in Victorian times. appealing to Salopians with his First and foremost, of course, eulogising of The Wrekin – ‘our was Hesba Stretton, proud native height’ – and was also making more explicit attempts at gentility by association, dedicating his work to such high-born local dignitaries as Orleton Hall’s Mrs Cludde. Neither of these two songs stand out for their musical quality, but the lyrics do give us a perfect Cecil Lawson, a portrait by taste of the times. The first song, Hubert von Herkomer. for ladies, was wistfully romantic and reminisced about innocent youth and young love, whilst the second, for men, had a heartily patriotic tone. With its references to British liberties and brave Salopian sons, it fused local whose writing exposed the truth identity with national pride, behind poor living and working adding a mention of wine and conditions in Victorian England. beautiful Shropshire girls for good Hesba’s own opinions were measure. Most importantly of all, influenced by observations she both songs treated The Wrekin as made of time in Wellington, as my an emblem of home and old biography of her life explains. friends, a symbol of safety and Another person of note who is happiness – particularly prescient also unjustifiably forgotten these at a time when the Empire was days is Cecil Lawson. taking so many Britons overseas to Born in 1851 at Fountain Place, the ‘wild desert climes’ that one of New Church Road, his paintings the verses refers to. of English country scenes led to Just as our food, our clothes much excitement in the Art world: and so much else in our lives even Oscar Wilde said they were today is the same from place to ‘wonderful landscapes’. place, so too the music we know Sadly, Cecil’s health deteriorated before the full extent rarely reflects local distinctiveness. A Hymn to Spring, c.1871. For all their faults, the of his talent could be realised. He The August Moon, 1880. Victorians did at least take pride in died in 1882. their towns and cities, and their artists and musicians, as well as their merchants and dignitaries, often reflected that pride. Displaying a passion for the place you live can be seen as parochial or small-minded in our cosmopolitan age, but there’s nothing small-minded about wanting to champion your town. Perhaps there at least, Victorian Wellington can teach twenty-first century Wellington a thing or two.

* * *

15 Stafford and then direct to London FUNERAL TRIP Neil Clarke avoided going via Wolverhampton (where a change of train would be necessary) and Birmingham interest because not (where passengers would have to only does it give details cross from New Street station to of an early railway Curzon Street station to be able to excursion to a national continue to Euston). event but it also The excursion train got demonstrates the passengers to London by early rivalry between local evening on the Wednesday. They railway companies at then had the whole of Thursday to that time. participate in the events The line between surrounding the Duke’s funeral. Shrewsbury and For most, the return to Shropshire Wellington had been would have been on the Friday jointly built by the morning, but for those wishing to Shropshire Union stay longer in London another Railway and the return train was available the Shrewsbury & following Wednesday. Whichever Birmingham Railway they chose, Conductor Lewis companies and was reminded them of the need to be opened in June 1849. hen the Duke of at Euston station well before the The Shropshire Union line Wellington (whose title train left. continued through Newport to was named after The funeral itself (below) was a W Stafford, opening at the same time. Wellington in Somerset) died in full heraldic state affair. The Duke The Shrewsbury & September 1852 and plans were died at Walmer Castle in Kent (his Birmingham line from Wellington being made for his state funeral, it honorary residence as Warden of to Wolverhampton was opened as was realised that many people the Cinque Ports) and his body far as Oakengates also in June would want to travel to the capital was taken by train to London, 1849, but problems with the tunnel to pay their last respects to the where it lay in state at Apsley there and the embankment at victor of Waterloo, who was House (the Wellington residence at Shifnal delayed through running idolised in old age as an Hyde Park Corner) before being to Wolverhampton until incomparable public servant. carried in procession for burial at November of that year. The previous year, the Great St Paul’s Cathedral. No doubt the Even then, Shrewsbury & Exhibition had presented its mass of people who thronged the Birmingham trains were prevented challenge to the railways and gave route of the funeral procession from continuing through to them their chance to show included those who had travelled Birmingham on the Stour Valley dramatically that they were equal on the excursion train from line because of a dispute with the to the unprecedented demands Shropshire the day before. In the London & North Western Railway made on their passenger facilities. cathedral, the Duke’s sarcophagus over the use of the station at So, too, in late 1852 the railway was placed next to that of Lord Wolverhampton; and it was not companies put into operation Nelson – something referred to in until February 1854 that they were similar plans to enable intending the effusive praise given in able to do so. Not surprisingly, in travellers from different parts of Tennyson’s poem, Ode on the Death view of this hostility, the the country to get to the Duke’s of the Duke of Wellington, which Shrewsbury & Birmingham funeral. attests to his stature at the time of amalgamated with the Great In early November the above his death. Western Railway in handbill was published in September 1854, and its Shrewsbury announcing such a trains then used the service to London. A copy of the latter’s Wolverhampton original handbill is in Shropshire and Birmingham Archives: it measures 16 cm by 37 stations, with cm, is printed on yellow paper passengers for London and uses 20 different type faces! arriving at Paddington. (With reference to details of the The excursion outward journey, departure from advertisement in 1852 Wellington was at 11.55 a.m. and twice reminds intending ‘Cov.’ means covered or closed, passengers that denoting 2nd class travelling on this accommodation.) particular train via This notice is of particular

