Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham/S
Sabbath Breaking.—In 1776 the churchwardens threatened to punish everyone caught playing at ball on the Sabbath. In 1779 they frequently stopped waggons travelling on that day, and fined the owners for so doing. In December, 1781, thirty-eight publicans were lined for allowing "tippling" on Sundays.
Sailor's Return.—There are several public-houses in the town with the sign of "The Sailor's Return," but few of the landlords can tell the history of the first so-named, which is Watery Lane, at the bottom of Lawley Street. It is near a hundred j-ears ago since "Old Dr. Spencer" was Vicar of Aston Church, and, though he was fond of hunting, and could be "a jolly good fellow" occasionally, few parsons have gone to the grave more lamented, for he was a man without cant,—a Christian who never thought himself better than his neighbours, be they rich or poor. His only son was mortally wounded in one of Nelson's battles, but he lived just long enough to give his watch and a few trifles for his father to the sailor who waited on him. 'Twas some time before the "old salt" got to land, and he had been in another brush with the French, and had left a leg behind him. When he delivered his message to the Dr., the latter asked what he could do for him. "Why, sir," said the sailor," I should like to keep a public-house;" and he did, the Dr. christening it "The Sailor's Return."
Saltley.—So far as our ancient histories can tell us, there was a mansion here long previous to the Conquest, and the diligent antiquarian may still find an old Saltley Hall, though it looks wretchedly neglected and desolate. Saltley is one of the busiest of our suburbs, there being very extensive Railway Carriage and Wagon Works here, besides other factories and the Corporation Gas-works, the population being about 7,000.
Sandwell Hall and Park—Seat of the Earl of Dartmouth, who frequently permits the Park to be used for public purposes. Of late, however, it has acquired a far greater interest through the discovery of coal underneath its surface. The extension of the coal seams in this direction was long a debateable question, and the originators of the Sandwell Park Colliery Company were deemed by many to be very foolish people to risk their money in such a venture, but after a four years' suspense their most sanguine expectations were more than realised, and their shares, which at one period were hardly saleable, ranked amongst the best investments of the country. By their agreement with the owner, the Company have the right of mining under an area of 185 aces, at a royalty of 6d. per ton, with the option of taking a further area of 1,515 acres at a like royalty. The first sod was cut April 12, 1870, the thick coal being struck May 28, 1874, at a depth of 418 yards, the shaft, which is 10ft. diameter, being carried down to a total depth of 440 yards—a quarter of a mile; the second shaft, which was commenced June 24, 1374, is 15ft. in diameter. The following are the "winnings"; brooch coal, 2ft. 6in. thick, at a depth of 380 yards; best coal, 20ft. 6in. thick, at 418 yards; heathen coal 4ft. thick, at 427 yards; white ironstone, of excellent quality, at 434 yards, and good fire-clay, 6ft. thick, under that, besides thin seams of gubbin ironstone, and new mine coal.
Saturday Half-holiday.—The introduction of this boon to workingmen took place in 1851, Mr. John Frearson, of Gas-street, claiming the honour of first giving it to his employees. — See "Excursions."
Scandalous Schoolmasters.—The Rev. Mr. Wills, of Brumingham, with several county esquires and gentlemen, were appointed Commissioners under an Act passed towards the close of "The Long Parliament," to summon and examine any "publique preachers, inefficient ministers, and scandalous schoolmasters who shall be proved guilty of drunkenness, common haunting of taverns or alehouses, dealing with lewd women, frequent quarrelling or fighing, frequent playing at cards or dice, profaning the Sabbath Day, or do incourage or countenance by word or practice any Whitsun ales, wakes, Morris-dances, Maypoles, stage plays, &c.," and to remove the same where needed. A little quarrelling or fighting, or playing at cards, was apparently no offence.
School Board.—The first election took place Nov. 28, 1870, there being the following twenty-eight candidates, the first fifteen named being the chosen elected by the number of votes attached to their names, viz., Canon O'Sullivan, 35,120; S. S. Lloyd, 30,799; Dr. Burges, 21.925; Dr. Wilkinson, 19,829; John Gough, 17,481; Rev. F. S. Dale, 17,365; G. Dawson, 17,103; G. Dixon, M.P., 16,897; W. Dale, 16,387; C. Vince, 15,943; J, S. Hopkins, 15,696; W. L. Sargant, 15,683; J. Chamberlain, 15,090; J. S. Wright, 15,007; A.J. Elkington, 14,925; G. Baker, J. A. Cooper, Jesse Collings, Rev. H. W. Crosskey, Dr. Sebastian Evans, Rev. H. W. Holland,—Kirkwood, G. B. Lloyd, Dr. Meison, W. Middlemore, W. Radford,—Raffles, and Archdeacon Sandford. 29,183 voters, out of 52,340, recorded their votes. A considerable amount of party feeling was shown in the contest, the candidates being divided (with one or two exceptions) into two distinct classes, the Liberals who wanted the Bible read la the schools without explanation or comment, and the Churchmen who went in for Scriptural teaching. The latter party obtained the majority by electing the whole of the eight they put in nomination, the Liberals, who thought they could run the whole fifteen, find that by grasping at too much they had lost all the power they had fondly hoped to acquire. The first meeting of the Board was held Dec. 15, Mr. Sargant being elected chairman and Mr. S. S. Lloyd vice-chairman. During the three years' reign of this Board the religious question was a continual bone of contention, the payment of school fees for the teaching of the Bible in denominational schools being denounced in the strongest of terms in and out of the Board-room by the "Irreconcileables," as the Nonconforming minority were termed. The practical results of the Board's proceedings may be summed up thus: The Education Department decided that school accommodation was required for 15,000 children; the School Board borrowed £40,000, received £20,500 from the rates, built five schools (in Lingard-street, Jenkins-street, Farm-street, Garrison-lane, and Steward-street), which would hold about 6,000 children, boys, girls, and infants, and engaged fifteen teachers, 52 pupil teachers, and two assistants. They also allowed the sum of 1s. per week for every child detained in a certified industrial school, committed by the borough magistrates, enforced in some measure the compulsory clauses of the Education Act, entered into negotiations for the building of four other schools, quarrelled with the Town Council, and dissolved without thanking their chairman.—The second election of the School Board took place Nov. 17, 1873, when eighteen persons were nominated, as follow (the three last being the unsuccessful candidates):—G. Dixon, M.P., 39,447 votes; J. Chamberlain, 38,901; Miss Sturge, 37,260; C. Vince, 36,505; J. S. Wright, 36,417; R. W. Dale, 34,986; G. Dawson, 34,301; Jesse Collings, 33,877; Canon O'Sullivan, 32,087; S. S. Lloyd, 29,783; Dr. Burges, 24,582 ; A. J. Elkington, 24,213; W. L. Sargant, 24,207; Rev. F. S. Dale, 23,864; Dr. Wilkinson, 23,157; G. Heaton, 23,140; W. H. Greening, 22,881; and W. Warlow, 19,193. This election was fought with all the rancour of a political contest, Tory and Liberal being pitted against one another in the name of religion, the Book of Books being dragged through the mire of party warfare in the most outrageous manner, discreditable to both sides, and especially so to those teachers of the Gospel, who delighted in the almost blasphemons alliterations of "Bible and beer," "gin and Jesus," &c., so freely bandied about. The Liberal party this time gained the ascendancy, their first "liberal" action being to take away the allowance granted to the Industrial Schools, and reversing as much as possible the policy of their predecessors. It would be waste of space to comment upon the doings of the Board during the past ten years otherwise than to summarise them. The Liberal party have maintained their ascendancy, and they have provided the town with a set of schools that cannot be equalled by any town in the kingdom, either for number, magnificence of architecture, educational appliance, high-class teachers, or (which is the most important) means for the advancement of the scholars, to whom every inducement is held out for self-improvement, except in the matter of religion, which, as nearly as possible, is altogether banished from the curriculum. At the end of 1833, the thirty completed schools provided accommodation for 31,861 children, 10,101 boys, 9,053 girls, and 12,707 infants, but the number of names on the books reached nearly 40,000. Other schools are being built, and still more are intended ;and, as the town increases, so must this necessary expenditure, though, at first sight, the tax on the ratepayers is somewhat appalling. In 1878 the "precept" was for £46,500; in 1879, £44,000; in 1880, £39,000; in 1881, £42,000; in 1882, £48,000; in 1883, £54,000; in 1884, £55,000. The receipts and expenditure for the half-year ended 25th March, 1884, gives the following items:—Balance in hand 29th September, 1883. £10,522 1s. 7½d.; rates (instalment of precept), £27,250; maintenance—grants from Committee of Council on Education, £9,866 18s. 4d.; school fees, £4,806 3s. 81.; books, &c., sold, £223 18s. 6d.; rent of Board schools, £655 9s.; needlework sold, £215 12s. 2d.; grant from Science and Art Department, £306 0s. 3d.; total, £16,074 Is. lid.; scholarships, £114 13s.; sundries, £44 4s. 3d. ; total income, £54,004 16s. 9½d. The following was the expenditure: Repayment of loans, &e., £11,016 13s, 6d.; maintenance, £30,040 16s. Id. (including £23,300, salaries of teachers); scholarships, £126 13s. 3d.; compulsion and management, £3,857 3s. 4d. ; sundries, £28 4s.; amount transferred from capital account, £30 Is. l0d.; balance in hand, £8,905 4s. 9½d.; total, £54,004 16s. 9½d.
