LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Manorial Government.
The lords of the divided manor held view of
frankpledge by 1255, (fn. 15) and in the later 13th century
the court leet, apparently held jointly for both parts,
was meeting twice a year, at Michaelmas and
Easter. (fn. 16) In 1293 the lords successfully maintained
their claim to the view, infangthief, and gallows;
although a jury also upheld their claim to waif, the
Crown contested it but proceedings seem to have
lapsed. (fn. 17) From at least the end of the 16th century (fn. 18)
until the earlier 19th century there was only one
meeting of the leet each year, in October. (fn. 19) In the
late 16th and earlier 17th centuries the court baron
was meeting every three weeks. (fn. 20) Lord Dartmouth,
having acquired the manor in 1823, held courts leet
and baron in May 1824 and April 1837. (fn. 21) The meeting-place by the earlier 19th century was either
the Bull's Head or the Swan. (fn. 22) The officers appointed by the court from at least the later 16th
century included the constable, one or more deputy
constables, and two tithingmen or thirdboroughs.
Until at least 1634 the tithingmen were often described as ale-tasters as well. From at least 1685
until 1804 two overseers of the field hedges were
elected. The election of a pinner is recorded in
1685. (fn. 23) The constable was presenting his accounts
to the vestry by at least 1679. (fn. 24)
About 1830 a pound, stocks, and whipping-post
stood at the corner of Hollyhedge Road and Heath
Lane opposite All Saints' Church. All three were
then moved to a site in front of the Ring of Bells at
the junction of All Saints Street and Church Vale. (fn. 25)
The stocks and whipping-post were apparently
taken away when the police force was established in
1840. (fn. 26) In 1970 the pound still stood, and the stocks
were preserved in the grounds of the Oak House.
There seems to have been a lock-up at Lyndon in
the 18th century. (fn. 27) The inhabitants were in trouble
in 1633 when it was reported at the manor court
that the parish had no tumbrel or cucking-stool. (fn. 28)
Sandwell priory exercised a separate manorial
jurisdiction over its estate. According to a survey
of 1526 the inclosed demesne lands surrounding the
priory yielded the profits of leets 'that there shall
happen and . . . like liberties from a place called
Horeston unto a place called Brend Oke'. Anyone
succeeding to or buying freehold property within
the lordship had to pay the priory a fine. The survey
mentions no copyholders, but most of the freeholders owed suit of court as well as rent; two of
them were also subject to the incidents of wardship
and marriage and had to pay heriot as well as relief. (fn. 29)
The Whorwoods too regarded their Sandwell estate
as a manor. In a lease of land in 1608 Sir William
Whorwood reserved a twice-yearly suit to his manor
of Sandwell, (fn. 30) and other leases between 1639 and
1659 mention suit of court, suit of mill, and heriots. (fn. 31)
It seems unlikely, however, that suit was ever
exacted, (fn. 32) and during the 17th century the status of
Sandwell as a separate manor was apparently being
questioned by the lords of West Bromwich. In 1617
and 1619 West Bromwich manor court stated that
Sandwell was within the manor of West Bromwich. (fn. 33)
In 1617, however, quarter sessions ordered that the
occupants of Sandwell Hall should thenceforth be
free from liability for parish office since it was a
manor-house and once the 'mansion house' of the
priory. (fn. 34) By the later 17th century the owners of
Sandwell were having to defend the rights which
they claimed as manorial lords. At that time Brome
Whorwood's steward erected brick-kilns on the
waste near Sandwell Gate to test the reaction of the
lord of West Bromwich manor; the steward was also
claiming a separate manorial pound and rights of
warren on that part of the Heath which lay within
the bounds of Sandwell. (fn. 35) The lords of West Bromwich continued to press their claims after Lord Dartmouth had bought Sandwell in 1701. Dartmouth
in fact believed that Joseph Shelton was doing so
in order to give him a greater inducement to buy
West Bromwich manor. (fn. 36) Soon after Sir Samuel
Clarke bought the manor in 1720 the issue was
tested at law. At the spring assizes of 1723 a
tenancy was disputed: the defendant claimed to
hold the property from Dartmouth on whose waste
it stood, but for the plaintiff, who was Clarke's
tenant in the same property, it was argued that
Sandwell was not a manor and that Dartmouth
therefore held none of the waste. Dartmouth could
not produce any court rolls, and the plaintiff won. (fn. 37)
A few months later Dartmouth was summoned to
Clarke's manor court as owing suit and service for
his Sandwell property. He did not, however, appear, (fn. 38) and Sandwell was still referred to as a manor
in family settlements of 1755 and 1786. (fn. 39)
Parish Government.