16 Wellingtonia: Issue 5, Winter 2009 DATESPOTTING ANSWERS Shelagh Nabb

1. HSBC Bank on the corner of Station Road and Market Square, erected in 1901, was then occupied on the ground floor by North & South Wales Bank, with a tailor’s shop on the upper floors as well as in the adjacent building to the left (now incorporated into the bank premises). The date stone is partially hidden behind the balustrade above the large upper corner bay window.

2. This date is above the main doorway above the porch to Central Mosque on Tan Bank, which was originally built in 1898 as a replacement chapel for Primitive Methodists in the town. Their earlier chapel had stood on ground, also in Tan Bank, directly opposite this chapel.

3. Thomas Howes, a grocer in New Street at the time he contributed towards the cost of building a new Congregational church on Constitutional Hill in 1899. The original church had been on Tan Bank. Thomas’s foundation stone lies on the right of the main entrance to what is now Union Free church.

4. This memorial plaque is on the right hand pillar supporting the main large iron gates from The Green into All Saints parish churchyard. Fishmonger and fruiterer John Crump Bowring (yes, he of Wenham Lake Ice fame on page 10) paid for them to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

5. The old Police Station and Magistrates’ Court, erected in 1896 on the corner of Church Street and Plough Road, was essential in upholding the Law and meting out punishment to criminals until the mid-1950s when the present Police Station was built off Glebe Street. The building has since had a variety of uses.

17 BUSINESS REPORT, 1890S Allan Frost

ictorian Wellington’s But which businesses were businesses comprised an considered most important to Vintriguing amalgam of Wellington’s townsfolk towards manufacturing, provisions and the end of the Victorian period? service industries: in short, a We are given a unique view in a healthy mixed economy, where no report which was published one aspect dominated the scene around 1893. but where all worked together for the common good. Small shop keepers were the commercial mainstay of the town; not all bothered to advertise in directories or newspapers, relying on reputation to make a living. There seems to have been greater emphasis placed on making modest profits sustained Mansell (Wrekin Foundry, over a long period which probably engineers and ironfounder, enabled competing businesses to Foundry Road; the photo below thrive side-by-side and, indeed, may be of the foundry celebrating help one another in times of Victoria’s 1897 Diamond Jubilee); trouble. It was a healthy attitude Richard Stone (house furnisher, which continued to exist at least furnishing ironmonger, jeweller, until the outbreak of war in 1939. China and glass dealer, Crown When we think of businesses in and Duke Streets); J. Wheatley Victorian Wellington, we tend to (general and furnishing place greater emphasis on those ironmonger, 5 New Street) and last firms which did particularly well: but certainly not least, G.H. York R. Groom & Sons’ timber (hydraulic, hot water and sanitary merchants, saw mill and engineer, plumber, glazier, painter, woodware manufacturers (below) house decorator, and sign painter and Samuel Corbett & Son’s at 75 New Street). agricultural engineers, iron and The Heavies brass foundry, for example. In addition to Groom’s and Yet there were others which, at Corbett’s, the report mentions the time, were considered other firms engaged in ‘heavy’ businesses of note (both of the goods and manufacturing: above are cases in point, as was Benbow & Davies (ironmongers the Smithfield) but all have since and cutlers, Market Place); J. & C. disappeared from the economic Bromley (ironmongers & scene and subsequently forgotten. agricultural implement makers); Others, like the Wrekin Brewery, Clift & Son (Excelsior Carriage were not thought particularly Works, Tan Bank); Kynaston special but eventually gained an Brothers & Jarvis (ironmongers, cutlers, gas fitters, locksmiths, etc., important position in the town’s Keeping up appearances economic structure. Crown and Duke Streets); W.R. Wellington had been renowned for its haberdashers and tailoring establishments since at least the eighteenth century, providing the latest fashions for those who could afford them, and cheaper alternatives for those who couldn’t. Among their number were R. Brisbourne (tailor, Old Bank House, Church Street); E.J. Capsey (draper and outfitter, 13 Market Square and 3 Duke Street); Walter