A Central Seventh Standard Technical School has been originated through the offer of Mr. George Dixon to give the use of premises in Bridge Street, rent free for five years, he making all structural alterations necessary to fit the same for the special teaching of boys from the Board Schools, who have passed the sixth standard, and whose parents are willing to keep their sons from the workshops a little longer than usual. The course of the two years' further instruction proposed, includes (besides the ordinary code subjects, the three R's) mathematic, theoretical, and practical mechanics, freehand, geometry, and model drawing, machine construction and drawing, chemistry and electricity, and the use ol the ordinary workshop tools, workshops being fitted with benches, lathes, &c., for the lads' use. The fee is 3d. per week, and if the experiment succeeds, the School Board at the end of the five years will, no doubt, take it up on a more extended scale.
Aston School Board.—The first election took place July 29, 1875, and, as in Birmingham, it was fought on the usual political basis, the Liberals gaining the day. The Board has nine Schools, with an average attendance of 11,500 children, out of nearly 15,000 on the registers; 187 teachers, and a debt of £110,000
King's Norton Board.—The first election took place March 19, 1876. Eight Schools have been built since that date.
Schools and Colleges.—What with thirty board schools, about sixty church and chapel schools, and nearly 300 private enterprise schools, Birmingham cannot be said to be short of educational establishments, even for the 100,000 children we have amongst us. At the end of 1881 there were 93,776 children in the borough between the ages of three and thirteen. Next to the Free Grammar School, the oldest public school in the town must be the Lancasterian School, which was opened September 11, 1809, and was rebuilt in 1851. The National School in Pinford Street was opened in 1813, the Governors of the Free Grammar School having the privilege of sending sixty children in lieu of rent for the site. The Madras school was formerly at the bottom of King Street. The first Infant Schools we read of were opened in 1825. The first stone of the Industrial School in Gem Street was laid April 13, 1849. Ragged Schools were opened in Vale Street, September 11, and in connection with Bishop Ryder's, September 17, 1862, and in Staniforth Street, January 11, 186S. The schools in the Upper Priory were erected in 1860; those in Camden Drive in 1869. The Unitarian Schools, Newhall Hill, were opened in 1833; the New Meeting Street Schools in 1844. Winfield's in one sense must be called a public school, though connected with a factory and built (at a cost of over £2,000) for the education of the young people there employed. The respected owner of the Cambridge Street Works, like many other Conservatives, was one of the most liberal-minded men, and hundreds owe not only their education, but their present position in life to the care bestowed upon them at this school.—A Roman Catholic School was opened in Bartholomew Street, October 1, 1872; in Brougham Street, December 27, 1872; and new Schools in Shadwell Street, (costing about £4,500), June 25, 1883—The Palmer Street Congregational Schools, which cost £2,500, were opened February 12, 1877. The old Wesleyan chapel, in Martin Street, was fitted up for schools in 1865. The same body opened schools at Summer Hill, in 1874; in Icknield Street West, January 1, 1875; and laid the first stone of another school in Sterling Road, September 22, 1884.—the Hebrew National Schools, Hurst Street, were opened May 21, 1844.
The Birmingham and Edgbaston Proprietary School, Hagley Road, was the property of a company constituted by deed of settlement, dated February 28, 1839. The cost of the land chosen to build upon and the handsome edifice erected was £10,500, the school being opened in 1811. In 1874 there was originated a Birmingham Higher Education Society, and in 1876 a scheme was adopted for a High School for Girls in conjunction with the Proprietary School, a company being formed, with a nominal capital of £20,000, for the purchase of the property; but the days of the School's prosperity seem to have passed away, and in August, 1881, it was bought over by the Governors of the Free Grammar School.
Blue Coat School (facing St. Phillip's Churchyard) founded in 1721, and was erected in 1724, provision having been made in the Act for building St. Philip's Church for securing the necessary land required for the school for a term of 1,000 years at 10s. per year. The first cost of the building was about £3,000, but many alterations and extensions have since been made thereto, the quaint little statues in the front being put up in 1770; they are the work of Mr. Edward Grubb, and are said to have been portraits of two of the children then actually in the school. The first bequest recorded is that of Mrs. Elizabeth White, who in 1722 left nearly 30 acres of land worth about £250 per year for the support of the school. In 1726 Benjamin Salusbury left 30s. per year for the preaching of a sermon at St. Martin's and St. Philip's, and a further 40s. per year as a subscription; as did also Thomas Dunscombe in 1729. In 1795 the Lord of the Manor presented the school with a slice of Birmingham Heath, above five acres in extent, which is now let on a long lease at £96 10s. per year. In 1806 other land was devised, and from time to time considerable sums have been invested in like manner and in consols, so that a fair income is derived from these sources, in addition to the voluntary and annual subscriptions, but judging from the past and the admirable way in which the funds have been administered it may be truly said that if the income were doubled or trebled so would be the benefits in like proportion. At first opening 22 boys and 10 girls were admitted, and 10 others of each sex were taught and clothed ; the latter system, however, had many inconveniences, and was soon discontinued. At present the average number is 150 boys and 100 girls on the original foundation, 20 being paid for out of Fentham's Trust.
Bourne College is situated at Quinton, and is an institution for the education of the sons of friends belonging to the Primitive Methodist denomination. The memorial stones were laid June 6, 1881, and the College was opened October 24, 1882, with accommodation for 70 boys.
Church Schools.—St. Alban's Schools were commenced in 1865. Bishop Ryder's Schools were opened in December 1860, and for girls in March 1866. Christ Church Schools were built in 1837 at a cost of nearly £4,000 St. George's Schools were built in 1842; St, John's (Sparkhill) in 1884; St. Mary's, Bath Street, in 1824, the present schools dating from January, 1847. St. Martin's Church Schools were opened Nov. 1, 1816, but were transferred to the School Board, July 9, 1879; St. Matthew's, Lupin Street, October 20, 1841; St. Paul's, December 18, 1845; the Legge Lane Schools being erected in 1869. St. Anne's School, Deritend, was opened May 31, 1870; St. Mary's, Aston Brook, April 16, 1872.
King Edward the VIth's Schools.—For 300 years known as the Free Grammar School, having been founded in 1551, the fifth year of the reign of Edward VI., and endowed with part of the property taken by his reforming father Henry VIII., in 1536, from the religious foundation known as the "Guild of the Holy Cross." At the time the charter was granted (Jan. 2, 1552) these lands were valued at about £20 per annum, and so little was it imagined that Birmingham would ever be more than the small hamlet it then was, that a funny tale has come down to the effect that the good people of King's Norton, when offered their choice of similar lands or a sum equal thereto, wisely as they thought, chose the "bird in hand" and asked for the £20 per year for their school, leaving the Brums to make what they could out of the bare fields once belonging to the brotherhood of the Holy Cross. Like the majority of so-called charily schools, this foundation was for many generations so managed that the funds went into almost any channel except the purpose for which it was designed—the free education of the poor—and even now it would be an interesting question to find out how many boys are receiving the advantages thereof whose parents are well able to pay for their learning elsewhere. The property of the charity is widely scattered over the town, here a piece and there a piece, but it is rapidly increasing in value from the falling in of leases the rentals, which in 1827 were about £3,000 per annum, being in 1840 £8,400, in 1860 £12,600, and now £25,000; by the expiration of this century it will be at least £50,000. The earliest existing statutes are dated October 20, 1676, one of the most comical being that the assistant masters were not to marry. The head master's salary in 1676 was fixed at £68 15s., with a house and land; in 1738 he was allowed £20 in lieu of the house, in 1788 the salary was increased to £150; in 1726 to £200; in 1816 to £400: and now it is about £1,200. The second master at first received £34 6s. 8d.; in 1874 he received £300. The first school was the old Guildhall of the Holy Cross, which was pulled down at the commencement of the 18th century, a new school being erected in 1707, and removed in 1833, to make way for the present edifice, which was erected in 1840, from the designs of Mr. Barry, at a cost of £67,000. The school has a frontage of 174 feet, with a depth of 125 feet, being 60 feet high. The "schoolroom" proper is 120 feet, by 30 feet and 45 feet high. In the last century the governors "set up" branch schools in Shut Lane, Dudley Street, Freeman Street, London 'Prentice Street, and other localities; and in 1838 elementary schools were erected in Gem Street, Edward Street, and Meriden Street, as preparatory adjuncts to the New Street School. Extensive changes have lately been made in the government and management of the Grammar School, which can no longer be called a "Free School." Formerly the governors were self-elected, but by the new scheme, which was approved by the Queen in Council, March 26, 1878, the number is limited to twenty-one, eight of them being appointed by the Town Council, one by the school teachers, one each by the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and London, and the remaining nine to be chosen by the Governors themselves. The first meeting of the new Board of Governors was held May 15, 1878. The New Street School is divided into a High School for boys, a High School for girls, and a Middle School, the other schools being respectively called Grammar Schools. The fees now payable at the Five Ways School (formerly the Proprietary School), and at the new schools at Camp Hill and Albert Road, Aston are 2s. 6d. on admission, and £3 annually; to the High Schools the entrance fee is 10s., and the tuition fees £9 per annum; to the Middle Schools, 5s., and £6 per annum. The number of children in all the schools is about 2,000, and the fees amount to about £4,000 per annum. There are a number of foundation scholarships, which entitle the successful competitors from the Grammar Schools to tree tuition at the High Schools, and ten exhibitions arising out of the Milward's, and Joanna Lench's Trusts, for the Universities, besides yearly class prizes of considerable value.
