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Social History Project
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The Friends of Dartmouth Park in conjunction with the West Bromwich Local History Society are compiling a social history of Dartmouth Park, West Bromwich, which will eventually be available in book form, on CD, and will be displayed in the new Park Pavilion.
To achieve this ambition we need the help of the people of the Borough who have enjoyed the park over the years, and have happy memories and photographs, to come forward and share them with everyone.
I've found a photograph taken by my father on his box brownie in the late 1940s.
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Myself, Carol Hartill, my mother and my sister in the late 1940s.
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It shows my mother, in a wonderful hat, my sister and myself (age about 5) all dressed in our Sunday best, walking up from the boating pool. We were promenading around the park and meeting and chatting to other families doing likewise. Dartmouth Park played a huge role in the social life of West Bromwich at that time. A visit to the Park was usually followed by calling into Trow’s Ice Cream Parlour in Bull Street for one of their delicious ice creams or a milk shake.
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Wonderful historic regalia on show in West Bromwich Town Hall |
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Anne Wilkins produced a wonderful display of ceremonial regalia and memorabilia in West Bromwich Town Hall for the Friends' visitors from Morley on Tuesday 11 May. They were welcomed to a reception in the Council Chamber by the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Sandwell before being given a brief tour. When our visitors entered the main hall they gasped with surprise at its splendour. The photograph on the left shows the robe and chain worn by the first Mayor of West Bromwich, Reuben Farley. The chain was given to the Borough by the 5th Earl of Dartmouth. |
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Freedom of the Borough Casket which was a gift of the 6th Earl of Dartmouth |
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The Mace a gift of Reuben Farley to the Borough |
The photograph below shows Reuben Farley in 1885 in the robe which was on the display
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Reuben Farley was born in West Bromwich on 17 January 1826, the eighth of ten children of the
mining engineer Thomas Farley (1781-1830).
Having been apprenticed to a local mining surveyor on leaving school, Farley took over the Dunkirk
Colliery when he was twenty-one. He later added at least one other pit in association with his first
wife’s family. Farley also owned some brickworks. By 1861 he was successful enough to buy the
Summit Foundry with his brother-in-law George Taylor. The foundry became one of the largest of its
kind in South Staffordshire, and the firm won a medal at the 1897 Brussels Exhibition.
Reuben Farley’s principal significance, however, lies not in his impressive business success, but he is
a classic example of the many Victorian businessmen who were active and influential leaders in the
public affairs of industrial towns. Many fellow townsmen had urged him to stand for parliament when
West Bromwich acquired its own seat in 1885, but Farley declined the opportunity. Instead he
channelled his formidable energies into the municipal and philanthropic betterment of his native town.
He felt obliged to ‘make the lives of the people brighter and happier’ (Weekly News 25.4.1896).
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| Sweet Memories by Alfie the Black Country Poet |
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Alfie recites Sweet Memories
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| Some Past & Present Images of the Park |
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Old West Bromwich Photos Website created by Paul Swift
includes many images of Dartmouth Park. Go to:
www.west-bromwich-photos.co.uk
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Please do share your memories, photographs, and any memorabilia you may have by getting in touch with me, Carol Hartill on 0121 588 4747, or e-mail: carolh.fodp@btinternet.com,
Address: c/o New Street Lodge, Dartmouth Park, West Bromwich, B71 4AS
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