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Oldbury

OLDBURY, a township, in the parish of Hales-Owen, union of West Bromwich, Upper division of the hundred of Halfshire, Hales-Owen and E. divisions of Worcestershire, 4 miles (N. N. E.) from Hales-Owen; containing 7301 inhabitants. This place is situated in the heart of a district abounding with ironstone and coal, which are raised for the supply of the neighbourhood. The iron-trade is carried on to a very considerable extent, and there are some steel-works and alkali-works. The Birmingham canal, which nearly surrounds the town or village, affords a facility of conveyance to the principal towns in the vicinity. The old part of the town is irregular, but the more modern streets are spacious, and contain some highly respectable shops and houses; the whole is lighted with gas from the works at West Bromwich, and the inhabitants are supplied with fine spring water from the Fountain Well, an inclosed reservoir on the north side of the town. Courts leet and baron are held annually; and there is a prison for the confinement of debtors: the powers of the county debt-court of Oldbury, established in 1847, extend over part of the registration-districts of West Bromwich and King's Norton. Here is a church, erected by grant from the Parliamentary Commissioners, and by voluntary contributions; it was opened in 1841, and is in the later English style, with a tower, and capable of accommodating upwards of 1500 persons. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £156; patron, the Vicar of Hales-Owen; impropriator, Lord Lyttleton. The great tithes, including those of Langley, have been commuted for £123. 5., and the vicarial for £158. 19. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and others. Edmund Darby, in the year 1659, bequeathed lands for various charitable uses, among which were the erection and endowment of a school.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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