being the recipient at one time (July 7, 1812); James Day, of the Concert Hall, at another (Oct. l, 1878); the "Tipton Slasher" was thus honoured early in 1865, while the Hon. and Very Rev. Grantham Yorke, D.D., was "gifted" at the latter end of 1875. Among the presentations of later date have been those to Dr. Bell Fletcher, Mr. Gamgee, Mr. W. P. Goodall, and other medical gentlemen; to Canon O'Sullivan, the late Rev. J. C. Barratt, and other clergymen; to Mr. Edwin Smith, secretary of Midland Institute; to Mr. Schnadhorst of the Liberal Association; to Mr. Jesse Collings, for having upheld the right of free speech by turning out of the Town Hall those who differed with the speakers; and to John Bright in honour of his having represented the town in Parliament for twenty-five years.—On April 30, 1863, a handsome silver repoussé table was presented to the Princess of Wales on the occasion of her marriage, the cost, £1,500, being subscribed by inhabitants of the town.
Price of Bread.—At various times during the present century the four-pound loaf has been sold here as follows:—At 4½d. in 1852; at 7½d. in 1845; at 9½d. in June, 1857, and June, 1872; at l0d. in December, 1855, June, 1868, and December, 1872; at l0½d. in February, 1854, December, 1855, December, 1867, and March, 1868, at 11d. in December, 1854, June, 1855, and June 1856; at ll½d. in November, 1846, May and November, 1847, and May, 1848; at 1s. and onwards to Is. 52d. in August, 1812, and again in July, 1816; and may God preserve the poor from such times again.—See "Hard Times."
Prices of Provisions, &c.—In 1174, wheat and barley sold at "Warwick for 2½d. per bushel, hogs at 1s. 6d. each, cows (salted down) at 2s. each, and salt at l½d. per bushel. In 1205 wheat was worth 12 pence per bushel, which was cheap, as there had been some years of famine previous thereto. In 1390 wheat was sold at 13d. per bushel, so high a price that historians say there was a "dearth of corn" at that period. From accounts preserved of the sums expended at sundry public feasts at Coventry (Anno 1452 to 1464) we find that 2s. 3d. was paid for 18 gallons of ale, 2s. 6d. for 9 geese, 5d. for 2 lambs, 5d. for a calf, l0d. for 9 chickens, 3d. for a shoulder of mutton, 1s. 3d. for 46 pigeons, 8d. for a strike of wheat and grinding it, &c. An Act of Parliament (24, Henry VIII.) was passed in 1513 that beef and pork should be sold at a half-penny per pound. In 1603 it was ordered that one quart of best ale, or two of small, should be sold for one penny. In 1682 the prices of provisions were, a fowl 1s., a chicken 5d., a rabbit 7d.; eggs three for 1d.; best fresh butter, 6d. per lb.; ditto salt butter, 3½d.; mutton 1s. 4d. per stone of 81b; beef, 1s. 6d. per stone; lump sugar, 1s. per lb.; candles, 3½d. per lb.; coals, 6d. per sack of 4 bushels; ditto charcoal, is. 2d. best, 8d. the smallest. Wheat averaged 50s. per quarter, but the greatest part of the population lived almost entirely on rye, barley, oats, and peas. Cottages in the country were let at about 20s. per annum. In 1694 a pair of shoes cost 3s. 6d.; a pair of stockings, 1s. 4d.; two shirts, 5s. 4d.; leather breeches, 2s.; coat, waistcoat, and breeches, 16s.; a coffin, 5s.; a shroud and a grave for a poor man, 3s. 10d. In November, 1799, the quartern loaf was sold in London, at 1s. l0½d. and in this town at 1s. 4d., the farmers coming here to market having to be protected by constables for months together.
Priory.—History gives us very little information respecting the Hospital or Priory of St. Thomas the Apostle [See "Old Square"] and still less as the Church or Chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr. The site of the Priory was most probably where the Old Square was laid out, though during the many alterations that have latterly been made not a single stone has been discovered to prove it so. A
