Staffordsdhire is an inland county, situated near the centre of the kingdom. It is bounded on the north by Cheshire and Derbyshire; on the east by Leicestershire; on the west by Shropshire; and on the south, by Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

The greatest length of Staffordshire, from the north part of Ax-Edge-Common, to the south part of Woods Eaves, south of the Severn, from north to south south-west, is sixty miles; and the greatest breadth from the junction of the Trent and Dove, near Newton Solney, to the west point of Terbey- heath, near Drayton, nearly from east to west, is thirty-eight miles. It contains 1220 square miles, and 780, 000 statute acres.

Population

This, according to the census taken in 1821, consisted of 171, 668 males, and 169, 372 females, making a total of 341, 040 persons.

The number of inhabited houses were returned 63,319.

Titles Conferred by the County

The city of Lichfield, with that of Coventry, is the See of a Bishop. Stafford gives the title of Marquis to the Gower family; Newcastle-under-Line, that of Duke to the Clintons; Tamworth, that of Viscount to the Ferrers; Uttoxeter, that of Baron to the Gardners: Trentham, the same to the Gowers; and Beaudesert, the same to the Pagets. Meeford, the titles of Viscount and Baron to the Jervis family; Ingestrie, the title of Viscount to the Talbots; Heleigh, that of Baron to the Thicknesse Touchet family; Stouston Castle, the same to the Stouston family; Dudley Castle, the same to the Wards, and Fisherwick, the same to the Chichesters.

Civil and Ecclesiastical Divisions

Staffordshire is divided into five hundreds, viz. Totmonslow to the north, Pyrehill to the north-west, Cuddlestone to the south-west, Oflow to the east, and Seesdon to the south; containing one city, Lichfield; three boroughs, Stafford, Newcastle, and Tamworth, and sixteen market-towns, viz. Abbot's Bromley, Brewood, Burton, Burslem, Cheadle, Leek, Eccleshall, Longnor, Penkridge, Rudgeley, Stone, Tutbury, Uttoxeter, Walsall, Wednesbury and Wolverhampton; and one hundred and eighty one parishes. Staffordshire is comprised within the diocese of Litchfield and Coventry, in the province of Canterbury, and is included in the Oxford Circuit.

---

STAFFORDSHIRE is one of the west midland counties, having the Irish sea within 50 miles on the north-west, but sheltered by the neighbouring lands and hills; it is to the north-west of London; Stafford, the county town, is 130 miles distant, and in the neighbourhood of the manufacturing districts. The shire is bounded on the north-east by the Dove and by Derbyshire, on the southeast by Warwickshire, on the south by Worcestershire, on the west by Shropshire and on the north-west by Cheshire. The shape is that of an irregular diamond, with the greatest length from north to south. The area is 745,744 acres, having been extended by the addition of 1,594 acres from Derbyshire and Warwickshire, and reduced in 1895 by the transfer of 3,969 acres to Worcestershire; the population in 1861 was 746,943, in 1871, 857,333, in 1881, 981,013 and in 1891, 1,087,161, viz. 542,736 males and 544,425 females.

This land was first held by the Iberians, perhaps by the Silures, who were driven eastward by the Welsh. These latter were pressed by the Belgians. At the time of the Roman inroad, the tribe near here seems to have been the Cornavii. The Romans held it, and settled it as part of their province of Flavia Caesariensis, and had several towns, one whereof was Etocetum, or Wall, or Watling Street. On the fall of the Romans the Welsh kings lorded for a time, but were driven out by the English, who had several small commonwealths here, which afterwards became the great kingdom of Mercia, the Middle English, of which this part was latterly named Staffordshire. Among the English settlers were the Harling, Horning, Hanning, Willing, Elling, Whitting, Totting, Patting, Holling, Essing, Hunting, Copping, Lapping, Eding, Rolling, Darling, Wigging, Hammering, Bucking, Winning, Stalling, Tibbing, Packing and Swinning families. Here seems to have been a chosen seat of the worship of the great deities Weden, or Woden, and Thur, and many towns are named after them. On the establishment of Christianity, Lichfield became a bishopric and for some time the archbishopric of the Mercians. In Staffordshire are the ruins of many castles. In Chartley Park are the remains of a breed of wild cattle.

The land is mostly the basin of the Trent, which rises here, but the south-west is watered by feeders of the Severn, the main stream of which is near on the southwest. The river Trent rises in the north-west, near the boundary of the county, at the foot of Mow Cop, in the parish of Biddulph, and flows in a south-easterly direction, passing by Stoke-upon-Trent and Hanford, where it receives the Lyme, then through Trentham Park and the town of Stone, where it receives the Filly brook, by Weston-on-Trent to Great Haywood, where the Sowe flows in, and by Colwich, near Rugeley, through Mavesyn Ridware, Pipe Ridware, King’s Bromley, Alrewas, near which it receives the Tame, and thence in a north-easterly direction to Burton-on-Trent, above which it receives the Dove, and thence continues to Nottingham. The Tame is in the south-east, flowing by Fazeley and Tamworth (where it receives the Anker), by Elford to Croxall, near which is its confluence with the Trent. The Sowe flows by Eccleshall, Chebsey, Seighford and Stafford to its confluence with the Trent at Haywood. The Penk flows by Penkridge, Acton Trussell and Baswich, where it falls into the Sowe. The Churnet is in the north and flows by Leek, Cheddleton, Oakamoor and Alton, and falls into the Dove below Rocester. The Blythe is another feeder of the Trent. The Hamps and Manifold are in the north-east part of the county, and are remarkable for flowing underground through part of the course in channels they have worn in the limestone rock. The Dove forms the boundary between this county and Derbyshire, and falls into the Trent near Burton. The heads of the Stour water the south. Most of these rivers have been made canal feeders. North Staffordshire is high and billy, with much barren ground, but contains some excellent pasture and dairy lands; the vale of the Trent is rich, but the whole shire is much broken by hills. The scenery of North-East Staffordshire is very fine. The most beautiful part of Dovedale is here. The county contains the seats of many noblemen and gentlemen.