By the end of the 17th
century the vestry had emerged as the main organ
of local government. (fn. 40) Meetings were open to all
ratepayers, (fn. 41) but attendances were usually small.
Sixty-seven people are recorded attending a meeting
held at the parish church in April 1735 and concerned with the provision of a workhouse. Fiftythree of those present opposed the use of a levy for
any other purpose than direct relief of the poor,
while fourteen supported its expenditure on a workhouse. Similar numbers attended further meetings
on the same subject in June and July. (fn. 42) The figures
are by far the highest for any meeting in the vestry
records. The meeting-place was normally the church
or the workhouse, but occasionally parishioners'
houses, including the Swan, were used; in the later
1780s a vestry room was built at the church. (fn. 43) A
vestry clerk, whose duties included the keeping of
the parish accounts, was appointed in 1823. In 1824
he was voted a salary. (fn. 44)
There were two churchwardens by the earlier 16th
century. (fn. 45) In the late 17th and earlier 18th centuries
both seem to have been chosen by the vestry at its
meeting in Easter week; from 1736 the minister
normally chose one and the inhabitants the other at
the Easter vestry. (fn. 46) A paid parish clerk occurs by
the late 16th century. (fn. 47) In 1800 he was appointed
by the vestry, (fn. 48) but at a visitation 30 years later it
was stated that the minister appointed him. (fn. 49) A
beadle was appointed by the vestry by 1788. (fn. 50)
By the early 17th century there were two highway surveyors, apparently appointed by the parish
but responsible to the manor court. (fn. 51) They were
nominated by the constable at a December vestry
meeting from at least 1679 until 1691. (fn. 52) In the 1820s
the vestry appointed a salaried assistant surveyor. (fn. 53)
There were four overseers of the poor in 1599 (fn. 54)
but only two in the mid 17th century. (fn. 55) Two then
remained the usual figure. By 1740 each overseer
held office for six months, but this was stopped in
1780 when the vestry ruled that 'it will be better
for the parish for the overseers to go hand in hand
through the year and not divide the time'. (fn. 56) In 1708
a salaried overseer was appointed, (fn. 57) and the use of
a paid official was repeated periodically during the
18th century, notably from 1718 to 1733 when
there were apparently no other overseers. (fn. 58) In 1789,
alarmed by the great increase in the rates, the vestry
appointed a paid standing overseer to scrutinize
strictly all applications for relief. (fn. 59) From at least
1772 the governor of the workhouse acted as an
assistant to the overseers, particularly in the collection of the rates; a paid collector was appointed in
1788, but the governor was again acting as collector
between at least 1803 and 1828. (fn. 60) By 1833 the poorrate was being collected with the other parish rates
by a salaried collector. (fn. 61)
The parish was stated in 1599 to be 'overcharged
with poor to the number of threescore and more', (fn. 62)
but it was in the later 18th century that the number
of paupers increased sharply. In 1789 the vestry referred to 'the numerous increase of poor' in the
parish, (fn. 63) and at the beginning of October 1798 there
were 39 in the workhouse and 243 in receipt of outdoor relief. In June 1817 the numbers were 72 and
444, but in February 1820, during a period of great
distress, 1,950 were receiving parish relief. In March
1832 there were 57 in the workhouse and 490 on
out-door relief. (fn. 64) Badging was resolved upon in
1766. (fn. 65) In 1772 the governor of the workhouse was
given the duty of visiting families who became
chargeable as a result of sickness 'so that the overseers may not be imposed upon'. (fn. 66) In 1775 attention
was given to the removal of 'out-parishioners', and
in 1780 and 1783 it was stressed that no money
raised for poor relief was to be spent outside the
parish. (fn. 67) It was also ordered in 1780 that no relief
was to be given outside the workhouse except in
cases of sickness, accident, or old age (70 and over).
