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.. EXTRAORDINARY VESTRY MEETING…

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EXTRAORDINARY VESTRY MEETING AT PEMBROKE. An adjourned meeting was held on Monday, i', tie large porch of the church of St. l-'y, lb- the purpose of electing a-churchwarden ?■'>; the parish, and such a scene, we venture to ,m, has not bee i witnessed before by the oldest inhabitant" in the place. It appears fbr.t some dr.ys ago a vestry meeting had been Li-11 for the purpose of electing a parish warden for the erring year, there being two candidates —gamely, Air John Hird, chemist, who held the cilice last year (and, in passing, we may observe that his grandfather and father had been church- for twenty years and seventeen years respectively), and Mr John Gwyther, tailor and A dispute having in some way arisen, i- was determined that the election should be by v re. Notice thereof was given, and Monday wa3 fised for the polling. The Rev H. S. curate in charge, presided; Mr W. 0. :-[::1:11, as assessor, being the returning officer. T::3 polling commenced at ten o'clock and closed at four. Mr W. John, of Haverfordwest, ap- p-arcd on telialf of Mr Gwyther. In justice to the -ngctable Nonconformists of the town, we res" mention that they refrained from interfering an the matter. During Mr Hird's term of office x. & b.:diness pertaining thereto had been carried (;:1 to tLe almost entire satisfaction of the 2>i.]oner3 in every respect, and it was deter- i .im. i, if possible, to re-elect him, Mr Meyrick, 11. P., Mr Saurin, and many other gentlemen v ting for him. The vicar, the Rev. C. Douglas, i appointed a Nonconformist as his warden, 2vJr Joseph Powell, auctioneer, a very estimable g* i:i-raan; and a party, it appears, sought to cusfc 1\1r Uird in favour of Mr Gwyther, not, it is said, on public grounds, but through some i:viv-ite malice. It had been arranged between li candidates, between whom good feeling s- r-cl to exist, that if no vote was recorded wÍ<i;¡ ary given hour, the gentleman who then st £ ~>'f "t the head of the poll should be returned. A:; iive minutes past two o'clock, Mr W. Vviiiiams, timber merchant, said that no vote having been recorded since one o'clock, he would propose that the poll be closed. (At this tine Ilird stood at 128, and Gwyther at 60.) The porch of the church and the approaches thereto were now densely crowded, and con- s excitement prevailed, the more especially as a number of ratepayers (workmen from the dockyard) had arrived for the purpose of voting. A voice in the crowd said that a vote had It-en recorded within the hour. The Rev. Chairman said no. Williams said that the Municipal Act spcciued that if no vote was recorded within the hoi r the poll should be closed. (Several voices declared that the poll should net be closed until iT.'r o'clock.) nr,\V. John said the Act was clear en the master, that the poll should be kept open a sufficiently long period to allow all parishioners to vote—and that the poll should be kept open nr.tii Wednesday night—(cries of Hear,' "No, tlo,•' and much noise)—or, at least, until Tuesday citernoon at six o'clock. (A voice: vVhat, and keep the clergyman here all i: ]ht ?" Hear, hear," and much laughter.) If Mr Hulm had advised Mr Blink to close it, iiifti it was wrong. (Confusion and uproar.) Mr Hulm said he had not addressed Mr BLisk in any way; he was simply there as letuming officer. Mr John said that if they closed the poll ti,t 11 they would do so at their peril. The hLV. Mr Blink said be was not going to 1 e threatened by Mr John or anyene else. (Much noise.) Mr John disclaimed all intention of threaten- ing Mr Blink. (Hear, hear.) He simply piotesteu against the poll being closed. The Rev. Mr Blink said the wording of the Act was specific enough, the poll should bo kept cpf-n a reasonable time, and this had been done sr., I Uierns was no excuse for anyone not attend- 7^ there to vote if bethought proper te do so i -f!: at> hear)—and it lay in the discretion of the ch carman. AT'John said it did not, and if they then Ciostu the poll they did it on their peril. r. A Jermyn said that no parishioner lived Du re than a mile and a half away, and they had had an ample opportunity to come if they had chosen to do so. (Hear, hear.) It was not reasonable that they could keep those gentlemen there all day doing nothing. (Hear, hear.) The Chairman said he had given Mr Gwyther no' .oe that the poll would be^open until four oTbck. Mr John said notice had not been given by the Tfis*ry. Mr Jermyn said that in the morning Mr John had made no objection. Eventually, after some further debate, and turadst much uproar, the Rev. Mr Blink con- s-ledto keep the poll open until four o'clock, tui; not a minute later. At this juncture Mr William Miller, ship- wright, at the dockyard, residing at Pater, came forward to tender his vote, which Mr Blink r'-Ased t: record. (Great uproar ensued.) j Mr John said that Mr Blink was bound te accept the vote, as Mr Miller resided in the parish of St. Mary, was legally a householder, ar t had paid his rates. It was true that he resided i;1 the ecclesiastical district of St. John, lu it was in the same parish, and he would call aU iiition to