Cannock Chase, situated immediately east of the town of Cannock, is a vast unpopulated district of about 30,000 acres in extent, with an irregular surface, now chiefly covered with fern and heather, and rising to a height of about 400 feet above the level of the railway. It was anciently a forest, thickly wooded with magnificent oaks, and formed a favourite hunting ground of the Mersian kings. In 1245 it was annexed to the see of Coventry and Lichfield, but after the Reformation was granted to Sir William Paget K.G. secretary of state to Henry VIII. afterwards (1552) created Baron Paget of Beaudesert, and is now held by his descendant the Marquess of Anglesey, who has manorial rights over the chase, a perambulation of which is recorded to have taken place in 1300. The character of the district is that of a north country moor, with a dry soil of a black peaty nature, the subsoil being gravel and sandstone; its southern portion abounds in coal and a peculiar kind of iron ore called “Cannock Stone;” the air is exceedingly pure and very bracing. Its conversion into a waste is lamented by Drayton in his “Poly-Olbion” (1613), and later by Masters in his “Iter Boreale” (1675).

Of late years Staffordshire has been chiefly known for the growth of its manufactures, which, by the labours of Wedgwood, Brindley, Watt and Boulton, have acquired a high reputation. The towns of the south are each the seat of several of the branches of the hardware manufacture. Many persons are employed in making locks and keys (keys at Wednesfield and locks at Willenhall and Wolverhampton), door bolts and hinges, bridle bits (at Bloxwich), curb chains, currycombs, horse-shoes, axle-trees, saddletrees, spurs, stirrups, saddlers’ ironmongery, bolts and nuts, rivets, nails, screws, springs, ferrules, pulleys, spindles, swivels, buckles, buttons, pins, tags, tips, bicycles, candlesticks, coffee mills, corkscrews, fireproof safes, fenders, fireirons, frying pans, gridirons, scales, steelyards, snuffers, spectacles, spoons, urns, gilt and tin toys, steel traps and mouse traps, trays, hammers, hatchets, anvils, awl blades, augers, files, gimlets, hooks, jews’ harps, lamps, vices, measures, pencil cases, rules, saws, scythes and spades; axles, adzes and other edge tools are made to a great extent at Cannock; bicycles at Wolverhampton. Besides these, a great number of persons are employed in the iron and steel manufacture, railway carriage iron works at Wednesbury, gas fittings at West Bromwich, in the iron mines, others in wire working, in engine works, as boiler makers, as blacksmiths, whitesmiths and platers, brass workers and founders, tinplate workers and japanners. Gunlock making is carried on at Darlaston, Wednesbury and Wolverhampton. Bilston and Wolverhampton are the seats of the tinplate and japanned ware trades. Anchors, iron chains, pumps and pumping machinery are made at Rowley Regis and Tipton.Stolen from Fore-bears

The mineral productions are very varied and valuable. Coal is found over a great part of the shire, as likewise iron; according to the latest returns of the “Mineral Statistics” published for 1894, 4,954,341 tons of coal were raised in North Staffordshire and 8,275,897 in South Staffordshire, and 815,368 tons of iron ore were raised in North Staffordshire, the total value at the mine being £224,226 and 31,147 in South Staffordshire, value at the mine £16,352. Staffordshire Tanks second in the production of iron ore, North Yorkshire taking the first place. Anthracite coal is found at Birch Hills, near Walsall; peacock coal at Hanley Green, near Newcastle; cannel coal at Longton; haematite iron ore at Wednesbury; grey marble at Langley Close, Hansop; basalt at the Rowley Hills; casting sand at Bilston; fire clay for glass houses and fire bricks at Kingswinford, 10,696 tens being raised in North Staffordshire and 190,053 tons in South Staffordshire; black marble at Powke Hill; alabaster fit Tutbury; freestone at Tixall, Wrottesley and Hollington; stone known as “Rowley Rag” from Tividale, near Tipton; black chalk at Langley Close; potter’s clay near Newcastle; salt, millstone rock, iron pyrites, oil shale (2,603 tons being raised in 1894), and silurian limestone (40,231 tons were raised in 1894), and gypsum. Upon these productions much of the employment of the population depends, the south and south-west being the seat of the great iron manufactures of Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, and West Bromwich and the north-west of the Potteries. The iron works produce vast quantities of iron and work it up into every shape, from a shoe tip or a nail to the heaviest and most complex machinery; 210,069 tons of pig iron were manufactured in 1894 in North Staffordshire in 13 blast furnaces, and 282,302 in South Staffordshire in 19 blast furnaces. The ironmasters hold meetings periodically at Wolverhampton. There are tinplate works at Bilston and Wolverhampton. Pottery has been manufactured in this district from a remote period.

