2866. The Worcester-Shrewsbury line of the Great Western is here joined

by lines east from Birmingham and west from Tenbury. Bewdley is pleasantly situated on the sloping right bank of the Severn, on the eastern border of the forest of Wyre. A bridge by Telford (1797) crosses the river. A free grammar school, founded in 1591, was re-founded by James I. in 1606, and possesses a large library bequeathed in 1812. The town manufactures combs and horn goods, brass and iron wares, leather, malt, bricks and ropes. The town is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area, 2105 acres. Bewdley (i.e. Beaulieu) is probably referred to in the Domesday survey as "another Ribbesford," and was held by the king. The manor, then called _Bellus Locus_ or Beaulieu on account of its beautiful situation, was afterwards granted to the Mortimers, in whose family it continued until it was merged in the crown on the accession of Edward IV. It is from this time that Bewdley dates its importance. Through its situation on the Severn it was connected with the sea, and in 1250 a bridge, the only one between it and Worcester, was built across the river and added greatly to the commerce of the town. From Edward IV. Bewdley received its charter in 1472, and there appears to be no evidence that it was a borough before this time. Other charters were granted in 1605, 1685 and 1708. By James I.'s charter the burgesses sent one member to parliament, and continued to do so until 1885. A fair and a market on Wednesday were granted by Edward III. in 1373 to his grand-daughter Philippa, wife of Edmund Mortimer, and confirmed to Richard, duke of York, by Henry VI. Edward IV. also granted the burgesses a market on Saturdays, and three fairs, which were confirmed to them by Henry VII. Coal-mines were worked in Bewdley as early as 1669, and the town was formerly noted for making caps. BEWICK, THOMAS (1753-1828), English wood-engraver, was born at Cherryburn, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, in August 1753. His father rented a small colliery at Mickleybank, and sent his son to school at Mickley. He proved a poor scholar, but showed, at a very early age, a remarkable talent for drawing. He had no tuition in the art, and no models save natural objects. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to Mr Beilby, an engraver in Newcastle. In his office Bewick engraved on wood for Dr Hutton a series of diagrams illustrating a treatise on mensuration. He seems thereafter to have devoted himself entirely to engraving on wood, and in 1775 he received a premium from the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Manufactures for a woodcut of the "Huntsman and the Old Hound." In 1784 appeared his _Select Fables_, the engravings in which, though far surpassed by his later productions, were incomparably superior to anything that had yet been done in that line. The _Quadrupeds_ appeared in 1790, and his great achievement, that with which his name is inseparably associated, the _British Birds_, was published from 1797-1804. Bewick, from his intimate knowledge of the habits of animals acquired during his constant excursions into the country, was thoroughly qualified to do justice to his great task. Of his other productions the engravings for Goldsmith's _Traveller_ and _Deserted Village_, for Parnell's _Hermit_, for Somerville's _Chase_, and for the collection of _Fables of Aesop and Others_, may be specially mentioned. Bewick was for many years in partnership with his former master, and in later life had numerous pupils, several of whom gained distinction as engravers. He died on the 8th of November 1828. His autobiography, _Memoirs of Thomas Bewick, by Himself_, appeared in 1862. BEXHILL, a municipal borough and watering-place in the Rye parliamentary division of Sussex, England, 62 m. S.E. by S. from London, on the London, Brighton & South Coast, and the South-Eastern & Chatham railways. Pop. (1891) 5206; (1901) 12,213. The ancient village, with the Norman and Early English church of St Peter, lies inland on the slope of the low hills fringing the coast, but the watering-place on the shore has developed very rapidly since about 1884, owing to the exertions of Earl De la Warr, who owns most of the property. It has a marine parade, pier, golf links, and the usual appointments of a seaside resort, while the climate is bracing and the neighbouring country pleasant. Bexhill was incorporated in 1902, the corporation consisting of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 8013 acres. BEXLEY, NICHOLAS VANSITTART, BARON (1766-1851), English politician, was the fifth son of Henry Vansittart (d. 1770), governor of Bengal, and was born in London on the 29th of April 1766. