1827.] 



Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. 



343 



.115,639 14a. 3d.!!!. The National Benevolent 

 Institution of Bath received, in 1826, the .sum of 

 .416 8s. Id. 



At a late meeting of the mayor and commonalty 

 of Plymouth and Devonport, it was agreed to for- 

 ward a petition to Parliament for establishing a 

 court of requests in those towns. The foundation 

 stone for the Plymouth Mechanics' Institute has 

 been lately laid, with all the due formalities, at 

 that place. The building is expected to be finished 

 in November next. 



By the late decision of the Court of King's 

 Bench relative to the sewers of the Bristol Dock 

 Company, there is now the certainty of that city 

 being probably relieved, even before another hot 

 summer occurs, from the abominable nuisance 

 which of - late years has so infested it. 



Married.'] At Bath, Lord William Paget, to 

 Fanny, daughter of Lieut.-Gen. Sir Francis de 

 Rottenberg. At Clifton, W. M. Reade, esq., to 

 Miss Eliza Maitland . 



Died.] At Axminster, 102, S. Pike. At Yeovil, 

 G. P. Upton, esq., mayor of Lyine Regis. At 

 Compton Gilford, Alexander, third son of Sir Ed- 

 ward and Lady Thornton, of Wemburg House. 

 At Bath, Lucy, wife of John Benett, esq., M. P. 

 for Wilts. At Barnstaple, 61, Mary Easton ; she 

 had been a servant at the Bell-Inn iifty years !!! 

 At Martock, 67, Rev. E. Taylor. 



WALES. 



Great ferments have been created in several 

 parts of Wales, in consequence of the intention 

 expressed by many of the landowners to apply to 

 the Legislature for acts to enclose common lands 

 extensively. The act which has been applied for 

 to enclose the wastes in the parishes of Llanwnda 

 and Llandwrog, Carnarvon, will be brought be- 

 fore the attention of Parliament upon claims of 

 vested rights, and other claims to compensation 

 preferred by several hundred cottagers. At a 

 vestry, held about twenty years ago, in the parish 

 of Llandwrog, the peasantry were encouraged to 

 build cottages upon the extensive barren wastes, 

 as the example which had been exhibited by great 

 numbers who had built cottages, some 20 and 

 others 30 years before, of frugality and good order, 

 led the overseers to expect that similar results 

 would be experienced from the settlement of those 

 of the peasantry who then began to be troublesome. 

 The men who availed themselves of this encourage- 

 ment, were chiefly those working in the slate quar- 

 ries in the neighbourhood ; numbers of them set 

 to work accordingly. The common was, a groat 

 part of it a mere rock ; they, by fire and gunpow- 

 der, levelled it. The whole body of men belonging 

 to a quarry wore often seen united at moonlight, 

 working to remove huge stones, and aiding to 

 clear the ground. In one instance, more than 140 

 heads of families were settled in this manner ; they 

 built cottages, and it appears that the present 

 state of the wastes in this particular is, that there 

 are 141 tenements on 337 acres, which aid in main- 

 taining 683 inhabitants, with the assistance of 81 

 cows. As an instance of the good effected by this 

 state of things, the cottagers, from being burden- 

 some, have become contributors to the poors' rates. 

 During the last 7 years, they have contributed 

 within a fraction of .300 per annum ; and the 

 relief afforded to the same district amounts only to 

 .55. Some of these cottagers have been in pos- 

 session 30, 40, and 50 years undisturbed by those 

 who have, or say they have, legal claims upon the 



lands. The manorial rights to these lands belong 

 to the Crown ; but the landowners, who have only 

 a right of common on them, have applied for a bill 

 to enclose the common, and allot it amongst them- 

 selves. The cottagers on the land swear they will 

 defend what they call their property, namely the 

 improvements on the land and their cottages, to 

 the last drop of their blood ; but they declare them- 

 selves willing to pay what may be assessed as the 

 value of the lands, (which the landowners refused 

 to make use of, for, in fact, it was of no value to 

 them), before they bestowed their labour upon 

 them. They contend that the improvements and 

 buildings upon them, at least, are their property, 

 inasmuch as the landowners recognised them, and 

 admitted their right for 20 years, by not inter- 

 fering with them during that period. The great 

 question to be decided by the Legislature will be, 

 whether such recognition of the labour bestowed 

 upon land will entitle the cottagers to compensa- 

 tion for it. There is also the general principle of 

 cottage settlement, as a relief for poor-rates, in- 

 volved in the discussion of these cases. 



A valuable piece of plate, subscribed for by the 

 inhabitants of Brecon, has been presented to Philip 

 Vaughan, esq., for his meritorious, judicious, and 

 unceasing exertions as Honorary Secretary to the 

 Cambrian Society inGwent. 



The Bishop of St. David's has given notice; that 

 there is every reason to believe that the expense 

 of educating and maintaining a young man at the 

 college will not amount to more than .55 a year!!f 

 Compare this with Oxford and Cambridge!!! The 

 college is calculated to accomodate 70 students, and 

 is to be opened on St. David's-day. 



At a meeting of the inhabitants of Swansea, and 

 its neighbourhood, held at the Guildhall, February 

 15, for the purpose of petitioning Parliament for 

 the Abolition of Slavery in the British Colonies, 

 it was resolved unanimously, " that a petition be 

 immediately presented to Parliament, praying that 

 during the present session, its pledge to the coun- 

 try for the further amelioration of the condition 

 of the unhappy Slaves be redeemed, and that, 

 without farther delays some speedy and determined 

 period be fixed for the final extinction of Slavery 

 throughout the British dominions. 



The shock of an earthquake was felt at Carnar- 

 von, and miles round its vicinity, on Saturday Fe- 

 bruary 10, at 20 m. past 7 o'clock, p. M. Its dura- 

 tion was only a minute. It was felt also at Ban- 

 gor, and round the neighbourhood, but not in so 

 great a degree. 



Married.] Hugh Jones, esq., of Rhuallt, and 

 Plastourbridge, Denbigh, to Jane, heiress of the 

 late R. Jones, esq., of Dolgynlass. 



Died.] At Dolgelly, 76, Henry Owen, esq., of 

 Llwyn-du, a member of the Society of Friends. At 

 Ty-yn-y-Craig, near Aberpergwm, in the vale of 

 Neath, John .tones, better known by the name of 

 " Colder Jig," at the advanced age of 91. At Hay 

 Brecon, 107, Martha Watkius. 



SCOTLAND. 



Died.] At Edinburgh, 64, Mr. P. Marshall ; he 

 was the ingenious inventor of the Peristrephic 

 Panorama. 



IRELAND. 



Died.] At Castle-Martyr, Cork, the Countess 

 of Shannon. 80, Rev. Dr. Plunkett, titular Bishop 

 of Meath ; this venerable person, for nearly half a 

 century, presided over one of the largest bishoprics 

 in this country. 



