·Ct7ttlestonb .Btl.NDBED • • .PENKR.IDGE UNIQN Comprises the '21 P'lll"Ishes .Ood Townships Of

·Ct7TTLESTONB .Btl.NDBED • • .PENKR.IDGE UNIQN comprises the '21 p'lll"ishes .ood townships of ..:Actou-with-Bednall, 81-ewood, Bashbury3 Cannock, Cheslyn-Hay.. Churok Eaton, OoppenhaU, DuD.StQn, Essington, Featherstone, Hatherton, Hilto~ HQJltington, Kinv.aston, Lapley, Norton-Canes, Penkridge, Sar.edon, Shares hill, Stretton, and Great Wyrley. Its registm!Uu. ailltricl ~omprises also the ~xtra-paroohhll place i.lalk>d Teddesley Hay, and in 1841 contained 1-6.07 -i iwhabUants, of whom t:l228 were males and 7846 females, living in :3!42 hot.tse.$, besides which the;re were 131 uninhabited houses, aoo ten building, when the census was taken in that year. The Union W01·klwuse is an old building at BBEWOOD, but x~eeived. such additions between 1838 and 1842 as have rendered it capable of accommodating 200 inmates. It has • well-propo;rtiQned ooard-room, and very comfortable hospital wards. The Guardians meet on alternate Thursdays, at 11 o'clock. The manage ment of the Union is celebrated for its admirable blending of economy and liberality ; and in 1850, the Poor Law Inspector of the district informed the Guardians that out of 38 Unions under his inspection, Penkridge had the smallest amount of taxation per acre, and gave the largest average amount cl relief to individual paupers. The cost of relieving the poor was £3719 in 1846; £!363 in 18-18; and £3956 iu 1850. The Union embraces an 11rea of 94 square miles, and the gross annual value .of its rateable property is about £110,000, so that its poor rates have averaged less than 9d. in the "Pound per annum. Lord Hatherton is chairman, and Alex. Hordern and Edmund Wigan, Esqrs., vice-chairmen of the Board of Guardians, which 'COmprises thirty-one elected and eight ex-officio Guardians. Mr. 1ohn Hay, of Brewood, is the Dniw. Clerk and Bupet-intendent Registrar; the Rev. William Rushton, M.A., is the chaplain, and Mr. Samuel and Mrs. Bewdler are master and matron of the Workhouse. Mr. Edward Beetle <Stone, of Brewood, and Mr. W. W. Broadhurst, of Penkridge, are the re lieving :officers. Mr. Beetlestone, of Brewood, Mr. Lister, of Penkridge, and Mr• .Buck, of Cannock, aTe the registrars of births and deaths, and Mr. 13eetlestone and Mr. Marsh, of .Brewood, are registmrt; of marriages. BASWJCH, or BERKSWICH, near Stafford, is a large parish, without a. village of its own name, divided into the two townships of Baswich and Brockton, in Stafford Union; and the township of .Acton-Trussell with, Ilednall, in Penkridge Union. Their population and extent is shewn at page 438, where it will be seen the whole parish contains 1448 souls and tl200 acres of land, including part of Cannock Chase, in which the farmers have common right. The parish is skirted on the north by the river Sow, and on the west by the Penk. Baswich and Brockton form part of the manor of Haywood, of which the Marquis of Anglesey is lord; but the ~oil is held by a number of copyholders and freeholders, some of whom have neat houses here. BAswicH, or BEBKBWICH township comprises 1600 acres of land, and the pleasant hamlets of RADFOBD, WEEPING-CRoss, \V.ALTON, and MIL POBD, extending near the canal and the conflux of the zivers Penk and Sow, from If to 3 miles E.S.E. of Stafford, on and near the Rugeley road, where there are several neat villl\s. The Parish Church (Holy Trinity,) stands on the east bank of the Penk, at a considerbale distance from any of the hamlets, 2 miles E.S.E. of Stafford. It was rebuilt with brick many years ago, except the ancient stone tower, which still remains. The great tithes belong to the prebendary of Whittington, in Lichfield Cathedral. The living is a vicam.ge, valued at £230, in the alternate patronage of the Rev. C. Inge and J. N. Lane, Esq.• and incumbency of the Rev. Thos. Leveson Lane, M.A., of Wasperton, Warwickshire, for whom the Rev. H. :B. Scou, .

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