The aged, however, were not to receive more than
6d. a week unless they had been 'industrious and
careful in their youth'; 'disordered incurable people'
were to be taken into the workhouse. (fn. 68) From at
least 1773, on the other hand, the vestry paid a
doctor to attend the poor, (fn. 69) and in the early 1780s it
agreed to subscribe to the newly built Birmingham
General Hospital so that paupers could be sent
there. (fn. 70) The arrangements of 1789 for scrutinizing
all applications for relief have been mentioned
above. In 1810 it was ordered that all receiving
parish relief were, if capable, to attend at the workhouse with their children for inspection, (fn. 71) while in
1816 anyone keeping a dog was banned from parish
relief; in fact all who kept a dog were to be compelled to pay parish rates. (fn. 72)
In the 1690s the poor may have been set to work
making nails for the profit of the parish, (fn. 73) but there
was then no workhouse. In 1716 the vestry agreed
to build houses for the poor on land known as the
Poors Land, (fn. 74) presumably for use as poor-houses. It
established a workhouse in 1735, although there
was strong opposition from one section of the inhabitants who even went to law on the matter. (fn. 75)
The building was a former nail warehouse in the
present St. Clement's Lane. (fn. 76) An extension was
agreed to in 1768, and in 1771 the vestry ordered
the conversion of the stables to provide more accommodation. (fn. 77) Further extensions were necessary
in 1774, (fn. 78) and in 1777 the building was said to accommodate 100. (fn. 79) In 1791 the erection of a boundary wall with spikes on the top was ordered to
prevent the inmates from getting out. (fn. 80) A committee
set up in 1814 to consider the need for a new workhouse found the existing building completely unfit,
but plans for a new building were not carried out,
apparently for lack of money. (fn. 81)
The governor of the workhouse appointed in
1772 was paid a salary of £20, (fn. 82) but in 1784 the
vestry decided instead 'to set the poor in the workhouse by the head by the week' at the rate of 2s.
each. (fn. 83) In 1788 the governor complained that this
was too low because of the number of inmates who
were not well enough to work, and the sum was duly
raised to 2s. 3d. (fn. 84) A new governor was appointed in
1789 at a salary of £15 with 'all reasonable maintenance, meat, drink, washing, and lodging' and
maintenance for his young son if he wished. (fn. 85) The
governor appointed in 1803 was given a salary of
£40. (fn. 86)
The West Bromwich poor-law union was formed
in 1836, from the Staffordshire parishes of West
Bromwich, Wednesbury, and Handsworth and from
Oldbury, Warley Salop, and Warley Wigorn in
Halesowen (Worcs.). (fn. 87) The parish workhouses at
West Bromwich and Wednesbury were retained and
enlarged; the West Bromwich workhouse as a result
had accommodation for 140 paupers. (fn. 88) In 1844 Lord
Dartmouth described it as 'a disgrace to the place', (fn. 89)
and there was an unsuccessful scheme for building
a workhouse at the Cronehills in 1854. (fn. 90) In 1857,
however, a new union workhouse was opened in
Hallam Street; it was an extensive red-brick building designed by Briggs & Evoral. (fn. 91) The surviving
buildings form part of Hallam Hospital. (fn. 92) In 1872
the Walsall and West Bromwich poor-law unions
opened the Walsall and West Bromwich District
Schools for pauper children, housed in an Elizabethan-style building at Wigmore designed by S. E.