Masons Scientific College.—The foundation of this College, situated in Edmund Street, opposite the Free Library, was laid on the 23rd February, 1875, by Sir Josiah Mason, the founder, who in that manner celebrated his 80th birthday; and it was opened October 1,1880. The College, which is estimated to have cost £100,000, was built entirely by the founder who also endowed it with an income of about £3,700 per annum, with the intention of providing instruction in mathematics, abstract and applied; physics, mathematical and experimental; chemistry, theoretical, practical, and applied; the natural sciences, geology, metallurgy and mineralogy; botany, zoology and physiology; English, French and German, to which have since been added Greek, Latin, English literature, civil and mechanical engineering; the chemistry, geology, theory and practice of coal mining, &c. The entire management is in the hands of eleven trustees, five of whom are appointed by the Town Council, and there is no restriction on their powers, save that they must be laymen and Protestants. The students may be male or female of any creed, or of any birthplace, though preference is given to candidates from Mason's Orphanage, and to poisons born in Birmingham or Kidderminster, other things being equal. The site contains a little over an acre of land, extending through from Edmund Street, with a frontage of 149 feet, to Great Charles Street, with a frontage of 127 feet. About one half of the area is covered by the present buildings, which were erected from the designs of Mr. J. A. Cossins, who chose the 13th century style, with elaborations of a French character, its stone balconies, lofty gables, oriel and dormer windows, picturesque turrets, and numberless architectural enrichments, forming a contour quite unique in the Birmingham district, though much of its beauty is lost through the narrowness of the thoroughfare. The College is built in two blocks communicating by corridors, and contains several lecture and other large rooms, laboratories, class-rooms, &c., so arranged that the attendants on one department in no way interfere with others, there being about 100 apartments altogether, in addition to library, reading-rooms, private rooms, &c. The report for the year ending Founder's Day, February 23, 1884, showed the number of students in the day classes during the session to have been 366—viz., 229 male and 137 female students; while in the evening classes there were 118 male and 54 female students, 20 students attending some day as well as evening classes. The number of individual students registered during the session 1882-3, as attending day or evening classes, was 518, as against 462 in 1881-82, and 181 in l880-81. The accounts showed an expenditure for the year of £8,095 12s. 2d., of which £4,258 7s. 9d. was in respect of the teaching staff. The expenditure exceeded the income by £764 0s. 8d., principally on account buildings, repairs, &c. The trustees have lately made provision for nine scholarships, including two entrance scholarships of £30 each; one of £30, for students of one year's standing; two of £30 each, for two years' students; two of £20 each for honour students in the examinations of the University of London; and two technical scholarships of £30 each, one in the chemical and the other in the engineering department. The two last are known as the Tangye, Scholarships, having been given by Messrs. R. and G. Tangye, and funds are being raised for several others.
Queen's College.—Originally established in 1828 as the School of Medicine; being patronised afterwards by William IV., it being known as The Royal School of Medicine and Surgery, under which name it existed until incorporated by Royal Charter in 1843, when it was rechristened as The Queen's College. The first building erected for the use of the Royal School was located in Snow Hill, the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the present handsome Gothic edifice in Paradise Street being performed August I8, 1843, the chapel being consecrated in the following year. At first there was but a medical department, but, at the incorporation, a theological department was added, and for many years, principally through the exertions of Dr. Warneford and Mr. W. Sands Cox, it was one of the most thriving and popular Colleges in the kingdom, the courses of study qualifying for degrees at the University of London, and for diplomas of the Society of Apothecaries, and the Royal College of Surgeons; while theological students, with the College certificate, could go up for their B.A. degree, with only a twelve months' residence at the University. A department in connection with the Arts, Manufacture, and Commerce was opened in May, 1853, and a High School of Trade and Commerce, for giving an education specially adapted for youths intended for mercantile pursuits, was commenced in the autumn of 1877. An attempt to extend the medical education to female students was made at one time, but the ladies were refused permission to attend the College June 27, 1873; they are still debarred from studying; surgery here, and none have as yet entered their names on the list of theological students. In the other departments greater facilities have been allowed the fair sex. a Central High School for girls being opened at the College September 17, 1879, accommodation being provided For eighty pupils. The Museum of Natural History formed at the College soon after its opening, long one of the town attraction for visitors, was presented to the Corporation, and formed the nucleus of the heterogenous collection at Aston Hall. The medical students have the advantage of an extensive Anatomical Museum, and there is, besides, a library of about 6,000 volumes of the best works and books of reference that could be obtained.
Oscott College.—The old Roman Catholic College of St. Mary's, at Oscott, was first used as such in 1808. The present building was commenced in 1835, and opened May 31, 1838, and is considered one of the chief English seminaries for Catholic students in theology. The chapel is ll2ft. long by 33ft. wide, and is richly decorated, having side chapels and several handsome memorial windows. The College library is very extensive, and includes many very rare, valuable, and ancient works, some choice MSS., and a number of "old masters," the latter having been contributed by the late Earl of Shrewsbury.
Saltley Training College, which covers nearly seven acres of land, was instituted in 1847, and was opened at Easter, 1852, for the education of future schoolmasters in connection with the Established Church. The building cost nearly £18,000 and will accommodate 100 students) who undergo a two years' training, the College being under the inspection of the Committee of Council on Education, Government grants amount to about two-thirds of the income, the balance being raised by public subscription and from fees. In addition to over fifty scholarships tenable by students who pass their examination, there are four exhibitions arising from a sum of £2,000 given in October, 1874, by the late Mr. Arthur Ryland (for a donor who desired to be anonymous), to the governing body of this College "to found a trust for promoting the teaching of teachers the laws of health, and inducing teachers to make that subject one of the things statedly taught in their own schools," and a further £1,000 for four exhibitions to students.
Severn Street First Day Adult School.—The name tells pretty well that this school was commenced by some members of the Society of Friends, though there is really nothing sectarian about it. Established in 1845, in a simple way and with but few classes, there is hardly an institution in the town that can be compared to it in the matter of practical usefulness, and certainly none at which there has been exhibited such an amount of unselfish devotedness on the part of teachers and superintendents. The report to the end of 1883 stated that during the year the progress of the school had been of an encouraging character. The following statistics were given of the total attendance at all the schools connected with the movement:—Number of teachers, 57 males, 25 females—total, 82, average attendance, 51 males, 23 females—total 74. Elementary teachers, 173 males, 21 females—total, 194; average attendance, 152 males, 19 females—total, 171. Number of scholars, 3,370 males, 653 females—total, 4,023; average attendance, 2,510 males, 510 females—total 3,080. The total number admitted since the men's school commenced in 1845, and the women's in 1848, had been 40,350. In connection with the school there are a number of organisations of great utility, such as sick societies, building societies, savings' funds, libraries, excursions clubs, &c. In the savings' fund the balance in hand reached £14,000, while over £13,000 had been paid into the building societies. There are a dozen other "adult schools" in the town which have sprung from Severn Street.
Spring Hill College.—For the education and training of Independent ministers, was first opened in 1838, in the mansion of Mr. George Storer Mansfield, at Spring Hill, that gentleman giving certain landed property towards its future support. The present edifice, near Moseley, to which the old name was given, was opened in June, 1857, the cost of the building, &c., nearly £18,000, being raised by voluntary contributions. It has room for 36 students.
Sunday Schools.—Sunday classes for the teaching of the Catechism, &c., date from a very early period of Church history, hut Sunday Schools as they are now known seem to have been locally organised about a hundred years ago, the Sunday after Michaelmas Day in 1784 being marked as a red-letter-day on account of there being twenty-four schools then opened, though the course of instruction went no further than teaching the children to read. In 1789 some young men formed the "Sunday Society" as an addition thereto, the object being to teach writing and arithmetic to boys and youths of the artisan class. In 1796 the society was extended, other classes being formed, lectures delivered, &c., and it was then called the "Brotherly Society." Mr. James Luckcock and Mr. Thos. Carpenter were the leaders, and this is claimed to have been the origin of Mechanics' Institutes. The Unitarians date their Sunday Schools from: the Baptists and Methodists from 1795. Deritend Sunday School was opened by Mr. Palmer in 1808, with but six scholars; in a month they were so numerous that part had to be taught in the street. The first prizes given to the children were new Boulton pennies. On Emancipation Day (August 1, 1838) there was a procession of over 3,000 scholars from the Baptist Sunday Schools. In 1812 the Birmingham Sunday School Union was organised. The medallists of this town sent out about 800,000 commemoration medals in 1880, when the Sunday School Centenary was kept. Nearly 2,000 teachers attend the Church schools and about 2,500 attend Dissenting and other schools, the number of children on the books of Sunday Schools in Birmingham being estimated at—
| 14 years and over. | Under 14 years. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Church of England schools | 5,500 | 16,500 | 22,000 |
| Sunday School Union | 7,312 | 13,660 | 20,972 |
| Wesleyan and others | 2,745 | 6,627 | 9,372 |
| Roman Catholic | 1,200 | 1,950 | 3,150 |
| Unitarian | 692 | 1,359 | 1,961 |
| Other schools | 500 | 750 | 1,250 |
| 17,859 | 40,846 | 58,705 |
Wesleyan College.—The five memorial stones of a College for training Wesleyan ministers, at the corner of Priory and College Roads, Handsworth, were laid June 8, 1880. The site includes 17½ acres, and cost over £7,000, the total cost of the College when completed and furnished being estimated at £40,000. About fifty students are accommodated at present, but there is room for thirty more.
