332 STOURBRIDGE AND OLDSWINFORD.

Great Western) was opened to this town on the 1st of May, 1852; and recently the town has obtained a direct communication with Birmingham by a new line via the Lye, Cradley, Rowley, &c. Mr. Akroyd is chairman of this company. This line accommodates a rich mineral and manufacturing district, passing through that portion of the thick coal which lies east and south of the Pensnett district, and in which immense quantities of fire-bricks, iron, chains, cables, and nails are made, of the magnitude of which traffic some idea may be formed from the fact that one company alone (the New British) makes 1,000 tons of pigs weekly. Besides this the town has canal accommodation, and is therefore well situate for business.

Forty years ago the population was but 4,000, whereas now there are more than double that number, and the population returns in 1861 for Oldswinford parish (probably including Stourbridge) was 22,958. Till last year the government of the town was vested in a Board of Commissioners, a self-elected body, distinguished for the acrimony and personality infused into its proceedings by one or two of its members, but nevertheless it died in comparatively good odour, having left scarcely any debt to its successor. A new Town Improvement Act was procured in 1865-6, at a cost of over £2,000, under which the township is divided into three wards, each electing nine Commissioners. The first election took place in the autumn of 1866, when Mr. Akroyd was elected chairman, Messrs. Harward and Co., solicitors, and Mr. J. Taylor, clerk. With the local are incorporated the several public Acts of 1847, by which the Commissioners are enabled to do any act that may be necessary for the improvement of the town.

The town is well supplied with water by the Waterworks Company, of which Mr. J. Cochrane is chairman, and Mr. S. Brooks is chairman of the Gas Company. The Health of Towns Act is applied. The Board of Guardians is presided over by Mr. G. Granger, of Hales Owen, and Mr. G. Holloway is clerk to the Board. There is an excellent Rifle