Smethwick

Smethwick, a municipal and county borough in the Handsworth parliamentary division of Staffordshire, England, 3 m. W. of Birmingham on the Great Western and the London & North Western railways. Pop. (1891) 36,106; (1901) 54,539. There are large glass, chemical and machine works; nuts and bolts are made, and lighthouse fittings are a specialty. Adjoining Smethwick on the E. is the district of Soho, famous as the scene of the engineering experiments of James Watt during his partnership with Matthew Boulton (c. 1770). The town of Smethwick is a modern growth about an ancient village, the name of which appears in Domesday. The borough, incorporated in 1899 (county borough, 1907), is under a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 1929 acres.