Scraps of Local History.—A foreign visitor here in the reign of James II., wrote that our tradesmen were in the habit of spending their evenings in public-houses, and were getting into lazy habits, so that their shops were often not opened before 7 a.m.
Another intelligent foreigner (temp Charles II.) has left it on record that not only was smoking common among women here, but that the lads took a pipe and tobacco with them to school, instead of breakfast, the schoolmaster teaching them at the proper hour how to hold their pipes and puff genteely.
Hutton believed that the scythe-blades attached to the wheels of Queen Boadicea's war chariots (A.D. 61), as well as the Britons' swords, were made in this neighbourhood.
When escaping from Boscobel, in the guise of Miss Lane's servant, Charles II. had to appeal to a blacksmith at Erdington to re-shoe his horse. The knight of the hammer was a republican, and his majesty chimed in with the man's views so readily, that the latter complimented his customer on "speaking like an honest man." Miss Lane afterwards married Sir Clement Fisher, of Packington, and her portrait may be still seen at the Hall.
During the battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington saw a little fellow in plain clothes riding about on a cob, and, beckoning him up, told him he was in danger. The little man, however, said he had come to see a fight, and meant to stop it out. Shortly after, the Duke wanting a messenger, employed the rider of the cob to take a message across the field, directing a certain regiment to charge the enemy. This was done, and the Duke took his messenger's card and saw no more of him at that time; but afterwards, finding that the little man was the traveller to a Birmingham button maker, he appointed him to a situation in the Mint, at £800 a year.
In 1766, it was necessary to have 25 constables ready to protect the farmers coming to market with their corn, the times were so hard with the poor. In the following year large quantities of rice were purchased by subscription and one gentleman, it is said, himself gave away half-a-ton per day for ten days.
In 1853, a premium of £30 was offered for the best design of an illuminated clock, to be erected on the open space in front of Christ Church.
A Queen Anne's farthing of rare type was turned up in the Bull Ring, in July, 1879.
The body of William Woodward was found (March 21, 1878) in the branches of a tree in Little Green Lane, he having climbed up there previous to death.
The living of free breakfasts on a Sunday morning to the poor children of the streets, was commenced July 4, 1875. at Park Street Ragged Schools.
A system of supplying school-children with penny dinners is the latest philanthropic movement.
The hottest day recorded in our local history was June 23, 1868.
The Orsini bombs used in Paris, January 15, 1858, were made in this town.
A hundred years back, meetings of the inhabitants were called by the tolling of one of St. Martin's bells.
The declaration of war, or cessation thereof, used to be proclaimed in the market by the High Bailiff.
The 7th Earl of Stirling officiated in this town as a Nonconformist minister, simply styling himself the Rev. John Alexander; he died Dec. 29, 1765, and was buried in the Old Meeting graveyards. His sister, who became Countess in her own right, was married to a local manufacturer, William Humphrys.
Sessions.-The first of the Borough Quarter Sessions was held July 5 1839 M. D. Hill, Esq., Recorder. On the 25th of November following the magistrates began to sit daily at Petty Sessions.
Secular Club and Institute.-The members having bought the remainder of lease (32 years) of No. 18, Crescent, for £340, have fitted it up for the purposes of their club and on June 1 1877 the foundation-stone was laid of a lecture hall at the rear, 70ft. long by 19ft. wide. St. Georges Hall, Upper Dean Street, was their former meeting place.
Sewerage and Sanitary Works.-The disposal of the sewage of a large town away from the sea or tidal rivers has at all times been a source of difficulty, and Birmingham forms no exception to the rule. When it was in reality but the little "hardware village" it has so often been called, the Rea was sufficient to carry off the surface waters taken to its channel by the many little rills and brooks of the neighbourhood, but as the town increased, and house drainage defiled that limped stream, it became necessary to construct culverts, so as to take the most offensive portion of the sewage to a distance from inhabited houses. A great improvement was looked for after the introduction of the Waterworks, allowing the use of water- flushed closets in the better class of houses, instead of the old style of accommodation usually provided at the end of the garden, but even this system became a nuisance, especially to residents near the river Tame, the receptacle of all liquid filth from our streets, closets, middens, and manufactories, and legal as well as sanitary reasons forced upon the Corporation the adoption of other plans. Our present sanitary system comprises the exclusion, as far as possible, of closet refuse and animal and vegetable matters from the sewers, and secondly, the purification by filtration, &c., of the outpourings of the sewers, after the partial separation therefrom of the more solid constituents. In 1871, when the real sanitary work of the borough may be said to have practically commenced, out of about 73,200 houses only 3,884 were provided with water-closets, the remainder being served by middens, drained and undrained, the greater part uncovered and polluting the atmosphere, while the soakage found the earth and contaminated the wells. From these places in 1873 there were removed 160,142 loads of ashes, &c., the number of men employed being 146, and the cost, allowing for sales, over £20,000, or £55 10s, per 1,000 of the Population. In the following year the Council approved of " the Rochdale system," closet-pans and ash-tubs taking the place of the old style with middens, the contents being removed weekly instead of being left to accumulate for months. At first the new system was far from perfect, and met with much opposition, notwithstanding the certainty of its being a more healthy plan than the old one; but improvements have been made, and it is now generally confessed that the l)ans and tubs are the right things in the right places. The number of pans in use in 1874 was 3,845; in 1875, 7,674; in 1876, 15,992; in 1877, 22,668; in 1883, 37,287, equal to a collection of 1,900,000 pans per year. The sanitary force now numbers 622 men, who, in addition to the above, removed in 1883, from tubs, middens, &c., 128,966 loads of ashes. The chief depot for this accumulation of refuse and rubbish is at the Corporation's wharf, in Montague Street, where over £52,000 has been laid out in buildings and machinery for its due disposal. At first, nearly two thirds of the mass had to be taken by canal into the country, where it was "tipped," the expense being so heavy that it entailed a loss of about 6s. 6d, per ton on the whole after allowing for that part which could be sold as manure. Now, however, the case is different. Extensive machinery has been introduced, and the contents of the pans are dried to a powder, which finds a good market; the ashes, &;c., are used in the furnaces for the drying process, and the residue therefrom, or clinkers, forms a valuable substance for roadmaking or building purposes, &c., in the shape of concrete, paving flags, mantelpieces, tabletops, and even sepulchral monuments being constructed with it, so that in a short time the receipts will, it is expected, more than balance the expenditure in this department of Local sanitary work. The pollution of the river Tame in past years led to continuous litigation until the year 1877, when, as the result of an exhaustive inquiry, it was determined to form a United Drainage District Board, with powers to construct and maintain intercepting sewers sufficient for carrying the drainage of the whole district, comprising Aston, Aston Manor, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, Handsworth, Harborne, King's Norton, Northfield, Perry Barr, Saltley, and Smethwick. The first meeting of this Board was held December 6, 1877, when it took over the sewage farm at Saltley belonging to the Corporation (about 262 acres), the plant and stock, &c. Up to the present time (end of 1884), nearly half a million sterling has been spent by the Board, whose "farm" of 1,500 acres, extends from Saltley to Tyburn, two and a half miles, and who have now to deal with the sewage brought there from 188 miles of main sewers, extending as far as King's Norton and Selly Oak, Harborne, Smethwick, &c. The" whole of the black and turgid stream of liquid filth brought down by the sewers is utilised upon the farm, some 200 cubic yards of mud being lifted daily from the settling tanks, to be dug in, while the overflow is taken by carriers to the most distant parts, and allowed to filtrate through the soil, until the resulting effluent is as clear as crystal, while immense crops are gathered yearly from the land so treated. An analysis made a little time back of a natural deposit from the town sewerage, formed near the embouchure of several sewers emptying into one of the great arterial mains, showed the absence of all ammoniacal salts and a scarcity of phosphates, particularly alkaline phosphates, and at the same time the presence of a large quantity of protoxide of iron, also of zinc, copper, and other metals in the state of oxides and sulphurets. These metallic salts absorb the sulphuretted hydrogen and ammonia generated by decaying vegetable and animal matter, and doubtless so contributes to promote the health of the town, but nevertheless every precaution should be taken against the possible admission to the house of "sewer gas," which at all times is injurious to health. The analysed deposit contained when dried only 1.4 per cent, of nitrogen (not as ammonia) and 3.5 of earthy phosphates; but about 11.7 of protoxide of iron, besides zinc, copper, and other metals to the extent of 2 or 3 per cent. The latter-named proportions may in some measure account for "what becomes of the pins?" as in the deposit named (which was nearly solid) those useful little articles were exceedingly conspicuous.