In the 16th and 17th centuries the manufacture of pottery in Staffordshire, as elsewhere, was chiefly confined to the production of such articles as were in common use, the material used being a coarse reddish or buff-colored clay, overlaid with ornaments of a different tint and then glazed; and the vessels or other pieces so made included large coarse dishes, loving cups, with from two to four or more handles, pitchers, fantastic candlesticks and butter pots, tall cylindrical vessels of coarse clay, which were largely made at Burslem long anterior to 1670, and in 1661 an Act was passed (13 & 14 Chas. II. cap. 56) regulating their size and quality. The curious vessel called a “Bellarmine” or” Long Beard,” made on the continent at the beginning of the 17th century and largely imported into England, seems to have served as a model for much of the stone ware then made and was produced in several sizes; it was a species of bottle, swelling from the base and diminishing to a narrow neck, with a handle behind and in front a grotesque bearded face; the name was given in derision of Cardinal Bellarmine, whose determined opposition to the reformed faith had earned for him the cordial hatred of the Protestants; subsequently the imported ale-pots gave place to those of home manufacture, and in 1626 a patent was granted to Thomas Ram and Abraham Cullen for “the sole making of the Stone Potte, Stone Jugge and Stone Bottle within our Dominions, for a terme of fowerteene years.” The operation of glazing was at first effected by means of lead ore, procured from Derbyshire, and “dusted on to the clay vessel before submitting it to the action of fire,” but in 1680 the process of glazing with salt was discovered, and gradually superseded the lead glaze; the ware so treated being termed “Crouch Ware.” In 1688 two brothers of the name of Eler or Elers, men of much skill and taste, who are said to have come over from Holland after the accession of William III. settled at Bradwell and Dimsdale, and there produced, from a vein of clay discovered by them on the spot, a fine red ware, excellent both in quality and design, and by the use of manganese, a black ware of high character, both of which excited for a time equal jealousy and surprise; but their processes being at length discovered, they discontinued their Staffordshire works and removed in 1710 to London.

Delft ware, first made, as its name implies, at Delft in Holland, so early as 1310, began to be re-produced in Staffordshire and other places in England towards the end of the 17th century, and the English Delft soon became so popular that the Dutch factories rapidly declined, and in 1849, in Delft itself, only two remained; this ware is of a bluish or greenish white, and generally painted with blue, though other colours are also employed. “Elizabethan Ware,” so called, another and important variety of Staffordshire produce, “was impressed from metal moulds,” and its colour is a kind of dirty white. In 1720 the use of flint as an ingredient in earthenware was accidentally discovered by Astbury, and from 1724 to 1733 several patents were taken out for various processes connected with the Staffordshire manufactures. Burslem, “the mother of the Potteries,” was, in or about 1680, the principal seat of the trade, and had earned considerable distinction for its various wares, including Delft, Crouch and mottled ware, some time before the birth, in July, 1730, of the famous Josiah Wedgwood, whose family had long previously been potters in this place; the “Churchyard Works,” at which he was apprenticed, now largely supply the American market, and produce the best quality of artists’ materials and door furniture. The fine black Egyptian ware was first produced by Wedgwood in 1766, and he successively invented various beautiful imitations of porphyry, agate and other stones, a cane-coloured biscuit, and a white porcelain of exquisite beauty, called “Jasper Ware,” of which his well-known cameo medallions and elegant vases, with raised white figures on blue and other coloured grounds, were chiefly made, the designs in many cases being those of the distinguished sculptor Flaxman, who, in his younger days, was & modeller at the Etruria Works. The ornamental productions of this great potter are almost infinite in their variety, the subjects being invariably classical, and are remarkable for an elegance and fertility of design, rarely, if ever, excelled in modern work. The manufacture of china was not attempted at Etruria till 1608 or 1809, thirteen years after Wedgwood’s death, and stone china ceased to be made there in 1815. All the wares for which these works were first made famous are still produced, and in 1860 the manufacture of “Majolica” was added, equalling, both in style and colouring, the best productions of Sevres, as well as the beautiful Parian statuary, Queen’s and Rockingham ware, and the porous ware for water bottles, and similar articles. The principal towns in the Potteries district are Stoke-on-Trent, Hanley, Longton and Burslem. These give extensive employment to many thousand persons in the manufacture of china, porcelain, majolica, parian, granite ware and ironstone china, parian and porcelain statuary and encaustic tiles; all these articles are brought to great perfection; also earthenware and sanitary ware, besides stoneware articles used by druggists; crates used for packing china and earthenware are made in large quantities.

The blue brick pavement for footways is made at Cannock, and fire-bricks at Cosley and neighbourhood. The glass and plate glass works are mostly at Smethwicik, West Bromwich and Kingswinford. Cement is made at Gnosall, and plaster of Paris at Rugeley and Chartley. Brick and tile making, lime burning and the manufacture of scythe stones are also carried on. The salt works of Weston and Shirleywich have long been famed for the quantities produced. There are also copper miners, lead miners and quarrymen. The boot and shoe manufacture employs a large number of persons, besides tanners, curriers and saddlers; and is carried on mostly at Stafford, Newcastle, Stone and Walsall. Walsall is also a leading seat for the manufacture of harness and saddlery, and all the necessary trappings for horses and carriages, together with the silver and plated mountings. The silk manufacture is at Newcastle and Leek; braid at Leek; cotton at Fazeley and at Church Mayfield; tape at Cheadle; doubling lace threads at Rocester; woollen and worsted manufactures at Fazeley and small wares at Tamworth. Clock cases are made at Uttoxeter, and boat building is carried on in the south of the county. Breweries and maltings employ above 7,000 people at Burton-upon-Trent, which is known as the principal place in Europe for the brewing of East India pale and other ales, great quantities of which are exported to every quarter of the globe; here are also very extensive cooperages. There are chemical works, charcoal furnaces, coke ovens, copper smelting and coach making; also manufactures of colours, rope, soap, sugar baking, flint grinding and varnish making. In few shires is there such a variety of manufactures. There are extensive race-horse training grounds at Hednesford, near Cannock; and noted race meetings are held at Wolverhampton and Lichfield.

To carry on such a great trade many canals and railways are wanted, and there are few parts of Staffordshire without them, and communicating throughout the island.

Of canals, one great line passes through the Vale of Trent, in a south-easterly direction athwart the shire, being the Grand Trunk and its continuations. From about the centre of this the Stafford and Worcester runs due south to the Stour and the Severn. A third line is from the east at Burton to the south at Stourbridge, with many offshoots. The Birmingham and Liverpool canal, in the west of the county, is now owned by the Shropshire Union Railway and Canal Co.; the Cauldon canal crosses the extreme north-east of the county.

