Читать книгу History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Shropshire [1851] - Samuel Bagshaw - Страница 9

The streams that irrigate Shropshire, north of the Severn, and do not fall into it, are the Morles, which rises in Sellatyn, and runs into the Ceiriog, which joins the Dee near Chirk. Shel-brook runs into the Dee from near Welsh Hampton. Elf-brook, near Whitchurch, and the Weever, with three contributary streams, become a considerable river through Cheshire. South of the Severn, and not far from the course of the Camlet, we meet with the Clun, which joins the Teme, near Leintwardine, in Herefordshire. Kemp brook, and four others, fall into the Clun. The Ony joins the Teme near Oakley Park. This river, for some distance, runs parallel with the Camlet, which, in its course, has a fall of about 300 feet. Stadbrook, and another small stream, having joined the Ony, have their confluence with the Teme, and at Ludlow the Teme is augmented by the Corve, which flows for many miles through a valley, to which it gives name. The Corve is augmented by two brooks, one of which is a junction of three small streams. Ledwick brook, with three contributary streams, and the Rea, with five, joins the Teme, which, having formed the boundary of the county, finally leaves it near Tenbury, in Worcestershire, and falls into the Severn below the capital of that county. The Rodon is formed by the confluence of three streams, which, in very dry summers, lose their currents. The first of these rises on Whixall Moss; the second, on Bettesfield Heath, in Flintshire; and the third proceeds from the White Meer, in the township of Lee. The three rivulets meet on Wolverly meadows, and passing by Loppington, runs on to Wem, and thence by Shawbury, to Roddington, and has its confluence with the Tern not far from Withington.

Canals.—The first canal in Shropshire was formed by William Reynolds, Esq., in 1788, for the purpose of conveying ironstone and coal from the Oaken Gates to Ketley. Shortly after an act of parliament was obtained for the Shropshire Canal, which was finished in 1792. It commences at Donington Wood, and proceeds about one hundred yards on a level; it then descends one hundred and twenty feet, by an inclined plane of three hundred and twenty yards from the top of this inclined plane, which is the highest level of the canal; it proceeds by Wrockwardine and Snedshill, and near to Oaken Gates, where it is joined by the Ketley canal. From this junction it is continued to Southall Bank, where a branch strikes off to the right, and terminates at Brierly Hill. The main line, turning to the Southall Bank, goes on to the Windmill farm, and passes to the east of Madeley, until it reaches the banks of the Severn; here it descends 207 feet by an inclined plane, which is 350 yards in length, from whence it proceeds parallel with the river to Coalport, where it terminates. Immediately after the completion of this, the Shropshire Canal was projected. The Company, having purchased about a mile of the north end of the canal cut by Mr. Reynolds, erected an inclined plane of 233 yards in length, and 75 feet of fall. From the termination of this plane the canal passes on by Eyton Mill, to Long lane, where it traverses a valley of considerable length, and crosses the river Tern, 16 feet above the surface of the Meadow, by means of an aqueduct and an embankment. Near this place it crosses the turnpike road from Shrewsbury to Wellington, then passing on to Rodington, and over the river Roden, through Wellington, to Atcham, it enters a tunnel of 970 yards in length. Thence it passes at the base of Haughmond Hill, and along the banks of the Severn, it terminates in a large basin, near the Castle Foregate, at Shrewsbury.

The Ellesmere navigation, or the Shropshire Union railway and canal company may be called a system of canals extending through the large and fertile tract of country which lies between the banks of the Severn and those of the Mersey, and between the confines of North Wales on the west and the borders of Staffordshire on the east—a space of fifty miles in length, and more than twenty in breadth, exclusive of the valleys which open into North Wales. Its grand object is to unite the Severn, the Dee, and the Mersey, and by that means to open a communication from the above mentioned districts to the ports of Liverpool and Bristol. There is a short canal formed by the Marquis of Stafford, which commences at Donington Wood and proceeds to Pave-lane, near Newport, a distance of nearly seven miles, with a branch to his lordship’s lime works at Lilleshall, This canal was made for conveying coal to the latter place from the works at Donington, now held on lease by the Lilleshall company. The Montgomeryshire canal, a branch of Ellesmere, also passes through a portion of this county.