Shambles.—The name given to the meat market in Jamaica Row. In the map of 1731, "The Shambles" are marked as a long block of buildings, a little higher than opposite the end of Bell Street, and in 1765 they still remained there, forming a kind of "middle row," among the incongruous collection of tenements, stallages, &c., that encumbered our Bull Ring, down to the gates of the church itself. Ship Inn.— The old Ship Inn, at Camp Hill, where Prince Rupert had his headquarters in 1643, was pulled down in 1867; the present Ship Hotel being opened February 6, 1868. It was sold in July, 1882, for £12.050.
Shirley.—Situated in the parish of Solihull, though but a village with some half hundred cottages, has of late become a favorite spot for those fond of a Sunday drive.
Shoeblacks.—An attempt was made in 1875 to form a shoeblack brigade, but only ten gentlemen attended the meeting (called June 21), and the business was left to the irregulars.
Smallbrook Street.—A small stream formerly ran its course along part of this site, proceeding by way of Smithfield Passage to the moat, and thence through the mill-pool, back of Bradford Street, to the Rea. The ancient family of the Smallbrokes held considerable lauds in the neighbourhood, but whether the street's name came from the small brook or the Smallbrokes is a matter of doubt.
Smallpox.—From the opening of the Smallpox Hospital in May, 1882, to July 10, 1884, the duration of the late epidemic, there were 1,591 cases admitted. Among the 1,384 patients who had been vaccinated there occurred 59 deaths; among the 207 unvaccinated, 90 deaths. No re-vaccinated person died.
Snow Hill.—There is a difference of 60ft. between the top level next Bull Street and the Bottom of Snow Hill.
Soho.—Prior to 1756 the country on the Handsworth side of Birmingham was little better than barren heath, the home of conies and a few beggarly squatters, until Mr. Edward Ruston leased from the Lord of the Manor the whole of the piece of common that lay between Nineveh and Hockley on the left of the West Bromwich Road. He deepened the channel of Hockley brook, and built a small mill by its side, which being purchased from him in 1764 by Matthew Boulton (who soon acquired the freehold also) formed the site of the once world-renowned Soho Works. In 1774, according to "Swinney's Birmingham Directory," these works consisted of four squares of buildings, with workshops, &c., for more than a thousand workmen. Many more than that number, however, were afterwards employed on the grounds, and for long years Soho House, as Boulton's residence was called, was the resort of lords and ladies, princes and philosophers, savants and students, to a far greater extent than many of the European courts. Of this home of the steam engine, and the birthplace of inventions too numerous to count, there is now no vestige left, the foundry being removed to Smethwick in 1848, the celebrated mint, with the warehouses and shopping, being cleared out early in 1850, and the walls razed to the ground in 1853.
Soho Hill.—The top is 177ft. higher than at Hockley Bridge, the foot of the hill.
Soho Pool was formed by the make of an embankment (1756-60) impounding the waters of Hockley brook, and for some years after the demolition of the Soho Works it was a favourite place for boating, &c. The pool was drained in 1866, and, having been filled up, its site will ere long be covered with streets of houses.
Solihull.—This very pleasant village, but a few miles distant, could boast of a Free School for its children at a very early date, for we read of the buildings being repaired in 1573. In 1882 the School was rebuilt, at a cost of about £5,700, and its endowments, some of which were given in the reign of Richard II., are yearly becoming of greater value as building progresses. The present population is nearly 6,000, the rateable value of property being £45,202, from an area of 12,000 acres. The parishes in the Union comprise Baddesley, Balsall, Barston, Bushwood, Elmdon, Knowle, Lapworth, Nuthurst, Packwood, Solihull, Tanworth, and Yardley, including an area of 46,302 acres, a population of 21,000, with a rateable value amounting to £157,000.
Spanish Armada.—The nobility and gently of this and adjoining counties, at the time of the threatened invasion by the Spaniards, contributed sums of money sufficient to hire and equip no less than 43 ships of war. Among the names we note the following local subscribers of £25 each:—William Kinge and William Collmer (Colmore), of Burmingham; Richard Middlemore, Edgbaston; Mrs. Margarett Knowlys, Nuneton; Gabriell Powltney, Knowle; Richard Corbett, Meryden, &c.
Speaking- Stile Walk.—In a footpath leading from Holloway Head to Edgbaston Church, there was a stile at a spot from which an exceedingly clear echo could be raised, and the footpath being partly thrown into a lane the latter became "Speaking Stile Lane." The short street or road at present existing preserves the name, but that is all, the echo, the stile, and the footpath having vanished long, long ago.
Spelling-Bee.—The first "Spelling Bee" held in Birmingham took place January 17th, 1876. Like many other Yankee notions, it did not thrive here, and the humming of those bees soon ceased.
Springs.—In Hutton's time there was, "a short distance from Birmingham, in the manor of Duddeston, and joining the turnpike road to Coleshill;" a chalybeate spring of which he speaks very highly, though even then it was neglected and thought but little of. In 1849 Mr. Robert Rawlinson making inquiries, was told by the Town Clerk that "the chalybeate spring in Duddeston was turned into a culvert by the railway people when the Birmingham and Liverpool Railway was constructed," to the great regret of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood who spoke strongly of the virtues of the water in diseases of the eye. It was suggested in 1862 that an attempt should be made to reopen the spring for public use, but as it was nobody's business nobody did it. There was (sixty years ago) a spring a little below Saturday Bridge opposite Charlotte Street, which always gave forth a constant stream of beautifully clear soft water. Another in Coventry Road, where 25 years or so ago an old man stooping to quench his thirst fell head foremost, and not being able to recover his equilibrium, was drowned, leading to the spring being covered up. Several mineralised springs existed in Gooch Street, and thereabouts, and there was one that sprung out close to where Kent Street Baths are now. The spring which gives name to Spring Street and Spring Vale, and which has been turned so that its waters run into the sewers, is estimated to discharge 20,000 gallons of pure limpid water per hour. The little stream arising from this spring constituted part of the boundary line between the Birmingham and Edgbaston parishes and at far less cost than it has taken to waste its water it could hive been utilised for the above-named Baths, less than a thousand yards off, and with a natural fall of 6ft. or 8ft. Spring Hill takes its name from a spring now non-existent, but which was once a favourite with the cottagers who lived near to it.
Sporting Notes.—It is not for a moment to be admitted that the men of Birmingham in past years were one whit more brutal in their "sports" than others of their countrymen, but it must be confessed they somehow managed to acquire a shocking bad name to that effect. This of course must be laid to the credit of the local supporters of "the noble art of self-defence," the Brummagem bruisers. Bullbaiting and cockfighting were no more peculiar to this neighbourhood than parson-pelting or woman ducking at Coventry, where the pillory and ducking-stool were in use long after they had been put aside in Birmingham.
Archery at one period of history was so little of a sporting nature that laws were pissed for the erection of shooting-butts, the provision of bows and arrows, and the enforcement of constant practice by all young men and apprentices. The monk's mixture of brimstone, charcoal, and saltpetre, however, in course of time left the old English clothyard shaft with its grey goose feather and the accompanying six-foot bow of yew to be playthings only, or but fit to use in shooting squirrels or other small deer. The " Woodmen of Arden" is the oldest society (in this county) of toxopholites as the modern drawers of the long bow are called, which society was "revived" in 1785, the Earl of Aylesford giving a silver bugle horn and his lady a silver arrow as first and second prizes. The members of a local society may in summer months be sometimes seen pacing their measured rounds on an allotted portion of the Edgbaston Botanical Gardens
Athletics.—The Birmingham Athletic Club opened the Gymnasium in King Alfred's Place, in Aug 1866, and hold their annual display and assault-at-arms in the Town Hall in the month of March. Certain hours are allotted to the ladies' classes, and special terms are made for young men and schoolboys.
Bowling Greens and Quoit Grounds were once favourite places of amusement, many even of the town taverns having them attached. There was one at the Salutation, bottom of Snow Hill, in 1778, and at an earlier date at the Hen and Chickens, in High Street. In 1825 a bowling green was laid out at the corner of Highfield Road and Harborne Road, for "a very select party" of Edgbastonians. There was also one at the Plough and Harrow, and several may still be found in the neighbourhood.
Chess, aristocratic game as it is, is far from being unknown here, a Chess Club having been established half-a-century back, which has nearly a hundred members. Its present head-quarters are at the Restaurant, 1, Lower Temple Street.
Cock-fighting.—Early numbers of Aris's Gazette frequently contained notices of "mains" fought at Duddeston Hall.