The county is traversed by many lines of railway. The London and North Western main line passes through Tamworth, Lichfield, Rugeley, Stafford and Norton Bridge, to Crewe and Liverpool. From Stafford a line branches to Shrewsbury, having stations at Haughton and Gnosall in this county. A loop line from Rugby passes through Coventry, Birmingham, Smethwick, Spon Lane (for West Bromwich), Dudley Port junction, Tipton, Wolverhampton and Penkridge, joining the main line at Stafford. From the Dudley Port junction a branch passes through Great Bridge and Wednesbury to Walsall; thence another line goes through Bloxwich and Cannock, and joins the main line at Rugeley, and another branch from Walsall joining the main line at Lichfield. From Birmingham is a short line to Perry Barr, James Bridge (for Darlaston), Willenhall and Portobello to Wolverhampton; also a branch to Harborne; another from Birmingham through Sutton Coldfield to Lichfield. The North Staffordshire railway has a line from Macclesfield, through Leek to Uttoxeter, Tutbury and Burton; another line by Congleton and the Potteries, through Stone to Norton Bridge on the North Western line; from Stoke are branches to Newcastle and Market Drayton, and to Longton and Uttoxeter, Harecastle (for Kidsgrove) and Crewe. From Stone a line joins the North Western at Colwich, near Stafford; and from Uttoxeter is a branch of the Great Northern railway through Weston-on-Trent to Stafford. The South Staffordshire communicates from Burton, by Lichfield to Walsall. The Great Western line from London, through Oxford and Warwick, to Birmingham, passes thence to Handsworth, West Bromwich, Swan Village, Wednesbury and Bilston to Wolverhampton, and to Shrewsbury and the North. From Birmingham is a branch line through Smethwick, Rowley Regis, Old Hill and Cradley to Stourbridge. The West Midland section of the Great Western has another line from London to the North, through Oxford and Worcester to Stourbridge, Brierley Hill, Dudley, Tipton and Bilston and Wolverhampton. The Midland railway skirts the eastern border of the county from Derby by Burton-on-Trent and Tamworth to Birmingham, with a line through Sutton Coldfield to Walsall; this company have acquired the line running through Willenhall to Wednesfield.

The hundreds are five, but each of these form two divisions-1, Totmonslow, in the north, or North Totmonslow (Leek) and South Totmonslow (Cheadle); 2, Pirehill, in the north-west, or North Pirehill (Potteries) and South Pirehill (Stone); 3, Offlow, in, the east, or North Offlow (Burton-upon-Trent) and South Offlow (Walsall); 4, Cuttlestone, in the north-west, or East Cuttlestone (Rugeley and West Cuttlestone (Gnosall); 5, Seisdon, in the south, or North Seisdon (Sedgeley) and South Seisdon (Kinfare).

Many of the parishes are very large, but are divided for ecclesiastical purposes. There are 235 civil parishes and parts of fourteen others. The assize town is at Stafford; the seat of the bishopric and will courts at Lichfield.

Staffordshire has one court of quarter sessions, and is divided into twenty petty sessional divisions; the city of Lichfield and the boroughs of Hanley, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Walsall, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton have commissions of the peace and separate courts of petty sessions; and the boroughs of Longton, Stafford and Tamworth have commissions of the peace.

Staffordshire is in the Oxford circuit, province of Canterbury and diocese of Lichfield, divided into the archdeaconries of Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent; the archdeaconry of Stafford is sub-divided into the rural deaneries of Brewood, Handsworth, Himley, Lichfield, Penkridge, Rugeley, Stafford, Tamworth, Trysull, Tutbury, Walsall and Wolverhampton. The archdeaconry of Stoke-on-Trent is sub-divided into the rural deaneries of Alstonfield, Cheadle, Eccleshaill, Leek, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent, Trentham and Uttoxeter.

The Municipal boroughs are Burslem, population in 1891,31,999; Burton-on-Trent, 46,047; Hanley, 54,946; Lichfield, 7,864; Longton, 34,327; Newcastle-under-Lyme, 18,452; Stafford, 20,270; Stoke-on-Trent, 24,027; Tamworth, 6,614; Walsall, 71,789; Wednesbury, 25,347; West Bromwich, 59,474 and Wolverhampton, 82,662. Other towns are Bilston, population in 1891, 23,453; Brierley Hill, 11,847; Cannock, 20,613; Darlaston, 14,422; Leek, 14,128; Rowley Regis, 30,791; Rugeley, 4,181; Sedgeley, 14,961; Stone, 5,754; Tipton, 29,314; Tunstall, 15,730; Uttoxeter, 5,516; and Willenhall, 16,852.

The great city of Birmingham, on the borders, but within Warwickshire, is the true metropolis of South Staffordshire. Lichfield is a cathedral city and shire by itself. Stafford and Newcastle are ancient towns. The nearest college is at Birmingham, and there are some good grammar schools.

The Registration Districts are:

The area of the hundreds is as follows:—

Moors, Farley, Field Gratwich, Kingsley (part of), Kingston, Leigh, Rocester, Rudyard, Sheen, Uttoxeter, Warslow and Elkstone (part of), and Wetton.

Stafford Borough:-St. Mary and St. Chad (Stafford).

City and County of Lichfield:-St. Chad (Lichfield), St. Mary (Lichfield), St. Michael (Lichfield), and the Close.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough:-Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Borough of Tamworth:-Tamwoith (partly in Warwick).

Borough of Walsall:-Pelsall, Walsall Borough and Walsall Foreign (part of).

Borough of Wolverhampton:-Wolverhampton.