18 Wellingtonia: Issue 5, Winter 2009 Davies (hatter and gentleman’s drawn vehicles could be hired); outfitter, 18 Market Square); J. H.W. Pointon (Station Hotel and Jenkins (tailor and woollen draper Forest Glen Pavilion (above)); at The Old Basket Shop, 17 New Slaney and Son (wholesale and Street); J.L. & E.T. Morgan (The retail wine and spirit merchants, Cash Drapers at 2 Church Street); Market Square); James Clegg E. Shaw and Co. (high class Smith and Son (wine and spirit tailors, Park Street); C. Venables & merchants, Church Street); The Co. (silk mercers, general drapers Union Brewery Co. (Walker Street) and mantle makers, tailors and and John G. Wackrill (Shropshire outfitters, 1 Walker Street (above)) Brewery, Watling Street). and J. & E. Webb (general drapers, silk mercers, milliners, Essential Luxuries? dressmakers, etc., Market Square). Finally, the report contains advertisements and background information on several other businesses which might be described as purveyors of luxury goods as well as essential commodities. They include: A.E. Bourne (carver, gilder, looking glass and picture frame maker, dealer in oil paintings, etc., 72 and 73 New Street (aside)); J.J.P. Bowler (portrait and landscape AND FINALLY ... What Ales Ye? photographer, Wellington and The provision of beverages in all Oakengates (above right)); G.W. their forms was of paramount Harvey (watchmaker and jeweller, importance, at least until safe and 9 Market Street); Hobson and Co. regular drinking water supplies (booksellers, printers, stereo- could be guaranteed. typers, publishers, stationers, ‘Soft’ and medicinal drinks account book manufacturers, were advertised in the 1893 report bookbinders, news and by Butler Brothers (grocers, tea advertising agents, paper dealers and tobacconists, Church merchants, paper bag Street), J. Hall (dispensing chemist, manufacturers, music sellers, etc., 14 Market Square); J. Morgan Market Square and Shropshire (grocer, tea dealer, hop and seed Printing and Stationery Works, merchant, etc., Market Place) and Market Building) and John Jones Stead and Co. (wholesale and (watchmaker and jeweller, retail grocers, tea dealers and stationer and printer, 8 Church provision merchants, 29 New Street). Street). These are just a few of the For those in need of something many businesses which helped Queen Victoria died in January 1901 more fortifying, alcoholic drinks make Wellington a thriving town. after reigning for the longest term by could be readily obtained from Our secretary can email a free any British monarch: 63 years and Frederick William Jackson copy of the report upon request. It seven months. In this cartoon from (Charlton Arms Family & contains a great deal more Fun magazine, the mourning British Commercial and Posting Hotel: information about each firm and is lion captures the deeply felt loss of a posting’ usually meant horse well worth a read. queen and empress.

19 o discover more about the Wellington area, you might like to ANNOUNCEMENTS read these currently-in-print books. Please contact us if you Thave difficulty obtaining them from any U.K. bookseller. PUBLIC TALKS January to June 2010 All talks will start at 7:30 p.m. in the Civic Offices at Wellington. Admission is free but donations are invited after each lecture. Note: the venue may have to change if work on the new Civic Quarter affects the situation. * * * Tuesday January 19th: Allan Frost LOST WELLINGTON * Tuesday February 16th: Geoff Harrison A MEDLEY FROM EYTON UPON THE WEALD MOORS * Tuesday March 16th: George Evans WILLIAM WITHERING * Tuesday April 20th: Neil Clarke WELLINGTON AND THE SHREWSBURY CANAL * Tuesday May 18th: Phil Fairclough HOMES FIT FOR HEROES? * Tuesday June 15th: Allan Frost WELLINGTON’S MARKETS AND FAIRS * If there’s a demand, we may provide one or two evening walks around Wellington in June. * * *

President: George Evans, 18 Barnfield Crescent, CONTACT DETAILS Wellington, The Wrekin, TF1 2EU. Tel: 01952 641102. email [email protected]

Please address general correspondence to: Chairman: Allan Frost, 1 Buttermere Drive, Priorslee, Telford, Shropshire, TF2 9RE. Secretary: Joy Rebello, 6 Barnfield Crescent, Tel: 01952 299699. email: [email protected] Wellington, Telford, Shropshire, TF1 2ES. Tel: 01952 402459. email: [email protected] Treasurer: Phil Fairclough, 2 Arrow Road, Shawbirch, Telford, Shropshire, TF5 0LF. Other committee members of Wellington History Tel: 01952 417633. Group are: email: [email protected]

DISCLAIMER: Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this publication is correct at the time of going to press. Wellington History Group cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, nor do opinions expressed necessarily reflect the official view of the Group. All articles and images are copyright of the authors (or others where specified) and must not be reproduced without prior permission and due credit.

20 Wellingtonia: Issue 5, Winter 2009