KIDDERMINSTER. 227

minster for embezzling yarn! 1810, a Sir Francis Burdett riot. Two of the rioters were brought from Kidderminster to the Worcester county gaol, when the mob at Worcester attempted their rescue and broke the carriage to pieces. The Yeomanry and Militia were called out and suppressed the riot. 1812, the sum of £500 raised to buy potatoes, to be sold cheaply to the poor, who were in great distress at Kidderminster. 1813, an Act passed for paving, cleansing, lighting, and watching the town; but gas was not introduced till 1818. 1821, the operatives presented the Queen with a carpet of very beautiful workmanship, ten yards square, 3,000 weavers having contributed one shilling each towards the expense. 1826, John Hobday, for a burglary at the Bell, and a savage assault on an officer, was executed at Worcester. 1830, T. Turner, only seventeen years of age, for a rape on a child at New Wood, near Kidderminster, was hung at Worcester. In the same year there were riots of the carpet weavers, who made an attack on the prison and on some factories, and violently assaulted several individuals. The Fourteenth Dragoons were called in to settle them. Several rioters were tried and received lenient sentences. Mr. Godson, barrister, became highly popular for his clever defence of them, and was afterwards returned Member for the town. 1832, Reform riots, and attempts made to burn several manufactories. 1835, the Conservatives had a majority in the reformed Town Council, and the first Mayor was W. B. Best, Esq. The Council nominated six of their party as magistrates, but Lord John Russell would not accept the whole batch, and substituted three Whigs for three of the Conservative nominees. Mr. Jefferies is the Mayor for the present year, and the Conservatives still hold two-thirds of the local representation. The Anti-corn-law agitation was warmly seconded by public meetings and petitions at Kidderminster. Let us now take leave of this important town by heartily wishing fruition to its motto - "Deo juvante, Arte et Industria floret."