The County General Infirmary, in Foregate street, Stafford, erected in 1766 and subsequently enlarged, is a large building of brick, available for go in-patients: it is supported entirely on the voluntary principle; Thomas Salt esq. treasurer; Charles Reid M.B., C.M. and Charies Henry Greaves M.D. physicians; Edward Francis Weston and Frederick Milnes Blumer B.A., M.B., C.M. surgeons; Walter Henry Ridge L.D.S.Eng. surgeon-dentist; Gerard C. Taylor M.B., B.C. house surgeon; Rev. Theodore Smith, visiting chaplain; Ellis E. Crisp, financial sec.; Miss Isabelle M. Farmer, matron.

The North Staffordshire Infirmary and Eye Hospital was founded at Etruria in 1815 and removed to its present site at Hartshill, Stoke-upon-Trent, in 1869: the foundation stone of the new building was laid by H.R.H, the Prince of Wales, 25 June, 1866, and the building was formally opened by the Duchess of Sunderland, 16 Dec. 1869; the total cost, including the site of 10 acres, was nearly £39,000: there is provision for 181 patients in the main building, which is erected on the detached block plan, and there are besides two detached blocks called “the Victoria and Albert wards.” Near to the infirmary is another detached building, erected at the sole cost of Sir Smith Child bart. of Stallington Hall, and used as a children’s hospital. The total income of the hospital in 1893—4, arising from invested capital, was £1,908, and from other sources £9,355. T. H. Nicholls esq. treasurer; Alex. M. McAldowie M.D. Aberd., F.R.S. Edin. James Charlesworth M.D. Dur., L.R.C.P.Lond., M.R.C.S.Eng, physicians; S. King Alcock M.D.Lond., M.R.C.S.Eng. Hubert Nicholls M.A., M.B. Cantab., M.R.C.S.Eng, assistant physicians; John Alcock M.R.C.S.Eng. William D. Spanton F.R.C.S.Edin. surgeons; G. S. Hatton M.D., M.S.Dur., F.R.C.S.Edin. Wheelton Hind M.D., B.S.Lond., F.R.C.S.Eng. assistant surgeons; Herbert Folker M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond, ophthalmic surgeon; John F. Arlidge L.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. Edin. assistant ophthalmic surgeon; Arthur Baines L.D.S.I. hon. dental surgeon; William C. Allardice M.B., C.M.Glas. house physician; John L. Sawers M.B.Lond., M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond, house surgeon; Rev. A. T. Whitehead, chaplain; William B. Allison, dispenser; Miss E. A. Wilkinson, superintendent of nurses; Frank B. Hordley, assistant secretary & collector; Ralph Hordley, secretary and house steward.

The Wolverhampton and Staffordshire General Hospital, in Cleveland road, Wolverhampton, is a building in the Italian style, erected from the plans of the late Mr. Edward Banks, at a cost of about £20,000, raised by subscriptions; it contains 231 beds:during the year 1894, 16,498 patients have been treated by its medical officers; of these 100 were in-patients and 14,398 out-patients. The ordinary expenditure has amounted to £8,082, the income being about £7,504; William Millington M.D. consulting physician.; Henry Malet B.A., M.D., B.Ch. James Yeomans Totherick M.D. physicians; Christopher Atkinson Newnham, consulting surgeon; Thomas Vincent Jackson F.R.C.S.Edin. James O’Brien Kough M.R.C.S.Eng. Walter Henry Trimnell Winter M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.I. surgeons; Charles Alexander MacMunn M.D., M.A. pathologist; Arthur Henry W. Hunt M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P. Lond. gynaecologist; John Alfred Codd M.B., B.Sc. house physician; William Frederick Cholmeley M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond, house surgeon; Rev. John Warner, chaplain; Edwin A. White, house governor and secretary; Henry Forster, dispenser; Mrs. Mary White, matron and superintendent of nurses.

The County Lunatic Asylum, Stafford, is a very extensive building of brick, with projecting wings, and is appropriated solely for the reception of pauper lunatics; a large detached wing was added to the south-eastern side in 1879 to hold about 90 patients, and in 1884 the building was further enlarged on the north-western side at a cost of about £40,000, the new additions including workshops and bakeries; the Asylum will now hold about 870 persons; Joseph William Stirling Christie L.R.C.P.Edin. resident medical officer and superintendent; George Mathieson M.B. senior assistant medical officer; Robert Hughes, junior assistant medical officer; Rev. James Henry Theodosius M.A. chaplain; John L. Bufton, cleik to the committee of visitors; James Tilston, storekeeper.

The County Lunatic Asylum, Burntwood, near Lichfield, was opened in 1864, and accommodates 600 inmates.; the cost of erection, purchase of 147 acres of land, and the furniture of the establishment, amounted to £86,000; James Beveridge Spence M.D., M.Ch. resident physician and superintendent; Alexander Charles Farquharson M.D., C.M. senior assistant medical officer; James Henry Traquair M.B. junior assistant medical officer; Rev. Wm. Outhwaite, chaplain; Richard Bennett Smethurst, clerk to the visitors and asylum.

The Coton Hill Institution for the Insane, at Stafford, erected in 1854, for private patients of the middle and upper classes, at a cost of £42,000, was subsequently enlarged, and now forms a quadrangular pile of white brick with stone dressings, in the Elizabethan style, the front exhibiting a central block with projecting wings: it stands on an eminence, commanding extensive and picturesque views of beautiful woodland scenery: in the grounds is a chapel, built of stone, for the use of the inmates, with organ, introduced in 1884 as a memorial to the late John Dale Hewson M.D. superintendent; the inmates number about 140: in 1890 a theatre and recreation room was erected, where concerts and dramatic performances are frequently given; Robert William Hewson L.R.C.P.Edin. medical officer and superintendent; Llewellyn Harris Listons L.R.C.P, assistant medical officer; Rev. James Henry Theodosius M.A. chaplain; John Jackson, clerk and steward; Miss Ada Bailey, ladies’ matron.

