Page:Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham.djvu/69

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SHOWELL'S DICTIONARY OF BIRMINGHAM.
57
Miles.


Tamworth 18
Taunton 138½
Teignmouth 184
Tenbury 38
Tewkesbury 44½
Thirsk 151
Thrapstone 75½
Tipton 8
Torquay 195½
Towcester 54
Trefuant 113
Trentham 43
Trowbridge 128
Truro 275½
Tunbridge Wells 165
Tunstall 47
Tutbury 37
Ulverstone 152
Uppingham 61½
Upton-on-Severn 49
Uttoxeter 45¼
Uxbridge 118
Wakefield 101½
Wallingford 84½
Walsall 8
Warminster 120
Warrington 78
Warwick 21½
Water Orton
Wednesbury 8
Wednesfield 12
Weedon 42
Welshpool 61
Wellington 32
Wells 123
Wem 52
West Bromwich 4
Weston-supr-Mare 114
Weymouth 191
Whitacre Junction 10½
Whitby 187
Whitchurch 51
Whitehaven 193
Wigan 91
Willenhall 11
Willesden Junction 107
Wilnecote 16½
Wincanton 130
Winchester 127
Windermere 156
Windsor 113
Winson Green
Wirksworth 56
Witton
Woburn Sands 70
Wokingham 100
Wolverhampton 12
Wolverton 60
Worcester 27½
Worthington 50
Wrexham 72
Wylde Green 6
Yarmouth 201
Yeovil 152
York 130½

Dog's.—A 5s, duty on dogs came into force April 5, 1867; raised to 7s. 6d, in June, 1878; This was not the first tax of the kind, for a local note of the time says that in 1796 ' ' the fields and waters near the town were covered with the dead carcases of dogs destroyed hy their owners to avoid payment of the tax." The amount ])aid per year at present for "dog licenses" in Birmingham is about £1,800. The using of dogs as beasts of burden (common enough now abroad) was put a stop to in London at the end of Oct. 1840, though it was not until 1854 that the prohibition became general. Prior to the passing of the Act in that year, dogs were utilised as draught animals to a very great extent in this neighbourhood by the rag-and-bone gatherers, pedlars, and little merchants, as many as 180 of the poor brutes once being counted in five hours as passing a certain spot on the Westbromwich Road. There have teen one or two "homes" for stray dogs opened, but it is best in case of a loss of this kind to give early information at the nearest police station, as the art of dog stealing has latterly been much cultivated in this town, and it should be considered a duty to one's neighbour to aid in putting a stop thereto.

Dog Shows.—The first local Dog Show was held in 1860, but it was not until the opening in Curzon Hall, December 4, 1865, that the Show took rank as one of the "yearly institutions" of the town.—See "Exhibitions."

Domesday Books.—The so-called Domesday Book, compiled by order of William the Norman Conqueror, has always been considered a wonderful work, and it must have taken some years compiling. Some extracts touching upon the holders of laud in this neighbourhood have already been given, and in a sense they are very interesting, showing as they do the then barrenness of the land, and the paucity of inhabitants. Though in Henry VIII.'s reign an inventory of all properties in the hands of Churchmen was taken, it did not include the owners of land in general, and it was not till Mr. John Bright in 1873 moved for the Returns, that a complete register of the kind was made. It would not be easy, even if space could be given to it, to give the list of individuals, companies, and corporation