Bewdley History

We all know Bewdley is a nice place (even its name derives from 'Beau lieu' - Norman French for beautiful place) but it also has a rich and varied history. For centuries it was a rip-roaring river port connecting the Midlands and central Wales to the outside world, via the River Severn.

Over the centuries a number of light industries have thrived and Bewdley caps were orderd to be worn, by Act of Parliament, under a fine of 3s. 4d. in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Other industries here included Combs and other articles of Horn, Carpet Weaving, Rope and Twine, Baskets and Pewter and Brass.

It was once a thriving industrial town and in this century it has been the birthplace of a British Prime Minister and has provided a base for Free French forces during World War II. Not bad for a town with a population of less than 10,000. First records of Bewdley appear under the name of Gurbenhale, the Saxon name for Wribbenhall, and at the time of William the Conqueror it was part of the manor of Kidderminster.

By 1388 the manor was in possession of the powerful Mortimers and was known as 'Beau lieu' and by 1472, when Edward IV granted its charter, as Beaudeley, giving it many privileges.

Towards the latter end of that century it became a place of much consequence, from Henry VII erecting a Palace at Tickenhill, for his son, Prince Arthur who was married here by Proxy in 1499 to Catherine of Arragon, afterwards one of the Queens of Henry VIII. The Prince did not live long to enjoy his Palace or his wife - he died at Ludlow, he lay in state here and was buried at Worcester Cathedral.

Until the fifteenth century, the river had to be crossed by ford (at the end of Lax Lane or Ribbesford) or by a ferry. first recorded in 1336. Then the first bridge was built of stone in 1447 and was destroyed by the Lancastrians in the Wars of the Roses.

A later bridge, completed in 1483, had five arches, a tollhouse and chapel and this bridge lasted the longest until it was destroyed by the great flood of 1795. The replacement is still going strong since it was completed in 1798 and was designed by Thomas Telford.

Stanley Baldwin

Son of the industrialist, Alfred Baldwin, Stanley Baldwin was born in Bewdley on 3rd August 1867. After being educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, he joined the family iron and steel business.

In the 1906 General Election, Baldwin was elected as Conservative MP for Bewdley. In December 1916, Baldwin became Private Parliamentary Secretary to Andrew Bonar Law, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In the government led by David Lloyd George, Baldwin served as Junior Lord of the Treasury, Financial Secretary to the Treasury and President of the Board of Trade.

In October 1922 Baldwin organised the plot that ousted David Lloyd George as Prime Minister of the coalition government. The new Prime Minister, Andrew Bonar Law, appointed Stanley Baldwin Chancellor of the Exchequer in October 1922. When ill-health forced Bonar Law to resign in May 1923, Baldwin became the new Prime Minister.