Her Majesty’s Prison, Stafford, to the north of the town, has been enlarged from time to time, and in 1878 was transferred to the Government: it occupies an area of 7 acres, and is now capable of receiving 830 prisoners, the average number being about 400: Major George E. Leggett, governor; Charles G. Lazell, chief warder; Rev. Charles Goldney M.A. chaplain; Very Rev. Canon Edward C. Acton D.D. Catholic chaplain; James Scott M.B., C.M. surgeon.

The Staffordshire County Industrial Home, for Discharged Female Prisoners and Friendless Women, Stafford, was erected 1878, at a cost of £9,000, is supported by voluntary contributions, and will hold 42 women, exclusive of staff, which is under the direction of the Horbury Sisters. A steam laundry, with all the latest improvements in machinery, was erected in March, 1895. The home is maintained by subscriptions and earnings from the laundry and other work; Rev. Robert McCleverty M.A. chaplain; Rev. Arthur Henry Talbot M.A. hon. sec.; Mark Jones, financial sec.

Parliamentary Representation of Staffordshire

This county formerly returned six members in three divisions, but under the provisions of the “Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885,” it now returns seven members in seven divisions.

No. 1.-The Leek division comprises the sessional divisions of Cheadle and Leek, and the parishes of Colwich, Croxden, Ellastone, Mayfield, Okeover, Prestwood, Ramshorn, Rocester, Stanton and Wootton in Uttoxeter sessional division.

No. 2.-The Burton division comprises the sessional divisions of Burton-upon-Trent and Uttoxeter (except so much as is comprised in division No. 1).

No. 3.-The Western division comprises the sessional divisions of Penkridge (except so much as is comprised in division No. 5), and Stafford (including the whole of the parish of Gnosal), and Stone and the municipal borough of Stafford.

No. 4.-The North Western division comprises the sessional divisions of Eccleshall (except any part of the parish of Gnosal), and Pirehill North and the municipal boroughs of Hanley, Longton and Newcastle-under-Lyme.

No. 5.-The Lichfield division comprises the sessional divisions of Elford, Rugeley and Shenstone, the muncipal borough of Lichfield and so much of the borough of Tamworth as is included in the county of Stafford, and the parishes of Great Wyrley and Norton Canes in the Penkridge sessional division.

No. 6.-The Kingswinford division comprises the sessional divisions of Bilston, Kingswinford and Wordsley, Bowley Regis, Sedgley, Willenhall and Wolverhampton, and the municipal borough of Wolverhampton.

No. 7.-The Handsworth division comprises the sessional divisions of Rushall, Tipton, Wednesbury and West Bromwich and the municipal borough of Walsall.

Under the provisions of the above-mentioned Act the boroughs of Hanley and West Bromwich were formed; the borough of Wolverhampton received an additional member (and divided into three divisions); the boroughs of Newcasfclft-under-Lyme, Stafford and Stoke-upon-Trent lost one member each, and the representation of Lichfield was merged into that of the county.

Military

Lichfield is the depot of the Regimental District No. 38, the South Staffordshire Regiment, comprising the 1st battalion (38th foot) and 2nd battalion (80th foot) and the 1st & 2nd King’s Own Stafford Militia, which respectively form the 3rd & 4th battalions and have their head quarters in the city.

Lichfield is also the depoit of the Regimental District No. 64, the Prince of Wales’s (North Staffordshire Regiment), which is comprised of the 1st battalion (64th foot), the 2nd battalion (98th foot) & the 2nd & 3rd King’s Own Stafford Militia, constituting its 3rd & 4th battalions respectively and which have their head quarters also in the city.

Volunteers

Shropshire & Staffordshire Artillery (Position Artillery), (Southern division, Royal Artillery), Barracks, Victoria square, Hanley, Hon. Col. John Strick V.D. commanding; Hon. Lieut.-Col. G. D. Harrison V.D. & Hon. Lieut.-Col. E. C. Peele V.D. majors; Capt. Wm. Phillips R.A. adjutant; Hon. Capt. A. F. Jonesi, quartermaster; Surgeon-Captains E. Cureton & J. P. Massingham, medical officers; Veterinary-Lieut. J. W. Coe, veterinary officer; Rev. F. W. Kittermaster V.D. hon. chaplain; Rev. C. W. Bond V.D. acting chaplain Staffs Batteries:-No. 3, Capt. T. M. Favell & Capt. A. J. Lodge; No. 4, Capt. W. R. Thomson & Capt. R. J. Strick, commanding, Hanley.

Three Batteries are stationed in Shropshire.

Staffordshire Volunteer Infantry Brigade

Head Quarters. Wolverhampton.

Brigade-Surgeon-Lieut.-Col. H. M. Morgan V.D. and Vol.

Batt. North Staffs. Reg The Brigade comprises the:

1st Volunteer Battalion South Staffs. Reg. head quarters, Handsworth.

2nd Volunteer Battalion South Staffs. Reg. head quarters, Walsall.

3rd Volunteer Battalion South Staffs. Reg. head quarters, Wolverhampton.

1st Volunteer Battalion North Staffs. Reg. head quarters, Stoke-upon-Trent.

2nd Volunteer Battalion North Staffs. Reg. head quarters, Burton-upon-Trent.

Supply Detachment.

Fairs and Markets

Bilston, cattle fair on Whit monday. Market days, monday & Saturday.

Browood, fair, September 19.

Brierley Hill, market days, tuesdays & Saturday.

Burslem, fairs, Saturday before Shrove tuesday, Easter & Whitsuntide; Saturday on or after June 24 to following Wednesday; & Saturday before Christmas day, the latter for pleasure & cattle. Market days, monday & Saturday.

Burton-on-Trent, fairs, February 2 for cattle; April 5 & Holy Thursday, monday after Michaelmas day for hiring servants; October 22 for horses & 29 for cattle & cheese. Market day, thursday.