Cricket.—There was a Cricket Club in existence here in 1745, and it has been chronicled that a match was being played on the same day on which the battle of Culloden was fought. Of modern clubs, whose name is Legion, the oldest is the Birmingham C.C, started in 1819, the members including the young elite of the town, who had their field opposite the Monument at Ladywood. The Birchfield C.C. was organised in 1840. Among the noteworthy matches of late years are those of the All England Eleven against a local twenty-two, at the Lower Grounds, June 5, 1871, the visitors winning; the Australian Eleven v. Pickwick and District Twenty-two, at Bournbrook, June 24 to 26, 1878, the game not being finished, the first innings showing 105 runs for the Eleven, against 123; the Australians v. Eleven of England, at Lower Grounds, May 26, 1884, when the Colonials put together 76 against 82 in the first innings, the second innings of 33 against England's 26 being won with five players left to bat.
Croquet was introduced in 1867; the first code of laws being published in October, 1869.
Cycling, though quite the rage at the present time, is by no means a modern amusement, as running a race with "dandy horses" was considered good sport in the days of the fourth Royal George. These vehicles consisted of two wheels united tandem fashion, the bar being fitted with saddle-shaped seat as in the first bicycles, but the motive power was applied through the contact of the riders' feet with the ground.—The "track" at the Lower Grounds measures 501 yards.
Football is again as old as the hills and there are hundreds of clubs in the town and district, the best meadow for the purpose (at the Lower Grounds) being about 12.t yards long by 75 yards broad. The Aston Villa is the chief club.
Hare and Hounds.—Every suburb and district has its club of Harriers or Hire and Hounds, an annual cross-country amateur championship contest being started in 1879. At the last (Feb. 9,1884) the Birchfield Harriers scored their fourth victory against the Moseley Harriers twice.
Hunting.—Time was when the sight of scarlet coats and hounds was no novelty in Birmingham, but those who would now join in the old English sport of hunting must go farther afield, the nearest kennels being at Atherstone. The announcements of the meets in this and adjoining counties appear regularly in the Midland Counties' Herald.
Jumping.—At the Lower Grounds in July, 1881, Mr. P. Davine, of Belfast, jumped 6ft. 3in. the highest previous record having been 6ft. 2½in., the performance of Mr. M. J. Brookes, (Oxford U.A.C.) at Lillie Bridge, March, 1874.
Lacrosse, a popular Canadian game, was introduced here June 23, 1883, by a team of Canadian Amateurs and Iroquois Indians, who exhibited their prowess at the Lower Grounds.
Lawn Tennis, at first known as Lawn Racquet, was the invention of the late Major Gem, who played the first game in 1865 with his friend Mr. Perera, of Great Charles Street.
Pedestrianism.—Among the earliest noted achievements of local, peds. is that of George Guest, who having wagered to walk 1,000 miles in 28 days finished his task Feb. 1, 1758, with five hours to spare, doing six miles in the last hour he footed it.—Mr. E. P. Weston, the walker par excellence, was at Bingley Hall in April, 1876, and at the Lower Grounds in Jan., 1884, when on his walk of 5,000 miles in 100 days.—A six days "go-as-you-please" match came off at Bingley Hall in Sept., 1882, and a ridiculous exhibition of a similar nature occurred in the following year, when women were induced to walk for the sport of gaping idiots.
Pigeon-flying has been for several generations the favourite amusement of numbers of our workers, and the flyers have a club of their own, which dates from August, 1875.
Pigeon-shooting is a cruel sport, not much favoured in this locality, and now that a cheap clay pigeon has been invented for use in this game, instead of the live birds, it is to be hoped that the disgraceful practice will be confined to the Hurlingham boys.
Prize-fighting was long the popular sport of high and low life blackguards, and Birmingham added many a redoubtable name to the long list of famous prize-fighters, whose deeds are recorded in "Fistiana" and other chronicles of the ring. Among the most conspicuous of these men of might, were Harry Preston, Davy Davis, Phil Sampson, Topper Brown, Johnny and Harry Broome, Ben Caunt, Sam Simmonds, Bob Brettle, Tass Parker, Joe Nolan, Peter Morris, Hammer Lane, and his brothers, with a host of other upholders of fisticuffs, the record of whose battles will not be handed down to posterity in the pages of Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham, though, as a matter of history, it may be noted that the earliest account we have of a local prize-fight is of that which took place in Oct. 1782, for 100 guineas a side, between Jemmy Sargent, a professional, and Isaac Perrins, one of the Soho workmen. Jemmy knuckled under after being knocked down thirteen times, in as many rounds, by the knock-kneed hammerman from Soho, whose mates, it is said, won £1,500 in bets through his prowess. Attempts have lately been made to revive the old sport, but the sooner the would-be adepts learn that their occupation is gone the better it will be for them, and all men.
Racing and Steeplechasing was not unknown to the Brums of the 18th century, as the Gentleman's Magazine makes note of the races at Birmingham, May 27 to 29, 1740, but where the old racecourse was situated it is impossible to tell. Indeed it is doubtful whether any special course has ever long been in existence, as at various dates we read of races being held at Aston, Bordesley, Deritend, Walmer Lane, and other places. The Four Oaks Park, adjoining Sutton Park, formerly the property of a private gentleman, was bought by a company in June, 1879, for the purpose of laying out a racecourse in this neighbourhood, of a similar nature to that of Ascot, and other great racing centres. In addition to the Hall, the buildings comprise a grand stand (the memorial stone of which was laid June 2, 1880), and a club stand, each 70ft. by 66ft., with two galleries of seats refreshment, private, and other rooms. Also a second stand for the general public, 62ft. by 31ft., and a press and jockey stand, 53ft. by 31ft. The "paddock" occupies nearly three acres, while an area of 115ft. by 72ft. is devoted to "the Ring." The cost of these various buildings and their necessary adjuncts is estimated at about £12,000, the structures themselves, which are built of red brick with stone facings, accommodating 3,000 persons. The course is about a mile and a half in circumference, and the "straight" about live furlongs in length. The Park includes an area of 130 acres, and the first race was run March 1, 1881.—No steeplechases have been run on the old Wolverhampton course since 1855, and no flat races since Aug. 1877.
Running Records.—Mr. W. G. George, of the Moseley Harriers, won a two mile handicap at Stamford Bridge, April 24, 1884, in 9 min. 17 2-5 sees. On May 17, same year, he ran four miles, in 19 min. 39 4.5 sees. On July 28 following, he covered, in the hour, 11 miles, 932 yds., 9 in., being 37 yds. 2 ft. 3 in. less than the hitherto unsurpassed hour record of the celebrated Deerfoot in 1862. Another of George's feats took place May 1, 1882, when he ran ten miles in 52 min. 56½ secs.
Skating Ponds were opened at the Lower Grounds May 1, 1875; at Bingley Hall, Oct. 2, 1875; at Moseley, Dec. 6, 1876; and at Handsworth, Oct. 8, 1877; and, for a time, the amusement was exceedingly popular, more than one fortune accruing from the manufacture of patent and other roller skates. One of the most noteworthy feats on the slippery rinks was the skating of 200 miles in 24 hours by a Mr. F. Betteridge at Bingley Hall, Aug. 20, 1878.
Swimming.—The Birmingham Leander Club commenced their aquatic brotherhood in June, 1877, and the members do themselves honour by gratuitously attending the public baths in the summer months to teach the art of swimming to School Board youngsters. [See "Baths,"] The celebrated swimmer, Captain Webb, who was drowned at Niagara, July 24, 1883, visited this town several times, and the Athletic Club presented him with a gold medal and purse December 4, 1875.
Statues, Busts, and Memorials.—For many years it was sneeringly said that Birmingham could afford but one statue, that of Nelson, in the Bull Ring, but, as the following list will show, the reproach can no longer be flung at us. Rather, perhaps, it may soon be said we are likely to be over-burdened with these public ornaments, though to strangers who know not the peculiarities of our fellow-townsmen it may appear curious that certain local worthies of the past have not been honoured in marble or bronze.
Attwood.—The figure of Thomas Attwood, in Stephenson Place, New Street, is the work of Mr. John Thomas, who did much of the carving at the Grammar School. The cost was about £900, and the statue was unveiled June 6, 1859.
Blue Coat Children,—The stone figures of a Blue Coat boy and girl over the entrance to the School in St. Phillip's Churchyard, were sculptured by Mr. Edward Grubb, in 1770, and Hutton thought they were executed "with a degree of excellence that a Roman statuary would not blush to own." In 1881 the appearance of the figures was improved by their being painted in correct colours.
Bright.—At the time of the Bright Celebration in 1883, the Birmingham Liberal Association commissioned Mr. A. Bruce Joy to execute for them a marble statue of Mr. Bright, which the Association intend placing in the new Art Gallery. The statue itself is expected to be finished in 1885, but Mr. Bright has expressed bis satisfaction with the model, which represents him standing erect in an attitude of dignified tranquility, easy and natural with his left hand in the breast of his coat, while the other hangs down by his side, emblematic of the Christian charity so characteristic of cur distinguished representative.
Boulton.—There is a fine bust of Matthew Bolton in Handsworth, and as the owner of the great Soho Works certainly did much to advance the manufactures of this town, foreigners have often expressed surprise that no statue has been erected to his memory.
Buddha.—The bronze statue of Buddha, now in Aston Hall, is supposed to be 2,500 years old, and was found buried among the ruins of a temple at Soottan, on the Ganges, Dec 6, 1862. It was presented to this town in 1864 by Mr. Samuel Thornton.