Lakes of Shropshire.—The lakes of this county are neither numerous nor extensive. At Marton, near Baschurch, is the Marton and Fennymere pool, covering 96a. 2r. 15p. At Marton, near Chirbury, is a pool covering 40a. 2r. 37p., from which issue three streams running in different directions. At Ellesmere is a magnificent sheet of water covering 116 acres; Colemere 87 acres; Crosemere 44 acres; Whitemere 62 acres; Blackmere and Newtonmere are in the same neighbourhood. A fine sheet of water at Shrawardine covers 40 acres. South of the Severn are a few small lakes, but not of any considerable extent. Thus the part of the country which abounds most in running water has the fewest pools. At Walcot and Hawkstone are lakes of considerable extent, the latter stretches two miles in length. Sundorne, Halston, and Tong, have embellishments of the same kind.

Roads and Railways.—The principal line of road crossing this county is the London and Holyhead parliamentary mail road, which between Wolverhampton and Shiffnal, runs through Shrewsbury and enters Denbighshire, near Chirk. The traffic on this road has been much diminished since the opening of the railways between London and Liverpool. The Chester, Shrewsbury, and Bristol road enters near Whitchurch, and runs southward by Shrewsbury, Church Stretton, and Ludlow, into Herefordshire. A branch leads from Ludlow to Bishop’s Castle and Montgomery. Mail and other roads run between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth, Ludlow, and Birmingham, across the Clee Hills, Ludlow, Wenlock, and Coalbrook-dale, and Ludlow and Bridgnorth. There are also various other communications between Newport, Drayton, and Wellington, &c. The principal railroads are the Shrewsbury and Chester, the Shrewsbury and Birmingham, and the Shropshire Union. The former on leaving the station at Shrewsbury crosses the Castle Foregate by a cast iron bridge, and proceeding by Leaton Heath, Baschurch, and Whittington, passes on to Gabowen, where there is a short branch to Oswestry, having ten trains running daily. The trunk line then proceeds to Preesgwene, where there is a station, and shortly after passes into the county of Denbigh, and on to Chester. The Shrewsbury and Birmingham and the Stafford branch of the Shropshire union railways have a line formed by the joint companies, extending from Shrewsbury to a little beyond Wellington, where one branches off to Shiffnal and Wolverhampton, and the other to Newport, and from thence to Stafford. An act of parliament has been obtained for a railway from Shrewsbury to Hereford, which will open a communication with the southern parts of the county of Shropshire. The works between Shrewsbury and Ludlow are in a rapid state of progress, and the line to the latter place is expected to be open for traffic in December, 1851. The length of this railway will be fifty miles, and the estimated cost £354,822. The line from Ludlow to Hereford is expected to be completed in 1852. It is to Shropshire, and some of its intelligent and enterprising natives that the all absorbing system of railways, which now intersect Great Britain, and cover its surface like net-work, owes its discovery and establishment. It was adopted in the year 1767, by that celebrated firm of iron masters, the Coalbrook-dale Company, who hit upon the expedient of laying the pig iron upon the wood rails throughout their extensive works, bearing in mind that in the event of a rise in the price of iron, the rails could easily be taken up and vended as pig iron. Thus, to this somewhat accidental appropriation of iron, and the facilities it rendered to the easy and safe carriage of heavy materials, coupled with the important discovery of steam power, and the general improvement in engineering incident to railroad travelling, this important discovery and attainment of modern times may justly be ascribed.

Mines and Manufactures.—The minerals of this county are of great importance. Its rich coal formations, and the limestone and ironstone associated with them, afford employment to thousands. There are coal pits in many parts of the county, but more particularly in the east, at the several places of Lilleshall, Stirchley, Dawley, and the neighbourhood. An immense quantity of the coal is consumed in the iron furnaces, the principal of which are at Coalbrook-dale, Horse-hay, Old-park, Ketley, Snedshill, and Oakengates. About seven per cent. of the iron manufactured in the whole kingdom is raised from the mines in this district. Lead is got in considerable quantities on the western verge of the county, but is chiefly confined to the hundred of Ford. The Snailbeach, Gravels, and Bathole mines, are the most productive; the lead ore got is usually of very superior quality. Calamine is also met with, and the rock at Pimhill is strongly tinctured with copper. Symptoms of both copper and lead appear in the Cardington hills, and at Pitchford a mineral pitch exudes from the red sandstone. Freestone, slate, and pipe-clay are found. At Ashford, on the banks of the Tern below Ludlow, is the Salt-moor Spring, where salt was made at the period of the Norman Conquest.