Calton, fair, September 20.

Cannock, fairs, May 8, August 24 & October 18. Market day, Saturday.

Cauldon, wake, nearest Sunday to August 21.

Cellarfhead, fairs, May 5 & the first thursday in November.

Cheadle, fairs, January 6, Holy thursday, July 4, August 21 & October 18, chiefly for farming stock. Wake on the Sunday following St. Giles’ day, September 1. Market day, friday.

Cheddleton, wake, Sunday after St. Edward’s day.

Eccleshall, wakes, on monday & tuesday after Trinity sunday. Market day, friday.

Ellastone, wake, first Sunday after St. John’s day.

Fazeley, pleasure & statute fair, first monday after Oct 10.

Flash, fair, September 29, for horses, cattle, sheep & lambs.

Gnosal, cattle fairs, May 7 & September 23.

Grindon, fair on the tuesday or on next to November 1.

Hanley, fair, Martinmas (November 11) for hiring potters; cattle market every tuesday. Market days, Wednesday & Saturday

Hednesford, market day, Saturday.

Ipstone, fair on the nearest monday to November 6.

Kingsley, wake, first Sunday after Midsummer day.

Leek, cattle fairs, Wednesday before February 13, Easter Wednesday, May 18, Whitsun Wednesday, July 8 & 28, Wednesday after October 10, November 13 & Wednesday after Christmas; cheese fairs, last Wednesday in Feb. August & October. Market days, Wednesday & Saturday, & cattle market every alternate wednesday, commencing January 14.

Lichfield, fair on Shrove tuesday. Market day, friday.

Longnor, fairs, Easter tuesday, May 4 & 17 & Whit tuesday. Market day, tuesday.

Longton, pleasure fairs on Shrove tuesday, Easter tuesday, Whit tuesday & Martinmas tuesday. Market day, Saturday

Mayfield, wake, sunday after June 24 (Nativity of St. John the Baptist).

Newcastle-under-Lyme, fairs, second monday in January (Newmarket fair), Easter monday, Whit monday, the monday before July 15, the monday next alter September 11 (Newcastle wakes) & on the first monday in November, monthly cattle fairs for horses & cattle. Market days, monday, Wednesday & Saturday, the latter for meat, poultry & vegetables; corn market every mon.

Penkridge, fairs, April 30, September 2 & October 10, & sale every alternate monday for store & fat cattle.

Roceister, wake, sunday after October 11.

Rugeley, fairs, third tuesday in April for cattle; June 1, for six days, for colts & horses; October 21 for cattle & horses & second tuesday in December for cattle. Market days, thursday & Saturday.

Stafford, fairs, tuesday before Shrove tuesday & April 3, cattle; May 14, for pleasure, cattle, cheese & wool; Saturday before June 29, cattle, cheese & wool; last monday in July & first monday in September, cheese & wool; October 2, cheese, cattle, sheep & wool; & December 4, cattle, horses, cheese & wool. Market day, sat.

Stoke-upon-Trent, market day, Saturday.

Stone, market day, tuesday.

Tamworth, fairs for cattle & horses, July 26. Market day, Saturday.

Tean, wake, first sunday after September 19.

Tunstall, market days, Saturday & monday.

Uttoxeter, fairs, May 6, September 19 & November 11 & 27, for cattle; September 19 for colts; the thursday after the second tuesday in March, the first tuesday in September & second thursday in November for cheese. Market day, Wednesday.

Walsall, fairs, February 24 (St. Matthias), Whit tuesday & tuesday before Old Michaelmas day; the latter is celebrated for cheese & onions. Market days, tues. & eat.

Waterhouses, fairs, Wednesday before Oct. 13 & Nov. 24.

Wednesbury, fairs, May 6 & August 3, chiefly for pedlery. Market days, friday & Saturday.

West Bromwich, market day, Saturday.

Wetley Rocks, fairs. May 3 & first thursday after Oct. 23.

Wolverhampton, pleasure fair, on monday, tuesday & Wednesday in Whitsun week. Market days, wed. & sat.

The following table shows the acreage under each kind of crop, and the number of horses, cattle, sheep and pigs in the County of Stafford, as taken from the Agricultural returns, 1894:—

Stafford County Council

Local Government Act, 1888, 51 & 52 Vic. c. 41.

Under the above Act, Staffordshire, after the 1st &.pril, 1889, for the purposes of the Act, except certain boroughs, for which see below (a), became a separate and distinct administrative county (sec. 461 b), governed by a County Council, consisting of chairman, aldermen and councillors (the number of councillors being determined by the Local Government Board) elected in manner prescribed by the Act (sec. 2).

The chairman, by virtue of his office, is a justice of the peace for the county, without qualification (sec. 46).

The police for the county is under the control of a standing joint committee of the Quarter Sessions and the County Council, appointed as therein mentioned (sec. 9).

The coroners for the county are elected by the County Council, and the clerk of the peace appointed by such joint committee, and may be removed by them (sec. 83—2). The clerk of the peace for the county is clerk of the County Council (sec. 83—1 ).

The administrative business of the county (which would, if this Act had not been passed, have been transacted by the justices) is transacted by the County Council.

(a) The following large boroughs, for the purposes of this Act, are administrative counties in themselves, called County boroughs (sec. 30), of which the municipal authority has the power of a County Council (sec. 31)-Hanley, Walsall, West Bromwich & Wolverhampton.

County Constabulaby

The head quarters are at Stafford.

The force consists of a chief constable, four chief superintendents (one of whom acts as deputy-chief constable when required), 14 superintendents, 17 inspectors, 81 sergeants & 525 constables.

Chief Constable, Capt. the Hon. George Augustus Anson R.A.

Staff-Surgeon, Edward Francis Weston esq.

