"SALT King" John Corbett, one of Worcestershire's most worthy sons and a captain of British industry, died at his home at Impney, Droitwich Spa, on Monday, aged 84.

100 years ago

April 27, 1901

"SALT King" John Corbett, one of Worcestershire's most worthy sons and a captain of British industry, died at his home at Impney, Droitwich Spa, on Monday, aged 84. Few men would leave such a gap in the community, the Messenger said. Apart from his activities at the Stoke Works salt plant which he revolutionised, both in production methods and in the welfare of his workers, he would be remembered for his benevolence to good causes. These included Bromsgrove Cottage Hospital, Aston Fields Working Men's Club, Salters' Hall in Droitwich and almshouses at Wychbold. He was to be buried at St Michael's churchyard, Stoke Prior.

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BROMSGROVE had not been "plunged into such a tumult of excitement" since the 1893 murder, was how the Messenger began its story of a terrible double tragedy. Harriet Laugher, 73, a widow living in a cottage at the back of the Crabmill pub, in Birmingham Road, had been murdered by her daughter, Sarah Broomfield, who shared her house. An inquest held at the nearby workhouse concluded Broomfield killed her mother by bludgeoning her about the head with a nail hammer before killing herself by taking poison.

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BROMSGROVE Cricket Club was preparing for the forthcoming season. The First XI had 28 engagements, the Seconds had 19 and the newly formed Thursday team had 12. The latter had been organised to give games to members of the now defunct Early Closers Cricket Club. Officials were hoping for better attendances this summer. Last year's gate receipts amounted to less than £5, a poor show, the Messenger commented.

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MAGISTRATES in Bromsgrove granted an order allowing the town's workhouse officials to apply to the Postmaster General to withdraw £124/7/6 (£124.37.5) from pauper Jacob Spencer's post office account to pay for his keep over the last six years. Spencer was currently a patient in Powick Lunatic Asylum.

50 years ago

April 28, 1951

BROMSGROVE'S new mercury vapour street lights which gave pedestrians a strange corpse-like appearance were said to be "passion killers." The jocular comment was made by Dr Hicks, chairman of Bromsgrove Rural District Council, in a speech at the urban authority's annual dinner at the Golden Cross Hotel. He said lovers looking into each other's eyes would be horrified at their ghostly appearances, unlike sweethearts in his rural district who had to rely on the moon to illuminate their amorous activities.

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THE Festival of Britain, an event to sell the British way of life abroad, was about to begin. In Bromsgrove it would be marked by sports matches and similar events. Sadly, the new Amphlett Hall, in Crown Close, would not be ready in time for the opening -- neither would the new gates for the Council House made by the Bromsgrove Guild. However, a specially written play by F Wallace-Hadrill, set in Bromsgrove's old Hop Pole pub at the time of the Civil War, was to be broadcast on the BBC.

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A BULLET proof car belonging to former Nazi leader Hermann Goering could be brought to Bromsgrove to go on show to raise cash for the town's Soldiers Sailors and Airmen's Families Association, it was revealed.

25 years ago

April 23, 1976

A JOINT funeral service was held for former Bromsgrove GP Dr Charles Mundy and his wife, Dorothea, who died a few days after him. The couple had lived in Lyttleton Road, Droitwich Spa.

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ROSEMARY Ford, aged 19, from Lower Goosehill Farm, Hanbury, was chosen as Worcestershire's new Dairy Maid in a beauty competition organised by the Milk Marketing Board and the local Young Farmers' Club. Later she would represent the county in the regional final at Malvern.

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WASELEY Country Park, which had cost £50,000 to establish, was open to the public for the first time over the Easter holidays.

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SINGLE parents in Bromsgrove who were finding life difficult in a world geared to two parent families could soon find some consolation by meeting others in a similar situation. A meeting was being held with a view to setting up a branch of the nationwide Gingerbread movement. Presently, one in seven marriages ended up on the rocks.