China, of great excellence and exquisite workmanship, is made at Coalport; earthenware is also manufactured, particularly Wedgewood-ware, at Coalport and Broseley. Carpets are extensively made at Bridgnorth, and there are three establishments for the manufacture of hair seating at Market Drayton. There is an extensive factory at Shrewsbury where linen thread is made, and woollens of a coarse texture are made at Church Stretton. Nails are made in several places. At the Coalbrook-dale Company all kinds of castings and almost every article in which iron is used is there manufactured. Paper is made at two or three places in the county. The chief manufacture of the county is that of iron. The beautiful art of glass staining has been brought to great perfection by Mr. David Evans, of Shrewsbury.

Agricultural Produce.—The whole country is in general well cultivated, yielding good crops of all kinds of grain, turnips, peas, and potatoes. There are many fine orchards scattered throughout the county, particularly in the southern division, and hops are cultivated on a small scale on the southern border. The meadows near the Severn are extremely fertile, being frequently enriched by the overflowing of that river; but the grass land receives less attention from the farmer than the arable. The northern part of the county is remarkable for its dairy produce, the cheese being equal to the most celebrated dairies of the adjoining county of Chester. The sizes of the farms are various, but large farms of from 400 to 800 acres are much more numerous than in the adjoining counties. In many parts of the county five or six small holdings have been taken from the humbler class of farmers and let to one tenant. In one township visited by our agent the land held by fourteen different tenants, within memory of man, is now held by three farmers. Barley and wheat in many parts are grown to a considerable extent. The arable and pasture lands are found in about equal proportions. The cattle are mostly of a fine breed, many of the farmers being noted for the superiority of their stock, but there does not appear any peculiar breed which can be affirmed as exclusively belonging to this county. In the northern division of the county and on the western borders large flocks of sheep are kept, in some parts the old Shropshire breed may frequently be observed; they are distinguished by their black mottled faces and legs, and are in size nearly as large as the south-down. About half a century ago a breed of neat cattle prevailed very much, resembling the Lancashire long-horns. The old Shropshire ox was remarkable for a large dewlap. This county was formerly famous for a breed of pigs which is now almost extinct.

Climate, Soil, and Aspect. The climate of this county is in general very salubrious; but, from the irregularity of its soil and surface, it varies in dryness and geniality. On the east, where the land is warm and flat, the harvest is frequently ripe sooner than in the middle of the county, where the vales are extensive, but the surface light, and the bottom often clayey. But hay and grain are both gathered earlier in the middle of the county than on the western side, where the vales are narrow, and the high lands frequent and extensive, although the ground in general is not so stiff, and lies for the most part on the rock. The easterly winds prevail in spring, and westerly in autumn. Few counties are possessed of a greater variety of soil than this, as will be seen on reference to the respective parishes. Divided into nearly two equal parts by the Severn, its southern portion assumes the mountainous character peculiar to the counties of Montgomery and Denbigh, whilst the north half approaches more nearly to a level, agreeably relieved by bold swells, and romantic valleys finely wooded. The landscape possesses every variety of natural charms, the bold and lofty mountain, the woody and secluded valley, the fertile and widely cultured plain, the majestic river, and the sequestered lake; and is no less rich in those remains of ancient times which awaken a thousand enthusiastic reflections by engaging us in the contemplation of the memorable events of our history.

Agricultural Improvements. Great improvements by draining, enclosure, and superior management have been progressing for the last half century in most parts of the county. This has been accomplished on many estates by the united efforts of the landlords and tenants; the former finding tiles and materials, and the latter performing all the draught work at their own expense. The farms in Shropshire were formerly much smaller than they now are, which was found a great obstacle to improvement. They did not invite men of capital, and to manage a farm successfully, like any other occupation or business, it is necessary that the occupant should possess sufficient capital; for without it, it is useless to expect improvement or profitable cultivation. The want of it is unfortunately too common among farmers. Wanting it in the onset, they have not been able to acquire any, and thus have gone on from year to year with difficulty, perhaps deteriorating the soil, and reducing the little capital they possessed. The farmers’ clubs, established for the discussion of practical husbandry, have had a tendency to develop many hidden facts, and to dispel deep-rooted prejudices by friendly argument and interchange of thought. Farmers seldom meet to exchange ideas but at these associations, which may be considered in the character of Normal schools, where the old and young may impart and receive information on many things connected with their occupation. On the whole Shropshire is before many other counties in agricultural improvements. The judicious application of capital, superintended by men of true practical science, will make it one of the finest agricultural counties in England. The farm houses are mostly composed of brick, and have been greatly improved within the last thirty years, particular attention having been paid to the conveniency of the outbuildings and farm yards, which in many instances are of great extent and admirably contrived.