Chamberlain, J.—The memorial at the rear of the Town Hall bears the following inscription:—
"This memorial is erected in gratitude for public service given to this town by Joseph Chamberlain, who was elected town councillor in November, 1869, Mayor in 1873, and resigned that office in June, 1876, on being returned as one of the representatives of the borough of Birmingham in Parliament, and during whose mayoralty many great works were notably advanced, and mainly by whose ability and devotion the gas and water undertakings were acquired for the town, to the great and lasting benefit of the inhabitants.
The memorial was designed by Mr. J. H. Chamberlain, of the firm of Martin and Chamberlain, and was presented to the town October 26, 1880, during the mayoralty of Mr. Richard Chamberlain. The medallion of the right hon. gentleman is the work of Mr. Thomas Woolner, E.A.
Chamberlain, J. H.—The sum of £2,744 13s. 6d. raised by subscription for the founding of a memorial of the late Mr. John Henry Chamberlain, was given to the Midland Institute, with which the lamented gentleman was so intimately connected.
Dawson.—A public meeting was held Jan. 3, 1877, to decide on a memorial of George Dawson, and the sum of £2,287 13s. 9d. was subscribed for a statue to be erected at the rear of the Town Hall, but it was esteemed so poor a portrait that after a little while it was removed, in favour of the present statue. A very pleasing bust, which is a very striking likeness and really characteristic portrait was unveiled at the Church of the Saviour, Aug. 8, 1882. It bears the following inscription:—
In Loving Memory of
George Dawson, M.A.
Coming to this town in the year 1844, he gathered round him a band of followers, who found in his teaching a fervent religious spirit, and a fearless trust in God as our Heavenly Father, in union with an earnest search after truth. To perpetuate such union they built this Church, which he opened August 8, 1847, and in which he ministered until his death. Not in this Church only, but throughout the land did lie everywhere teach to nations: that they are exalted by righteousness alone—to men: "To do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God."
He was born February 24, 1821, and died November 30, 1876.
"I have fought the good fight."
Mr. T. J. Williamson, who executed this bust was entrusted with the order for the new statue.
George IV.—The first bronze statue ever cast in Birmingham was that of George IV., the work of Sir Edward Thomason, in 1823. Sir Edward employed the best of talent and spared no pains to turn out a splendid work of art, but he never found a customer for it. The statue is 6ft. high, weighing 2½ tons, and costing over £1.500, but was sold in November, 1880, to a gentleman in the neighbourhood for £150, little more than the value of that metal.
Goldsmith.—The statue of Goldsmith, in the hall of the Reference Library, is a plaster cast of the bronze statue manufactured by Messrs. Elkington for the City of Dublin.
Hill.—The sum of £1,500 was raised by public subscription, for the purpose of erecting a statue of Sir Rowland Hill. The work was executed in marble by Mr. P. Hollins, and pending the erection of the new Post Office buildings, the charge of the statue was accepted by the Exchange Buildings Committee, September 12, 1870 and remained in the Birmingham Exchange until the year 1874, when it was removed to the position in which it at present stands, in the corner of the principal room of the Post Office, Paradise Street.
Hill, M.D.—A very fine bust of Matthew Davenport Hill, the first Recorder for the borough, is placed in the Art Gallery at the Reference Library.
James.—A bust of the Rev. Angell James may be seen at Aston Hall.
King Edward VI.—When the old Grammar School was taken down the statue cf the King, which had stood in is niche in the front of the old building for generations, was broken to pieces on account of so many gentlemen (including governors) wanting it; as all could not have it, it was destroyed!
Mason.—The erection of a statue in his honour as proposed in 1870 not meeting with the approval of Sir Josiah Mason (then Mr.), the Town Council paid Mr. E. G. Papworth, the chosen sculptor, a solatium or honorarium of 150 guineas. The worthy knight; not being now alive to veto the project, a figure of him has been placed opposite the College in Edmund Street.
Murdock.—There is a bust of William Murdoch, the introducer of coal-gas as an illuminant, in Handsworth Church. Another would not be out of place in the new Gas Office.
Nelson.—The bronze statue of Lord Nelson in the Bull Ring was executed by Westmacott, and uncovered June 6, 1809. The artist received £2,500, but the total cost (raised by subscription) with the pedestal, lamps, and palisading, was nearly £3,000. The corner posts are old cannon from the Admiral's ship the Victory.
Peel.— The statue of Sir Robert Peel, near the Town Hall, cost £2,000, and was unveiled August 27, 1855. He faced towards Christ Church at first, and was protected from Tories and Protectionists by iron railings, until March, 1873, when his bonds were loosed, and he was allowed to look down New Street.
Priestley.—The statue of the discoverer of oxygen, near the Town Hall, was uncovered August 1, 1884. The amount subscribed as a Priestley memorial fund was £1,820, of which £972 went for the philosopher's stone effigy, about £10 for a tablet on the site of his house at Fair Hill, and £653 to the Midland Institute to found a scholarship in chemistry.
Prince Albert and the Queen.—In 1862, after the death of the Prince Consort, a Memorial Committee was formed and a fund raised for a statue, the execution of which was entrusted to Mr. Foley, and it is said to be one of his finest productions. It was placed in the old Art Gallery, and uncovered August 27, 1838. It was in the reading-room at the time of the fire, but fortunately escaped injury. The balance of the fund was deemed sufficient for a companion statue of Her Majesty, and Mr. Foley received the commission for it in 1871. At his death the order was given to Mr. Woolner, who handed over his work to the town in May, 1884, the ceremony of unveiling taking place on the 9th of that month. According to the Athenaum it is "one of the finest portrait statues of the English School, combining a severe yet elegant design with execution of the highest kind, every element being thoroughly artistic." Thousands have seen it alongside the Prince's statue in the hall of the Reference Library, but few indeed have been heard to say they like it. Both statues are ultimately intended to be placed in the Council House.
Rogers.—A memorial bust of John Rogers, a native of Deritend, and one of the first martyrs of the Reformation, was unveiled in St. John's, October 29, 1883.
Scholefield.—A bust of William Scholefield, M.P., for the borough, is at Aston Hall.
Sturge.—The statue and most appropriate memorial of Edmund Sturge, at the Five Ways, which cost about £1,000, was undraped June 4, 1862. Messrs. Bright and Scholefield, M.P.'s, being present.
With a true sorrow that rebuked all feigning,
By lone Edgbaston's side
Stood a great city in the sky's sad reigning
Bareheaded and wet-eyed.
Silent for once the restless love of labour,
Save the low funeral tread,
Or voice of craftsman whispering to his neighbour
The good deeds of the dead.
Timmins.—An almost life-speaking marble bust of Mr. Sam. Timmins was placed in the Reference Library, April 26, 1876. It was destroyed in the fire, but has been replaced, and few could tell the present bust is not the original one.
Tyndale.—The Londoners have honoured themselves by erecting on the Thames Embankment a statue to the memory of the Reformer Tyndale, whom we have partly to thank for the English version of the Bible. To help pay for their ornament it was decided that the names of all towns subscribing £100 or more should be inscribed on the pedestal, and the Bible-lovers of Birmingham scraped together £86 15s. 3d. for the purpose, leaving the Mayor (Mr. Wm. White) to dip into his own pocket for the remaining £13 4s. 9d.
Unett.—The granite obelisk in St. Philip's churchyard, opposite Temple Street, was erected to the memory of Lieut-Colonel Unett, who fell at the storming of Sebastopol. It was uncovered June 19, 1857.
Watt.—One of the finest productions of Francis Chantrey, the sculptor, is generally acknowledged to be the monument in Handsworth Church to James Watt, which was placed therein September, 1827. The figure is said to bear a very remarkable resemblance to Mr. Watt, who is represented seated in a Grecian chair, with compasses and open book, as though tracing on the open page. On the front of the pedestal is inscribed:—
James Watt,
Born
19 January,
1736,
Died
25 August,
1819,
Patri Optime Merito.
E. M. P.
The statue in Ratcliffe Place was subscribed for in 1867, and the figure is very like the portrait of Watt. It was unveiled Oct. 2, 1868.
Whateley.—A marble bust (by Peter Hollins) of J. W. Whateley, Esq., M.D., was placed in the Board Room of the General Hospital, June 1, 1877.
Wriqht.—Mr. John Bright, June 15, 1883, uncovered the statue erected in memory of Mr. J. S. Wright, in front of the Council House. The inscription upon it is as follows:—
"John Skirrow Wright, born February 2, 1822, died April 13, I880. In memory of the simplicity, kindliness, and integrity of his life and of his unselfish, untiring, and patriotic devotion as a public man, this monument is erected by the united gifts of all classes in the town he loved and for which he laboured."