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford, he took his degree in 1787, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1791. He began his public career by writing pamphlets in defence of the administration of William Pitt, especially on its financial side, and in May 1796 became member of parliament for Hastings, retaining his seat until July 1802, when he was returned for Old Sarum. In February 1801 he was sent on a diplomatic errand to Copenhagen, and shortly after his return was appointed joint secretary to the treasury, a position which he retained until the resignation of Addington's ministry in April 1804. Owing to the influence of his friend, Ernest, duke of Cumberland, he became secretary for Ireland under Pitt in January 1805, resigning his office in the following September. With Addington, now Viscount Sidmouth, he joined the government of Fox and Grenville as secretary to the treasury in February 1806, leaving office with Sidmouth just before the fall of the ministry in March 1807. During these and the next few years Vansittart's reputation as a financier was gradually rising. In 1809 he proposed and carried without opposition in the House of Commons thirty-eight resolutions on financial questions, and only his loyalty to Sidmouth prevented him from joining the cabinet of Spencer Perceval as chancellor of the exchequer in October 1809. He opposed an early resumption of cash payments in 1811, and became chancellor of the exchequer when the earl of Liverpool succeeded Perceval in May 1812. Having forsaken Old Sarum, he had represented Helston from November 1806 to June 1812; and after being member for East Grinstead for a few weeks, was returned for Harwich in October 1812. When Vansittart became chancellor of the exchequer the country was burdened with heavy taxation and an enormous debt. Nevertheless, the continuance of the war compelled him to increase the custom duties and other taxes, and in 1813 he introduced a complicated scheme for dealing with the sinking fund. In 1816, after the conclusion of peace, a large decrease in taxation was generally desired, and there was a loud outcry when the chancellor proposed only to reduce, not to abolish, the property or income tax. The abolition of this tax, however, was carried in parliament, and Vansittart was also obliged to remit the extra tax on malt, meeting a large deficiency principally by borrowing. He devoted considerable attention to effecting real or supposed economies with regard to the national debt. He carried an elaborate scheme for handing over the payment of naval and military pensions to contractors, who would be paid a fixed annual sum for forty-five years; but no one was found willing to undertake this contract, although a modified plan on the same lines was afterwards adopted. Vansittart became very unpopular in the country, and he resigned his office in December 1822. His system of finance was severely criticized by Huskisson, Tierney, Brougham, Hume and Ricardo. On his resignation Liverpool offered Vansittart the post of chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. Accepting this offer in February 1823, he was created Baron Bexley in March, and granted a pension of L3000 a year. He resigned in January 1828. In the House of Lords Bexley took very little part in public business, although he introduced the Spitalfields weavers bill in 1823, and voted for the removal of Roman Catholic disabilities in 1824. He took a good deal of interest in the British and Foreign Bible Mission, the Church Missionary Society and kindred bodies, and assisted to found King's College, London. He died at Foot's Cray, Kent, on the 8th of February 1851. His wife, whom he married in July 1806, was Isabella (d. 1810), daughter of William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland, and as he had no issue the title became extinct on his death. There are nine volumes of Vansittart's papers in the British Museum. See Spencer Walpole, _History of England_ (London, 1890); S.C. Buxton, _Finance and Politics_ (London, 1888). BEXLEY, an urban district in the Dartford parliamentary division of Kent, England, 12 m. S.E. by E. of London by the South-Eastern & Chatham railway. Pop. (1901) 12,918. Bexley, which is mentioned in Domesday Book, has had a church since the 9th century. The present church of St Mary is Early English and later. With the rental of the manor of Bexley, William Camden, the antiquary, founded the ancient history professorship at Oxford. Hall Place, which contains a fine Jacobean staircase and oak-panelled hall, is said to occupy the site of the dwelling-place of the Black Prince. The course of Watling Street may be traced over Bexley Heath, where, too, there exist deep pits, widening into vaults below, and probably of British origin. BEY (a modern Turk, word, the older form being _beg_, cf. Pers. _baig_), the administrator of a district, now generally an honorific title throughout the Turkish empire; the granting of this in Egypt is made by the sultan of Turkey through the khedive. In Tunis "bey" has become the hereditary title of the reigning sovereigns (see TUNISIA). BEYBAZAR, the chief town of a _kaza_ of the Angora vilayet in Asiatic Turkey, situated on an affluent of the Sakaria (anc. _Sangarius_), about 52 m. W. of Angora. It corresponds to the anc. _Lagania_, renamed _Anastasiopolis_ under the emperor Anastasius (491-518), a bishopric by the 5th century. Its well-built wooden houses cover the slopes of three hills at the mouth of a gorge filled with fruit gardens and vineyards. The chief products are rice, cotton and fruits. From Beybazar come the fine pears sold in Constantinople as "Angora pears"; its musk-melons are equally esteemed; its grapes are used only for a sweetmeat called _jevizli-sujuk_ ("nutty fruit sausage"). There are few remains of antiquity apart from numerous rock-cut chambers lining the banks of the stream. Pop. about 4000 to 5000. BEYLE, MARIE HENRI (1783-1842), better known by his _nom de plume_ of STENDHAL, French author, was born at Grenoble on the 23rd of January