The following returns of the population of the fifteen Unions into which the county of Shropshire is divided, are copied from the Parliamentary reports of the census taken March 31st, 1851; viz:—Atcham Union, 19,318 inhabitants, 3,767 inhabited houses, and 125 uninhabited; Bridgnorth, 15,590 inhabitants, 3,164 inhabited houses, and 248 uninhabited; Church Stretton, 6,160 inhabitants, 1,192 inhabited houses, and 43 uninhabited; Cleobury Mortimer, 8,632 inhabitants, 1,771 inhabited houses, and 131 uninhabited; Clun, 10,118 inhabitants, 2,054 inhabited houses, and 125 uninhabited; Ellesmere 15,667 inhabitants, 3,148 inhabited houses, and 125 uninhabited; Ludlow, 17,045 inhabitants, 3,420 inhabited houses, and 172 uninhabited; Madeley, 27,626 inhabitants, 5,545 inhabited houses, and 154 uninhabited; Market Drayton, 14,160 inhabitants, 2,774 inhabited houses, and 131 uninhabited; Newport, 15,623 inhabitants, 3,018 inhabited houses, and 69 uninhabited; Oswestry, 22,795 inhabitants, 4,618 inhabited houses, and 228 uninhabited; Shiffnal, 11,482 inhabitants, 2,239 inhabited houses, and 99 uninhabited; Shrewsbury, 23,095 inhabitants, 4,574 inhabited houses, and 252 uninhabited; Wellington, 20,760 inhabitants, 4,089 inhabited houses, and 156 uninhabited; Wem, 16,948 inhabitants, 3,469 inhabited houses, and 146 uninhabited. At the same period there were 112 houses building in the various Unions throughout the county.

Monastic Institutions. The following is a list of the religious houses and monastic institutions which formerly existed in Shropshire, with their annual value as returned at their suppression. The Benedictine monks had a great Abbey at Shrewsbury, returned as of the annual value of £132. 4s. 10d. Haughmond Abbey, £259. 13s. 7¼d. Buildwas Abbey, £110. 19s. 3d. Wombridge Priory, £65. 7s. 4d. Battlefield College, £54. 1s. 10d. Tong College, £22. 8s. 1d. Lilleshall Abbey, £229. 3s. l½d. Bridgnorth Hospital, £4. Ludlow Hospital, £17. 13s. 3d. Wenlock Priory, £401. 0s. 7¼d. St. Chad’s College, Shrewsbury, £14. 14s. 4d. St. Mary’s College, £13. 1s. 8d. According to Speed there was also a Monastery of Black Monks at Bromfield, a Priory at Chirbury, with various cells and chantries, which will be found noticed in the several parishes in which they were respectively situated. It was one of the singular characteristics of the Roman Catholic Church, that it gave scope to partial reformation. What among Protestants would be called a new sect, became in that church merely a new order. From time to time, men arose to recall attention to some doctrine or practice, which had fallen into disuse, and for a revival of which a necessity was felt. The church gave scope to their zeal, and benefited by their efforts till they, in turn, became rich and corrupt, and other reformers were needed. About the year 1120, the rule of St. Augustine was reformed by St. Norbet. He professed that the Virgin Mary had pointed out the site on which he was to found a new church, and that she had prescribed the white habits the monks were to wear.