Bindley of Birmingham. It was closed in 1935. (fn. 93)
Improvement Commissioners.
With the rapid
growth of the town in the 19th century the vestry
was no longer able to provide adequate local
government. In 1853 the vestry itself appointed a
large committee to promote an Act establishing a
local board of health for the town, (fn. 94) and in 1854 the
West Bromwich Improvement Act set up a body of
16 improvement commissioners (13 elected members
and 3 magistrates). (fn. 95) The commissioners' powers
were extended by Acts of 1855 and 1865. (fn. 96)
The Borough.
In 1882 the parish was granted a
charter of incorporation as a borough. The council
consisted of 6 aldermen and 18 councillors, and the
borough was divided into six wards—Sandwell,
Lyndon, Hill Top, Greets Green, Town Hall, and
Spon Lane. West Bromwich became a county
borough in 1889. (fn. 97) In 1918 two new wards were
created, Lyng and Tantany, and the council was
increased to 8 aldermen and 24 councillors. (fn. 98) A
ninth ward, Barr, was created after the acquisition
of part of the urban district of Perry Barr in 1928;
it was represented by one councillor. (fn. 99) The number
of wards was increased to 11 in 1952 when Lyndon
was divided into three, Hateley Heath, Friar Park,
and Charlemont; the number of aldermen was
raised to 11 and the number of councillors to thirtythree. (fn. 1) The borough was granted a commission of
the peace in 1888 and quarter sessions in 1890. (fn. 2)
The Borough of West Bromwich.
Azure, a stag's head caboshed argent between three fers-de-moline or, a bordure argent charged with four mullets and four fleurs-de-lis alternately azure.
In 1966, as part of the reorganization of local
government in the West Midlands, the borough of
West Bromwich was extended to include most of
Tipton and Wednesbury with parts of Birmingham,
Smethwick, Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Coseley,
Bilston, Walsall, and Aldridge; parts were transferred to Birmingham and Walsall. (fn. 3) In 1974 West
Bromwich became part of the metropolitan borough
of Sandwell. (fn. 4)
The council had a majority of Conservatives,
Liberals, and Independents until 1946. (fn. 5) The first
Labour councillor, however, was elected before the
First World War, for Spon Lane ward, and the first
Labour mayor was chosen in 1934. (fn. 6) Labour took
control in 1945 and retained it until 1961. (fn. 7) The
Conservatives were then in control for two years,
although from 1962 the two Independents on the
council held the balance. (fn. 8) Labour regained control
in 1963, retaining it until 1967. (fn. 9)
The town hall on the corner of High Street and
Lodge Road was built in 1875. It is of brick and
stone in an Italian Gothic style with a large tower
and was designed by Alexander & Henman of
Stockton-on-Tees (co. Dur.). (fn. 10) An organ was presented in 1878 by Alexander Brogden, the first M.P.
for Wednesbury, West Bromwich then being part
of that constituency. (fn. 11) The town hall was altered in
1905 to provide more offices and a committee
room, (fn. 12) and in 1924 the reading room of the former
free library building next to the town hall was converted into a council chamber. (fn. 13) The law-courts
in Lombard Street West were built in 1890-1 to the
designs of Wood & Kendrick of West Bromwich. (fn. 14)
The insignia of the former borough include a gold
mayoral chain presented by Lord Dartmouth in
1882 and a silver mace presented by Reuben Farley,
the first mayor, also in 1882. The borough seal is
circular, 2½ in.; it is dated 1882 and depicts the
arms of the borough. Legend, humanistic: THE SEAL
OF THE MAYOR ALDERMEN & BURGESSES OF THE
BOROUGH OF WEST BROMWICH.
A complete list of mayors is given in the County
Borough of West Bromwich Year Book 1971-72.