Steam Engines.—The first steam engine (then called a fire engine) used for the purpose of pumping water from coal mines was put up in 1712 by Newcomen and Calley, at a colliery near Wolverhampton, owned by Mr. Back, the ironwork, &c., being made in Birmingham, and taken hence to the pit-head. The first of Watt's engines made at Soho, was to "blow the bellows" at John Wilkinson's ironworks at Broseley, in 1776. Watt's first pumping engine was started at Bloomfield Colliery, March 8, 1776. Having overcome the rotary motion difficulties, Watt applied steam to tilt hammers and rolling mills in 1781, and to corn-grinding mills in 1782; taking out patents in 1784 for the "governor," "parallel motion," &c., including also specifications for a travelling engine, though it was William Murdoch who first made a practical working model of a locomotive. The first engine worked by steam in this town that we have record of was put up at some works in Water Street, in 1760.
Steamships.—If we do not build steamships in Birmingham, it was James Watt who proposed the use of screw propellers (in 1770) ; Wm. Murdoch, who invented the oscillating cylinder (in 1785); Watt and Bolton, who furnished engines (in 1807) for the first regular steam packet in America; and James Watt, jun., who made the first steam voyage on the sea (October 14, 1817), crossing the Channel in the Caledonia, and taking that vessel up the Rhine.
Stirchley Street, about a mile and a quarter north-east of King's Norton, has a Post Office, a Police Station, a Board School, and a Railway Station. Nothwithstanding these signs of modern civilisation, and the near proximity of Cadbury's Cocoa Manufactory, Stirchley Street is, as it has been for many a generation, a favourite country outing place for weary Brums having a chance hour to spend on change of scene.
Stocks.—Putting people in the stocks appears to have been a very ancient mode of punishment, for the Bible tells us that Jeremiah, the prophet, was put in the stocks by Pashur, and the gaoler who had charge of Paul and Silas at Philippi made fast their feet in a similar way. Whether Shakespeare feared the stocks when he refused to go back to "drunken Bidford," after sleeping off the effects of one carouse with the "Sipper's Club" there, is not chronicled, but that the stocks were not unknown to him is evident by their being introduced on the stage in "King Lear." The Worcester Journal of Jan. 19, I860, informs us that "this old mode of punishment was revived at Stratford-on-Avon, for drunkenness, and a passer-by asking a fellow who was doing penance how he liked it, the reply was—'I beant the first mon as ever were in the stocks, so I don't care a fardin about it." Stocks used to be kept at the Welsh Cross, as well as a pillory; and when the Corporation closed the old prison in High Street, Bordesley, they took over the stocks which formerly stood alongside the whipping-post, on the bank in front of the present G.W.R. Station. The last date of this punishment being inflicted in this town is 1844, when the stocks were in the yard of the Public Office in Moor Street.
Storms and Tempests.—A great storm arose on Wednesday, November 24, 1703, which lasted three days, increasing in force. The damage, all over the kingdom, was immense; and at no period of English history has it been equalled. l0,000 sheep were drowned in one part of Gloucestershire. We have no record of the immediately local loss.—In a storm on March 9, 1778, the windmill at Holloway Head was struck by lightning, the miller was hurt, and the sails shattered.—January 1, 1779, there was a violent gale, which, while it wrecked over 300 vessels on our coasts did great damage as far inland as Birmingham—Snowstorms were so heavy on January 23 and 24, 1814, that all communication between here and London was stopped for five days.—There was a strong gale September 26, 1853, during which some damage was done to St. Mary's Church, to the alarm of the congregation therein assembled.—A very heavy storm occurred June 15, 1858, the day after the Queen's visit, lasting for nearly three hours, during which time three inches of rain fell, one half in twenty minutes.—Some property in Lombard Street was destroyed by lightning, June 23, 1861; and parts of Aston, Digbeth, and the Parade were flooded same time.—There was a terrific thunderstorm, August 26, 1867; the rainfall being estimated at seventy-two tons per acre.—During a heavy thunderstorm, June 17, 1875, the lightning set fire to a workshop in Great Charles Street: killed a women in Deritend, and fourteen sheep and lambs at Snail Heath.—In a heavy gale, January 30, 1877, a chimney stack was blown down in Jennen's Row, killing two men; and a wall was levelled in Harborne Road, on February 20, another poor fellow losing his life.—During the night of August 2 and 3, 1879 (when many parts of the outskirts were flooded in comparatively the shortest lime in memory), the residence of W. E. Chance, Esq., Augustus Road, was struck by lightning, and considerable damage done; but no personal injuries were reported.—During the storm of October 14, 1881, much local damage was done, while round Coventry and Tamworth districts many hundreds of trees were broken or uprooted. In Windsor Park, 960 trees were blown down and more than a thousand damaged; 146 shipwrecks occurred on the coasts.—During a gala December 11, 1883, a large stained glass window of St. Philip's Church was shattered; part of a house in Charles Henry Street was blown down, two persons being killed; a child was killed at Erdington, by chimney falling through roof, several persons had limbs fractured, and there was generally a great injury to property.—On Sunday, June 15, 1884, St. Augustine's Church, Hagley Road, and the Congregational Chapel, Francis Road, were struck by lightning during a tempest, and the Chapel was somewhat injured.
Streets.—It is not every street that is a street in Birmingham, for, according to the Post Office Street List, besides a dozen or so to which distinctive names have been given, like Cheapside, Deritend, Digbeth, Highgate, Islington, &;c., and 726 streets called Streets, there are in the borough 178 Roads, 86 Lanes, 69 Rows, 19 Squares, 11 Crescents, 2 Quadrants, 5 Arcades, 1 Colonnade, 5 Parades, 484 Terraces, 1,572 Places, 26 Passages, 20 Yards, 47 Courts (named, and twenty times that number numbered), 16 Mounts (twelve of them Pleasant), 24 Hills, 5 Vales, 2 Valleys, 23 Groves, 4 Retreats, 11 Villas, 14 Cottages, 2 Five Dwelling, 179 Buildings, 14 Chambers, 12 Walks, 4 Drives, 3 Avenues, 5 Gullets, 1 Alley (and that is Needless), 1 Five-Ways, 1 Six-Ways, 6 Greens, 2 Banks, 2 Villages, 3 Heaths, 3 Ends, and 1 No Thoroughfare.
Sultan Divan.—Formerly a questionable place of amusement in Needless Alley, but which was bought for £7,500, and opened by the Young Men's Christian Association, January 7, 1875.
Sunday in Birmingham.—Sunday dogfights have been heard of in this town, but it was sixty years ago, when brutal sports of ail kinds were more rife than now. Prior to that, however, many attempts were made to keep the Sabbath holy, for we read that in 1797 the heavy wagons then in use for transport of goods were not allowed to pass through the town, the authorities fining all offenders who were so wicked as to use their vehicles on the Lord's Day. The churchwardens were then supported by the inhabitants, who held several public meetings to enforce the proper observance of the day, but there have been many changes since. In January, 1856, a Sunday League, for opening museums, libraries, &c., on the Sabbath, was started here. In the last session of Parliament in 1870, there were eighteen separate petitions presented from this town against opening the British Museum on Sundays. The Reference Library and Art Gallery commenced to be opened on Sundays, April 28, 1872, and they are well frequented. Sunday labour in the local Post Offices was stopped Aug. 10, 1873. In 1879 a society was formed for The purpose of delivering lectures, readings, and addresses of an interesting nature, on the Sunday evenings of the winter season, the Town Hall, Board Schools, and other public buildings being utilised for the purpose (the first being held in the Bristol Street Schools, Oct. 19, 1879), and very popular have they been, gentlemen of all sects and parties taking part, in the belief that
A Sabbath well spent
Brings a week of content.
In 1883, during an inquiry as to the extent of drunkenness on the Sabbath, it was shown that the county of Warwick (including Birmingham) was remarkably clear, as out of a population of 737,188 there had only been 348 convictions during 1882. For Staffordshire, with a population of 980, 385, the convictions were 581. Northumberland, 687 convictions out of 434,074 Durham, 1,015 out of 867,586. Liver- pool 1,741 out of 552,425. Manchester, 1,429 out of 341,508.
Sutton Coldfield, on the road to Lichfield, is celebrated even more for its park than its authority. The former was left to the town by the Bishop of Exeter (John Harman), otherwise known as Bishop Vesey, who was a native of Sutton, and whose monument is still to be seen in the old Church. He procured a charter of incorporation in 1528, and also founded the Grammar School, and other endowed charities, such as the Almshouses, the Poor Maidens' Portions, &c., dying in 1555, in his 103rd year. Thirty years' back, the park contained an area of 2,300 acres, but a small part was sold, and the railways have taken portions, the present extent, park and pools, being estimated at 2,034 acres, the mean level of which is 410 feet above the sea level. A good length of Icknielde Street, or the Old Roman Road, is distinctly traceable across a portion of the park. King John visited Sutton manor-house in April, 1203. On the 18th of October, 1642, Charles I. reviewed his Staffordshire troops here, prior to the battle of Edgehill, the spot being long known as "The King's Standing." The mill-dams at Sutton burst their banks July 24, 1668, and many houses were swept away. The population is about 8,000, and the rateable value is put at £50,000, but as, through the attraction of the park, the town is a very popular resort, and is rapidly increasing, it may ultimately become a place of importance, worthy of municipal honours, which are even now being sought. The number of visitors to the park in the Whit-week of 1882, was 19,549; same week in 1883, it was 11,378; in 1884, it was 17,486; of whom 14,000 went on the Monday.