Chief Supt. & Chief Clerk, James Adams.

NOTE.-Each station printed In Italics Is the chief station of the sub-division at the head of which it stands, and to which it gives its name.

District A

West Bromwich Division, Thomas Whitehurst, chief superintendent, West Bromwich. Stations.-Greets Green, Swan Village. Hill Top, Gold’s Green. West Bromwich, Church Vale.

Bilston Division, William Walters, superintendent, Bilston. Stations.-Bilston, Bradley, Ettingshall, Ladymoor. Coseley. Princes End. Sedgley, Gornal Wood, Lower Gornal, Upper Gornal. Willenhall, Bentley, Little London, Portobello, Short Heath.

Brierlet Hill Division, John Spendlove, superintendent, Brierley Hill. Stations.-Blackheath, Rowley, Tividale. Brettell Lane, Kingswinford, Wall Heath, Wordsley. Brierley Hill, Brockmoor, Pensnett, Quarry Bank. Old Hill, Cradley Heath.

Handsworth & Smethwick Division, Joseph Ainsworth, superintendent, Handsworth. Stations.-Holyhead Road, Thornhill Road. Ferry Barr, Hamstead, Perry Village, Wood Lane. Smethwick, Bearwood Road, Six Ways, Spon Croft.

Tettenhall Division, Edward Cooke, superintendent, Tettenhall. Stations.-Brewood, Coven, Shareshill, Weston-under-Lizard. New Cross, Essington, Heath Town, Moseley Hole, Park Village, Wednesfield, Wood End. Tettenhall, Bushbury Lane, Codsall, Compton, Fordhouses, Pattingham. Wombourne, Pennfields, Swindon, Trysull, Upper Penn.

Wednesbury Division, Thomas Salt, superintendent, Wednesbury. Stations.-Darlaston, Moxley. Rushall, Aldridge, Pelsall, Walsall Wood. Tipton, Burnt Tree, Tipton Green. Wednesbury, Great Barr, Ocker Hill, Wood Green.

District B

Stafford Division, Benjamin Richard Longden, deputy chief constable, Forebridge, Stafford. Stations.-Forebridge, Acton Hill, Bridgeford, Hopton, Marston, Mosspit. Gnosall, Church Eaton, Haughton, Moreton. Handsacre, Abbots, Bromley, Longdon. Great Haywood, Chartley, Milford, Weston-upon-Trent. Fenkridge, Huntington, Wheaton Aston. Rugeley, Brereton. Stafford Borough.

Burton-on-Trent Division, James Gilbride, superintendent, Burton-on-Trent. Stations.-Barton-under-Needwood, Alrewas, Yoxall. Burton-on-Trent, Branstone.

Hominglow, Shobnal, Stretton. Stapenhill, Winshill.

Tutbury, Draycott, Newborough. Uttoxeter, Kingstone, Leigh, Rocester.

Leek Division, Eliab William Breton, superintendent, Leek. Stations.-Alton, Hollington, Ipstones, Mayfield, Waterhouses. Cheadle, Blythe Bridge, Dilhorn, Kingsley, Tean. Leek, Endon, Horton, Ladderedge, Rushton Spencer, Wetley Rocks. Longnor, Flash, Warslow, Wetton.

Lichfield Division, George Barrett, superintendent, Lichfield. Stations.-Brownhills, Burntwood, Chasetown, Lynn, Muckley Corner. Cannock, Bridgtown, Great Wyrley. Hednesford, Chadsmoor, Five Ways, Hazel Slade, Littleworth, Norton Caves. Lichfield, Streethay.

Tamworth, Fazeley, Harlaston, Hopwas, Wigginton.

Whittington, Shenstone.

Stone Division, Langslow Thomas Bishop, superintendent, Stone. Stations.-Ashley, Almington, Croxton, Stanton. Eccleshall, Warton, Woodseaves. Madeley, Little Madeley, Whitmore. Stone, Hilderstone, Oulton, Rough Close, Sandon, Tittensor, Walton.

District C

Burslem Division, Arthur Hill, chief superintendent, Burslem. Stations.-Burslem, Cobridge, Granville Town, Middleport. Bucknall, Bagnall, Milton, Werrington. Smallthorn, Brown Edge, Norton-in-the-Moors, Sneyd Green. Woolstanton, Longport.

Longton Division, William Bakewell, superintendent, Longton, Stoke-upon-Trent. Stations.-Fenton, Fenton Manor, Heron Cross, Market Street, Mount Pleasant, Newtown. Longton, Adderley Green, Sandford Hill. The Meir, Caverswall, Dresden, Normacott. Trenthem, Hanford.

Stoke Division, William Harding, superintendent, Stoke-upon-Trent. Stations.-Hartshill, Basford, Clayton, The Stubbs. Stoke-upon-Trent, Cliff Bank, Penkhull, Trent Vale.

Tunstall Division, James Hall, superintendent, Tunstall, Stoke-upon-Trent. Stations.-Bradley Green, Biddulph Moor, Brindley Ford, Harriseahead, New Chapel. Chesterton, Audley, Bignall End. Kidsgrove, Golden Hill, Talk-o’-the-Hill. Silverdale, Halmer End, Keele, Knutton. Tunstall, Chell, Sandyford.

South Staffordshire Mines Drainage Commission.

Constituted by Acts 1873 to 1894, 36 & 37, 41 & 42, 45 & 46, 54 & 55 & 57 & 58 Vict, for the purpose of “facilitating the drainage of mines in parts of South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire.” The Commissioners are empowered to erect works and charge rates of 9d. per ton on coal, slack and ironstone, and 3d. per ton fireclay and limestone and also a general drainage rate of 1d. per ton on all minerals raised.

Offices, Trindle house, Dudley. Ordinary meetings, first Wednesday in each month at 2 p.m. (except September).