the fact that there was only one poor-rate and one set ef overseers. The Chairman said no, they were elected separately. Mr John said he cared not for that; Pembroke Dock and Pembroke were in the same parish, and the paupers of both were entitled to and received the same relief therefrom. They had only one highway rate, and they were all entitled to vute at this election. Mr John then cited the •s:r of the Queen ft. Stevens, heard in the Ccurt of Queen's Bench, where it was ruled that .he votes, as a case in point, were good, and he had the utrtiost confidence in saying that Mr Miller's vote should bo received, with all re-;pect to the chairman. If the vote were not re vived, he would, on his own responsibility, arj at hia own cost, bring a case to the Court oi Queen's Bench,—(much noise)—and he s;:jiiid hold Mr Blink responsible for the costs, l,\f¡:¡;l laughter and uproar of voices.) 1 r;o hev. Mr Blink (laid that notwithstanding this threat, he should do his duty, and refuse Mr MilhiA vote, because he maintained bona fide that the Act did not apply, as St. John's had been separate from St. Mary's, ecclesiastically, since 1844, since which time they, at Pembroke, hari never been interfered with. They had their cv,a burial ground.at Pembroke Dock, and they, at Pembroke, were never called to pay anything towards it. 'In his opinion the boundary between the two was defined by the Ferry lane, and i y i'd that line no one had the option of voting; and he should refuse to record them, not as r „i slist any private individual, but on the grounds iiai.; St. Mary and St. John were ecclesiastically separate (A voice: "Then 111 never pay any More poor rates." Cries of Hear, hear, and i-i .A ccnfusicn," Mr John then asked if Mr Blink refused to record Mr Miller's vote, and thereby disqualilied Liui! The Chairman said he did not mean to dis- qualify Inm but he did not acknowledge the y-ce, as Mr Miller did not reside within the u.strict. r'r*«> iw £ four o'clock, Aairman said he should close the poll. nn protested against this being done -uibrokc Dock votes had not been '•Aims said that ho and the A s'ippoit Mr Blink in what he in au! it was his duty, as returning uaolare Mr Ilird duly elected by a ,f x>, tlio votes for that gentleman t r'd for Mr Gwyther 03. uproar endued, but votes of jrded to Mr Blink and Mr Hulm, 'pillion' of Mr Hird, seconded by Mr sui that for the last twenty years .irclr.Yanten. had not taken l».l. ■ '■ ■■ ■— in that parish. This would net have been now, as there was no difference of opinion between his opponent and himself, only Mr Gwyther had allowed himself to be put forward by a clique. (Hear, hear.) When he was elected warden he was perfectly justified in withholding £ 30 a year from Froyne, the parish clerk The venerable tower ef the church was nearly tumbling down, and he believed the vicar did not care if it did. Mr Gwyther bad simply been put forward as the parish clerk's nominee, and the thumbscrew bad been put on at the dockyard. (Cries of No, no," from the Pater men.) Mr Hird said it had been so, whatever they might say to the contrary, and because, as churchwarden of the parish, he had sought to appropriate the church money to its proper use, this clique had been formed to oust him, but he had determined to fight them, and he had done so, and beatea them. (Hear, hear,) Mr W. Williams then explained that the money of the church-some £120 per annum— had been left to the church by some good gentleman about 200 years ago, and was entirely a private matter, and had nothing to do with the ratepayers, who were not asked to pay one farthing. He was quite sure that if the Pem- broke Dock gentleman, for whom he entertained the utmost respect, had known the truth of the. matter, their good sense would have kept them away. (Hear, hear.) At Pembroke they never attempted to interfere with the electien ot wardens at *St John's, Pembroke Dock, and he thought that they might manage their own private affairs in their church without the interference of others. Was it because their parish clerk said he would nominate and put in a warden that they were te oust a man like Mr Hird, who, since he had been warden, had done more towards the restoration, &c., of the church than any other person, and had advanced his own money for this purpose ? (Hear hear.) Mr Hird was perfectly justified in what he had done in appro- priating the money to its proper use, instead of allowing the parish clerk to do as he pleased, who from both parishes (St Mary and St Michael), including fees, had little less than jE70 a year. Were the respectable parishioners to be ruled by him in electing a churchwarden ? Mr Hird had nobly put the "house of God" in order, and he would continne to do so. Mr Williams made a long and able speech explanatory of the whole a matter. Mr Blink and Mr Hulm having responded suitably for the votes of thanks, this most extraordinary meeting separated peaceably.

PEMBROKESHIRE AND HAVERFORDWEST…

MANOKBIER.|

TENBY.

PEMBROKE.

FISHGUARD.

THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH IN THE…

THE MARKETS.

[No title]

MILFORD.

^ 11 AVERFoitDWEST MARKETS.

SOUTH WALES RAILWAY TIMB TABLB^,

MILFORD BRANCH LINE OF RAILWAY.

PEMBROKE AND TEN BY RAILWAY.