BILLING S_ -BIRMINGHAM. 



303 



Holderness, a:id far the greater portion of his life 

 was spout in the humble occupation of a village 

 schoolmaster. He moved his residence more than 

 once ; but we believe his school was for the long- 

 est period at Rossington, near Doncaster. Such 

 an employment was far from profitable ; but Mr 

 Bigland knew how to live upon little, and he con- 

 tinued to plod on from manhood to maturer age 

 without the hope of bettering his condition. Under 

 these circumstances, and when upwards of fifty 

 years of age, he became an author, and published 

 his first work in 1803. It consisted of " Reflec- 

 tions on the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ," 

 a subject which had long occupied his attention, 

 arid originally studied, not with a view to publica- 

 tion, but for the purpose of combating his own 

 scepticism, and establishing his faith by incontro- 

 vertible deductions. This done, he committed the 

 result to the public, not with the hope of attaining 

 any literary honours, but of convincing others as 

 he himself had been convinced. The success of 

 this little volume, and the flattering commenda- 

 tions bestowed upon it, made the writer of more 

 consequence both in his own estimation and the 

 estimation of others, and in the following year he 

 published his " Letters on the Study and Use of 

 Ancient and Modern History ;" and " Letters on 

 the Modern History and Political Aspect of Eu- 

 rope." As these were well received, he from that 

 time became an author by profession. His subse- 

 quent productions are, Essays on various subjects, 

 2 vols. 1805 ; Letters on Natural History, 1806 ; 

 a System of Geography and History, 5 vols. 1809 ; 

 History of Spain, 2 vols. 1810; History of Europe 

 from the Peace of 1783 to the present time, 2 vols. 

 1811 (in a later edition continued to 1814;) the 

 Philosophic Wanderers, or the History of the Tri- 

 bune and the Priestess of Minerva, 1811; York- 

 shire, being the 16th volume of the Beauties of 

 England and Wales, 1812 ; the History of Eng- 

 land ; Letters on Natural History, from the earliest 

 Period to the Close of 1812, 2 vols. 1813 (subse- 

 quently continued to 1814;) a System of Geo- 

 graphy for the use of Schools, 1816; an Historical 

 Display of the Effects of Physical and Moral 

 Causes on the Character and Circumstances of Na- 

 tions, 1817; Letters on French History, 1818; 

 also Letters on English History, and a History of 

 the Jews. He likewise contributed to some of the 

 magazines. He died at Finningley, near Doncas- 

 ter, Feb. 22, 1832, aged 82. 



BILLINGS, WILLIAM, an English private sol- 

 dier of the last century, remarkable for his long 

 and adventurous life, was born in the parish of Al- 

 stonefield, Staffordshire, in the year 1679. In his 

 youth he was a farmer's servant ; but preferring a 

 life of enterprise to the quiet of domestic life, and 

 being, perhaps, roused by the warlike spirit of the 

 time, he quitted his situation in 1702, and, going 

 to Derby, enlisted in a regiment then stationed in 

 that town. This regiment afterwards formed part 

 of the expedition which was sent, under the com- 

 mand of Sir George Rooke, against Gibraltar, 

 which at that time belonged to the king of Spain. 

 After Gibraltar was taken, Billing's regiment was 

 sent into Flanders, and formed part of the army of 

 prince Eugene and the Duke of Marlborough. At 

 the battle of Ramillies, 1706, Billings had the hon- 

 our of saving the life of the " great captain." The 

 duke was thrown from his horse in leaping a ditch, 

 and was nearly surrounded by a detached party of 

 Marshal Villeroi's army, determined to take him 



either dead or alive ; when Billings, observing the 

 perilous situation of his commander, immediately 

 brought to his relief a few of his comrades, who 

 threw themselves between their general and the 

 enemy, and succeeded in bringing him off in safety. 

 But although Billing's intrepidity and presence of 

 mind had saved the duke, he had himself the mis- 

 fortune to receive, during the skirmish, a musket- 

 ball in the thick part of his thigh, which the sur- 

 geons were unable to extract. About thirty years 

 after this affair, however, it worked itself down- 

 ward, and eventually came out underneath his 

 ham. Billings carefully preserved, to the day of 

 his death, this "French cherry," as he jocularly 

 called the ball. After having had his due share in 

 the several actions of the memorable war under 

 Marlborough, Billings returned to England in 1712, 

 with the safe possession of all his limbs. In 1715, 

 he served against the rebels ; and, in 1745, he also 

 served at Prestonpans and Culloden. He spent 

 in the army three quarters of a century, and that 

 principally in foreign lands, but never received any 

 promotion ; and, for some unexplained reason, on 

 his discharge no pension was allotted to him. The 

 old man was, however, during his remaining days, 

 preserved from entire destitution by the chanty of 

 his neighbours. He died in 1794, at the advanced 

 age of 114 or 115 years. From his birth to his 

 death, he never experienced a day's illness; and his 

 final passage from life was perfectly tranquil. In 

 the churchyard of Longnor, a small market-town 

 in Staffordshire, a head-stone, with a doggerel 

 couplet, points out his grave. 



BILSTONE; a manufacturing town in Staf- 

 fordshire, situated on the high road from London 

 to Holyhead by Shrewsbury, distant from Wolver- 

 hampton, three miles S. E., from Stafford, nine- 

 teen miles S. by E., and from London, 120 miles, 

 N. W. It owes its prosperity to the numerous and 

 rich mines of coal and iron-stone in its vicinity. 

 The principal manufactures consist in the heavier 

 description of iron castings, machinery of all kinds, 

 tin-plate, japanned and enamelled wares, nails, wire, 

 and screws of iron, connected with which there are 

 several collateral branches. Clay of a coarse kind, 

 used for making pottery, and a kind of deep orange 

 coloured sand which is found very useful in cast- 

 ing, are procured in abundance ; there are also 

 quarries from which grindstones of a superior 

 quality are obtained. Coal mines are numerous 

 and productive ; and at Bradley, in the immediate 

 vicinity, a stratum of coal about four feet in thick- 

 ness has been burning for half a century, and has 

 materially injured several acres of land. The Bir- 

 mingham and Staffordshire canal passes near the 

 town, and in the neighbourhood there are many 

 other branches, through which a communication is 

 opened towards every part of the kingdom, through 

 the Mersey, Dee, Ribble, Ouse, Trent, Derwent, 

 Severn, Humber, Avon, and Thames. The ex- 

 ports consist chiefly of coals and iron-work of all 

 kinds. The markets are held on Monday and Sa- 

 turday. Bilstone unites with the township of Wol- 

 verhampton in sending two members to parliament. 

 Population in 1831, 14,492: in 1841. 20,181. 



BIRMINGHAM (a.) Birmingham is mentioned 

 in Doomsday book, under the name of Bermenge- 

 bam. The name, as well as those of the neigh- 

 bouring hamlets of Castle and West Bromvvich, is 

 supposed to have been derived from the abundance 

 in which broom (Sax. irom) grows in the vicinity. 

 Some antiquaries have supposed it to be the Bre- 



