WBean Cars was a brand of motor vehicles made in England by A Harper Sons & Bean, Ltd at factories in Dudley, Worcestershire, and Coseley, Staffordshire. The company began making cars in 1919 and diversified into light commercial vehicles in 1924. For a few years in the early 1920s Bean outsold Austin and Morris.
WBrierley Hill Urban District was a former Urban District in Staffordshire, England, comprising the areas of Brierley Hill, Kingswinford, Quarry Bank, and Pensnett, now within the modern-day Dudley Metropolitan Borough in the West Midlands county.
WCoseley Urban District was a local government district in Staffordshire which was created in 1894.
WThe County Borough of Dudley was a local government district in the English Midlands from 1865 to 1974. Originally a municipal borough, it became a county borough in 1889, centred on the main town centre of Dudley, along with the suburbs of Netherton and Woodside. Although surrounded by Staffordshire, the borough was associated with Worcestershire for non-administrative purposes, forming an exclave of the county until 1966, when it was transferred to Staffordshire after an expansion of the borough boundaries. Following local government reorganization in 1974, Dudley took in the boroughs of Halesowen and Stourbridge to form the present-day Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the newly formed West Midlands county.
WThe Mayor of Dudley is an office held by a councillor of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. The post is partly ceremonial although the mayor does also preside over full meetings of the council and has the duty of holding decision makers to account. The mayor is elected by fellow councillors in May of each year. Before 1865, when the municipal borough was incorporated, the position was associated with the Court Leet of the Lords of Dudley, which governed the borough of Dudley from at least the middle of the 16th century and probably from the Middle Ages. The earliest known mayor, John A’Parke was selected in 1565.
WThe administrative boundaries of Worcestershire, England have been fluid for over 150 years since the first major changes in 1844. There were many detached parts of Worcestershire in the surrounding counties, and conversely there were islands of other counties within Worcestershire. The 1844 Counties Act began the process of eliminating these, but the process was not completed until 1966, when Dudley was absorbed into Staffordshire.
WBetween the late 11th century and 1844, the English county of Shropshire had a large exclave within the present-day Black Country and surrounding area. This territory was gained from neighbouring Worcestershire, and the exclave's border corresponded with the medieval Manor of Hala. Shropshire (Detached) contained the townships of Halesowen, Oldbury, Warley Salop, Ridgacre, Hunnington, Romsley and Langley. The exceptions were Cradley, Lutley and Warley Wigorn, which were exclaves or enclaves still aligned with the original county. Bounded entirely by Staffordshire and Worcestershire, Hala was part of Brimstree hundred, and totally detached from the rest of Shropshire. Bridgnorth, the nearest town within the main body of Shropshire, is 16.8 miles (27.03 km) away from Halesowen, whilst the county town of Shrewsbury is 34.6 miles (55.62 km) away.