Abbeys.—In a society of religious persons, whether male or female, where an abbot or abbess presided, it was styled an abbey. The governor had the sole power over the convent, could appoint or discharge any officer at pleasure, and prescribe what rules the monks or nuns should be obliged to observe. The abbots have enjoyed the privilege of conferring the lower orders of priesthood, but in the essential points of jurisdiction they were everywhere subject to the diocesan bishop. The consequence of the abbots grew with the wealth of their monasteries, several received episcopal titles and privileges, all held rank next to that of a bishop, and had a vote in the ecclesiastical councils. Equal privileges and rights appertained to the abbesses, as the superior of the nunneries, except that they were not allowed to vote at synods. When the society of religious persons consisted of men, it was called a monastery. There is reason to believe that there were monasteries in Britain before the end of the 4th century. In the course of the 7th century many monasteries were founded in all parts of England. These monasteries were designed in some places for the seats of the bishops and their clergy; in others, for their secular priests, who preached and administered the sacraments over the neighbouring country, and in most instances, they were seminaries of learning for the education of youth. If a monastery or nunnery was subject to another, it was called a CELL. The great English abbeys had many such cells in distant places.

Priories.—When the chief person in a Monastery bore the name of Prior, it was styled a Priory. These religious houses were of two sorts—either they were such whose prior was independent, or they were such as depended upon some great abbey, from which they received their Prior, and to which they were often obliged to pay a small pension or annual acknowledgment. Whenever the Convent to which they belonged was beyond the seas, then it was styled an alien Priory. These last transmitted their revenues to their foreign superior, for which reason their estates were generally seized to carry on the wars between England and France.

Preceptories.—Whenever the Knights Templars, or Hospitallers, had any considerable manors or farms, they erected a church for the service of God, and built a convenient house of habitation, to which they sent out their fraternity, under the command of a Preceptor. Chantries were chapels erected and endowed for the singing of masses for the souls of the deceased. Chantry rents are still paid to the Crown by the purchaser of their lands. Hospitals were small convents, occupied by a few monks, for the entertainment of all who went any pilgrimage on religious pretence. Guilds were societies of lay brethren, who lived together like monks, but were of no professed order. The Grey Friars were at first called Franciscans, from the name of their founder, St. Francis: they were likewise called Minorites, from their being the lowest and most humble of all orders; and Observants, from their great strictness to the rules of their order. They were styled mendicants, from their professing wilful poverty, subsisting chiefly upon alms, which they used to ask from door to door, by which they were distinguished from monks, who kept at home within their convents, and lived in common upon their substance. Their habit was a long grey coat down to their heels, with a cowl or hood, and a cord about their loins, instead of a girdle. Many privileges were granted them, and many of high degree were ambitious of living, dying, and being interred in the habit of these Franciscans. The Black Friars, so called from their habit, a black cope and cowl over a white coat, were likewise called Dominicans, from their having been founded by St. Dominick; and black preaching friars, because they were the only preachers of all the friars. These monks obtained extensive grants of land, and had many persons of note within their convents. The White Friars took their name from the dress they wore. They came into England in 1325, and first settled at Canterbury.

Ecclesiastical Revenues.—The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were appointed under an act passed in the 6th and 7th of William IV., for the general improvement and equalization of the dioceses, for the dividing of extensive parishes, and augmenting small livings, and the adopting such other measures as may conduce to the efficiency of the Established Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Lincoln, the Bishop of Gloucester, the Lord High Chancellor, the President of the Council, the Lord High Treasurer, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with others, form a body politic and corporate, by the name of the “Ecclesiastical Commissioners of England,” for the purpose of the said act. The Commissioners reported, in 1835, that the total amount of the gross annual revenues of the several Archiepiscopal and Episcopal Sees of England and Wales was £181,631. The total amount of the net annual revenues of the several cathedral and collegiate churches in England and Wales was £284,241; and the total amount of the net revenues of the same, £208,209. The total amount of the gross annual separate revenues of the several dignitaries and other spiritual persons, members of the cathedrals and other collegiate churches, in England and Wales, was £75,854. The total number of benefices, with and without cure of souls, the incumbents whereof have made enquiries to the returns of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, omitting those which are permanently or occasionally annexed to superior preferments, are 10,540; the gross annual revenue of these benefices is £3,197,225; giving an average income of £303. The total number of benefices, with and without cure of souls, in England and Wales, including those not returned, but exclusive of those annexed to other preferments, (about 24 in number) is 10,718; the total gross income of which, calculated upon the average of those returned, amounts to £3,251,159; and the net income thereof, £3,055,451. The number of curates returned, as employed by resident incumbents, was 1000, whose annual stipends or payments in money amounted to £87,075; affording an average of £86, Those employed by non-residents were 4,124; the amount of their stipends, £337,620; average, £79: and the average of the whole of the curates’ stipends, £81. In concluding their report, the commissioners state that the archbishops and bishops in possession of their preferments, are subject to heavy expenses, and that the charges for first fruits and fees generally exceed the amount of their receipts for the first two or three years, after entering office.

