WOLVERHAMPTON, a large town of the county of Stafford, in the hundred of Leisden, fourteen miles from Birmingham, and 130 from London. It is a place of great antiquity, having in 996 had a school founded by Wulfrina, the sister of King Edgar, and widow of Aldhelm duke of Northampton; previously to which the place was known by the name of Hampton. To honour her memory, her name was prefixed, and it was thus called Wulfrina's Hampton, which, in a series of years, was changed to the name it now bears. During the great civil war, it early declared in favour of the king, and became the headquarters of the troops commanded by Prince Rupert; but after Charles's final defeat at Naseby, it surrendered to the parliamentary forces.
There are four churches within the town: one of them, dedicated to St Mary and St Peter, was formerly a collegiate institution. It is a spacious cruciform structure, with a handsome tower rising from the centre. The font is of great antiquity, and is most elaborately carved with figures, basses, flowers, and foliage. In the chancel are many curious and ancient monuments. In the church-yard is a column twenty feet high, supposed to be of Danish origin, and exhibiting a profusion of rude sculpture. St John's church is a handsome edifice, in the Grecian style of architecture, with the absurd addition of a tower and a lofty spire. The interior is pleasingly arranged, and is ornamented by a painting of the Descent from the Cross by an artist named Barney, a native of the town. St Paul's church is a perpetual curacy, and was erected at the expense of the present incumbent, who, with another person, is joint patron of the living. St George's is a handsome structure, completed in 1827, under the acts of parliament for building new churches. Besides these, there are places of worship for the several sects of Protestants, a Unitarian chapel, and a chapel for the Roman Catholics. One of the charitable institutions of the town is a free grammar-school, endowed by Sir Steven Jenyns, a native of the place, and lord mayor of London in 1508. It has a liberal endowment of above £1200 per annum, and has from 150 to 160 boys on its foundation. Among remarkable individuals who received their education in this school, was the late eminent surgeon Mr Abernethy, and Sir William Congreve, the inventor of that most destructive missile which bore his name till it was changed by the artillery into spherical case-shot. There is also another, called the Blue-Coat school, for the infir-
rior classes, in which thirty-six boys and thirty girls are clothed and educated; and most of the churches and chapels have schools attached to them for the gratuitous instruction of children of the labouring classes. There is also a valuable medical dispensary. For amusement and relaxation, a theatre, an assembly-room, a concert-room, and a subscription-library, have been established; and there are annual races on three successive days in the month of August.
The town is favourably situated for the conveyance of the heavy goods fabricated within and around it. It is on the Stafford and Worcester Canal, and on the Essington and Wyreley Canal, upon which there is easy communication with London, Liverpool, and Bristol. The facility of communication has been recently increased by the completion of the Grand Junction Railway, that connects Birmingham with Liverpool and Manchester. The chief trade of the town depends on the mines of iron and of coal which are worked in its vicinity. From them, by mechanical and human labour, are fabricated vast quantities of domestic fire-irons, tinned and japanned iron wares, heavy cast and wrought iron articles, agricultural implements, locks and keys, nails of all sizes, and various other commodities.
The more ancient part of the town is ill built, and has a gloomy appearance; but in the modern part there are some large and handsome dwellings. By the reform bill this place has obtained the right of returning two members to the House of Commons. There are good markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and a large fair of three days' duration in the month of May. The boundaries of the parish are very extensive, and comprehend eight other chapelries or townships, in one of which is included the town of Bilston, with, in 1831, 14,492 inhabitants. The population of the town itself amounted in 1821 to 18,380, and in 1831 to 24,732; and that of the parish amounted in 1821 to 36,838, and in 1831 to 48,080.