Domesday Books.—­The so-called Domesday Book, compiled by order of William the Norman Conqueror, has always been considered a wonderful work, and it must have taken some years compiling.  Some extracts touching upon the holders of land in this neighbourhood have already been given, and in a sense they are very interesting, showing as they do the then barrenness of the land, and the paucity of inhabitants.  Though in Henry VIII.’s reign an inventory of all properties in the hands of Churchmen was taken, it did not include the owners of land in general, and it was not till Mr. John Bright in 1873 moved for the Returns, that a complete register of the kind was made.  It would not be easy, even if space could be given to it, to give the list of individuals, companies, and corporation who claim to be possessors of the land we live on in Birmingham and neighbourhood; but a summary including the owners in this and adjoining counties may be worth preserving.  As will be seen by the annexed figures, Warwick and Stafford rank high in the list of counties having large numbers of small owners (small as to extent of ground, though often very valuable from the erections thereon).  There can be no doubt that the Freehold Land and Building Societies have had much to do with this, and as Birmingham was for years the headquarters of these Societies, the fact of there being nearly 47,000 persons in the county (out of a total population of 634,189) who own small plots under one acre, speaks well for the steady perseverance of the Warwickshire lads.  That we are not wrong in coming to this conclusion is shown by the fact that leaving out the Metropolitan Counties, Warwick heads, in this respect, all the shires in the kingdom.

WARWICKSHIRE. 
Extent Gross
of estimated
lands. rental. 
Owners of Numbr.  Acres L
Less than 1 acre ....... 46894 5883 1808897
1 acre and under 10 1956 7727 93792
10 acres " 50 1328 31485 114243
50 " " 100 447 31904 76178
100 " " 500 667 137372 398625
500 " " 1000 82 55542 134005
1000 " " 2000 47 67585 208718
2000 " " 5000 34 100185 275701
5000 " " 10000 8 53380 90848
10000 " " 20000 4 49953 74085
No areas given ......... 49 -- 43205
-----------------------
Total .... 51516 541021 3318303

STAFFORDSHIRE.

Less than 1 acre ....... 33672     4289   974133
1 acre and under 10   4062    14164   252714
10 acres     "    50   1891    44351   224505
50   "       "   100    544    39015   124731
100   "       "   500    557   111891   881083
500   "       "  1000     90    62131   177372
1000   "       "  2000     79    70637   278562
2000   "       "  5000     28    90907   219792
5000   "       " 10000     13    82560   136668
10000   "       " 20000      7    96700   212526
20000   "       " 50000      1    21433    41560
No areas given .........  2456     --   606552
No rentals returned ....     1        2     —­
-----------------------
Total .... 43371   638084  3630254

WORCESTERSHIRE.