Queen Anne’s Bounty; First Fruits and Tenths.—From the earliest periods every bishop and clergyman has been required to pay the amount of his first year’s incumbency into a fund, and every succeeding year one tenth. These first fruits and tenths were formerly collected at their full value, and applied to the use of the pope, as early as the time of Pope Nicholas (A.D. 1200). For this purpose a valuation was made of all the livings in England, which is still preserved in the Remembrancer’s office, and designated, “Valor of Pope Nicholas IV.” At the time of the Reformation, King Henry VIII. passed a law, with the sanction of Parliament, declaring that the first fruits and tenths should be appropriated to the use of the state; and he caused an accurate and full valuation to be made of all the ecclesiastical livings in England and Wales, which were accordingly paid into the public exchequer, till the reign of Queen Anne, with the exception of a short period in the reign of Philip and Mary. Queen Anne, deploring the wretched condition in which many of the clergy were placed, owing to the insufficiency of their livings, came to the determination that the first fruits and tenths should be paid into a fund, called Queen Anne’s Bounty, and that the amount should be appropriated to the livings of the poor clergy. No fresh valuation has been made since 1535, and registered in what is now called the King’s Book, till that made by order of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, in 1835, on which the payments are now regulated. That the payments might not operate oppressively, the first year’s income was to be paid in four annual instalments; and livings of small value were entirely exempt, and hence, called “Discharged livings.” During the time of Popery, a large portion of the tithes had been alienated from the parishes, for the endowment of religious houses, or for chantries, to say masses for the dead. These endowments, at the Reformation, being seized by Henry VIII., left the greater part of the parochial livings very poor. The governors of Queen Anne’s Bounty, sometimes aided by benefactions, and at others by Parliamentary grants, for the endowment of churches, have been able to augment many of the poorest livings, and now the resources at the command of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, by various reductions in cathedral and collegiate churches, will cause the church livings, in a few years, to be considerably equalized: The receipts for the year 1846, amounted to £206,502.

Charities.—The parochial accounts of the posthumous charities are given from the voluminous reports of the commissioners deputed by parliament to enquire into the state and appropriation of public charities in England. This commission commenced in 1817, and was not finished till the year 1839. The charities bequeathed by numerous individuals for the education and relief of the poor of this county, produce collectively the large sum of £21,578. 6s. 4d. In addition to this a very large amount is subscribed by the benevolent inhabitants, for the support of the various charitable institutions, among which are free schools, hospitals, dispensaries, lunatic asylums, and various societies for relieving the poor, &c. The summary of the reports of the Commissioners of Inquiry into charities show that in England there are 442,915 acres, or about 690 square miles, belonging to charities, which is little less than the area of Worcestershire. The rent of these lands is £874,313 per annum. The amount of rent charge is near £80,000 per annum, a great part of which is made up of very small sums. The interest of the money (above £6,000,000) which belongs to charities is £255,151 per annum; the whole income of the charity property inquired into by the commissioners is £1,209,395 per annum. Now all this is not derived from one plain single source, but from all the counties of England; from numerous rent charges, money in the funds, mortgages, personal and turnpike securities, &c. Further, this only includes the charities inquired into by the commissioners. We believe that the commissioners have here and there missed a few charities. New charities are daily increasing, and those not included in the inquiry are very numerous.

Parish Registers.—The earliest of the parish registers date from the establishment of the Church of England, injunctions to this effect having been issued by Cromwell, Henry’s vicegerent in ecclesiastical matters in 1538. The canons now in force date their authority from the beginning of the reign of James I., A.D. 1603. One of these prescribes minutely the manner entries are to be made in the parish registers, and contains a respective clause, appointing that the ancient registers, as far as they could be procured, should be copied in a parchment book. This new regulation appears to have been carried into effect, so that the only parish registers now extant are transcripts commencing with Queen Elizabeth’s reign. The parish register act of 1812 obviated some of the previous sources of error, and insured the further usefulness of the registers of that period. But a satisfactory system of registration was not established until the year 1837, when the act for registering births, deaths, and marriages came into operation in England and Wales. The registration of births is considerably more complete than the old parochial registers of baptism, and the register of deaths is believed to be very complete.