MANOR.
In 1086 SMETHWICK formed part
of the episcopal manor of Lichfield. The overlordship remained with the bishops until 1546 and then
passed to the Paget family. (fn. 36) In 1166 the bishop's
tenant at Smethwick was Henry FitzGerold, who
held it with Harborne as ½ knight's fee. (fn. 37) Thereafter
it descended with Harborne until the early 18th
century. (fn. 38) At some date before 1229 Henry's granddaughter Margaret de Breauté gave the manors of
Harborne and Smethwick to Halesowen abbey
(Worcs.), which held them until 1538. They were
then granted to Sir John Dudley, later earl of
Warwick and duke of Northumberland, were forfeited on his attainder in 1553, and were granted in
1554 to his relative Edward, Lord Dudley. (fn. 39)
Edward's son Edward sold them in 1604 to Sir
Charles Cornwallis, whose grandson, also Charles,
sold them to Thomas Foley in 1661.
In 1709 Thomas Foley's son, Philip, of Prestwood
in Kingswinford, sold the manors to George Birch
of Harborne and Henry Hinckley of the Beakes,
Smethwick. (fn. 40) In 1710 Birch and Hinckley divided the manors between them, Smethwick going to
Hinckley. The Birmingham-Halesowen road was
taken as the boundary, and all muniments transferred by Foley were to be kept in a box with two
locks. (fn. 41) In 1718 Hinckley settled the manor on his
son John at the time of John's marriage. (fn. 42) When
John died in 1740 his property passed to his halfbrother Henry Hinckley. (fn. 43) Henry, a physician, held
the manor until 1766 when he sold it to John
Baddeley of Birmingham. (fn. 44) In 1771 Baddeley was
living in Holloway Head, Birmingham, (fn. 45) but by
1781 he had moved to Albrighton (Salop.) where
he remained for the rest of his life, making clocks,
watches, and telescopes. (fn. 46)
Baddeley was still sole lord in 1771, (fn. 47) but by 1781
he held the manor jointly with his brother George,
a clock- and watch-maker of Newport (Salop.);
George died in 1785. (fn. 48) Apparently in 1786 George's
share was acquired by Samuel Smallwood and John
Sillitoe, (fn. 49) who were joint lords with John Baddeley
in 1787. (fn. 50) In 1790 John Reynolds bought the share
belonging to Smallwood and Sillitoe. (fn. 51) Reynolds
was described as a plater of Birmingham in 1792, (fn. 52)
but within the next few years he retired, having
made a considerable fortune in what his predecessor
in the business had considered to be 'a worn out
trade'. By 1796 he was living in Smethwick, presumably at Shireland Hall which was his home by
c. 1800. (fn. 53) John Baddeley died in 1804, (fn. 54) leaving his
half of the manor to his illegitimate son, John
Baddeley, and to his married daughters, Martha
Webster and Anne Underhill. In 1808 Baddeley
and his sisters sold their moiety of the manor to
John Reynolds. (fn. 55)
Reynolds evidently held the manor until his death
in 1820, when he was living at the Coppice. (fn. 56) After
his death his son, another John Reynolds, lived at
the Coppice, and in the 1820s and early 1830s he
was the largest landowner in Smethwick. (fn. 57) By 1830,
however, he had begun to sell parts of the estate, (fn. 58)
and in 1842 no one called Reynolds owned any
property in Smethwick. (fn. 59)