Walsall

The name Walsall is derived from “Walh halh”, meaning “valley of the Welsh”, referring to the British who first lived in the area.  However, it is believed that a manor was held here by William FitzAnsculf, who held numerous manors in the Midlands.  By the first part of the 13th century, Walsall was a small market town, with the weekly market being introduced in 1220 and held on Tuesdays.  The mayor of Walsall was created as a political position in the 14th century.

The Manor of Walsall was held by the Crown and given as a reward to royal proteges.  In 1525, it was given to the King’s illegitimate son, Henry Duke of Richmond, and in 1541 to the courtier Sir John Dudley, later Duke of Northumberland.  It was seized by Queen Mary in 1553 after Northumberland had been found guilty of treason.

Queen Mary’s Grammar School was founded in 1554, and the school carries the queen’s personal badge as its emblem: the Tudor Rose and the sheaf of arrows of Mary’s mother Catherine of Aragon tied with a Staffordshire Knot.

The town was visited by Queen Elizabeth I, when it was known as ‘Walshale’.  It was also visited by Henrietta Maria in 1643.  She stayed in the town for one night at a building named the ‘White Hart’ in the area of Caldmore.

The Manor of Walsall was later sold to the Wilbrahim and Newport families and passed by inheritance to the Earls of Bradford.  On the death of the fourth Earl in 1762, the estate was transferred to his sister Diana, Countess of Mountrath and then reverted to the Earls of Bradford until the estates were sold after World War II.  The family’s connection with Walsall is reflected in local placenames, including Bridgeman Street, Bradford Lane, Bradford Street and Mountrath Street.