in 1781.--See "_Friendly Societies_."
~Buckles~ were worn as shoe fasteners in the reign of Charles II.--See
"_Trades_."
~Buttons.~--Some interesting notes respecting the manufacture of buttons
will be found under the head of "_Trades_."
~Bulgarian Atrocities, 1876-7.~--A considerable amount of "political
capital" was made out of these occurrences, but only £1,400 was
subscribed here for the relief of the unfortunates; while merely £540
could be raised towards helping the thousands of poor Bosnian refugees
driven from their homes by the Russians in 1878, and of this sum £200
was given by one person.
~Bullbaiting~ was prohibited in 1773 by Order in Council, and an Act was
passed in 1835, to put a stop to all baiting of bulls, badgers, and
bears. At Chapel Wake, 1798, some law-defying reprobates started a
bullbaiting on Snow Hill, but the Loyal Association of Volunteers turned
out, and with drums beating and colours flying soon put the rebels to
flight, pursuing them as far as Birmingham Heath, where the baiters got
a beating, the Loyals returning home in triumph with the bull as a
trophy. The last time this "sport" was indulged in in this neighbourhood
appears to have been early in October, 1838, at Gib Heath, better known
now as Nineveh Road.
~Bull Lane~ was the name once given to that part of the present Colmore
Row between Livery Street and Snow Hill, though it has been better known
as Monmouth Street.
~Bull Street.~--Once called Chapel Street, as leading to the chapel of
the ancient Priory; afterwards named from the old inn known as the Red
Bull (No. 83).
~Burial Grounds.~--See "_Cemeteries_."
~Burns.~--Excisemen, when Robert Burns was one of them, were wont to
carry pistols, and those the poet had were given him by one of our
gunmakers, Mr. Blair. They were afterwards bought by Allan Cunningham,
who gave them back to Burns' widow.--Birmingham lent its rill to the
great river of homage to the genius of Burns which flowed through the
length and breadth of the civilised world on the occasion of the Burns'
centenary in January, 1859. The most interesting of the three or four
meetings held here was one of a semi-private nature, which took place at
Aston Hall, and which originated, not with Scotchmen, but with
Englishmen. Some forty-five or fifty gentlemen, only some half-dozen of
whom were Scotch, sat down to an excellent supper in the fine old room
in which the Queen lunched the previous year. The chairman was Mr.
Samuel Timmins, and the vice-chairman was Mr. Ross.
~Cabs, Cars, and Carriages.~--The hackney carriages, or four-wheelers,
of this town, have the credit of being superior to those used in London,
though the hansoms (notwithstanding their being the inventions of one
who should rank almost as a local worthy--the architect of our Town
Hall) are not up to the mark. Prior to 1820 there were no regular stands
for vehicles plying for hire, those in New Street, Bull Street, and
Colmore Row being laid in that year, the first cabman's license being
dated June 11. The first "Cabman's Rest" was opened in Ratcliffe Place,
June 13, 1872, the cost (£65) being gathered by the cabman's friend, the
Rev. Micarah Hill, who also, in 1875, helped them to start an
association for mutual assistance in cases of sickness or death. There
are sixteen of these "shelters" in the town, the cabmen subscribing
about £200 yearly towards expenses. As a rule, the Birmingham cabmen are
a civil and obliging body of men, though now and then a little sharp
practice may occur, as in the instance of the stranger who, arriving in
New Street Station one evening last summer, desired to be taken to the
Queen's Hotel. His luggage being properly secured, and himself safely
ensconced, Mr. Cabby cooly took the rug from his horse's back, mounted
his seat and walked the animal through the gates back to the building
the stranger had just left, depositing his fare, and as calmly holding
out his hand for the customary shilling as if he had driven the full
distance of a mile and a half. The fares laid down by the bye-laws as
proper to be charged within the Borough, and within five miles from the
statue in Stephenson Place, in the Borough, are as follows:--
_By time_, the driver driving at a rate not less than five miles per
hour, if so required:--
s. d.
For every carriage constructed to
carry four persons, for the first
hour, or part of hour .. .. 3 0
For every additional 15 minutes, or
part of 15 minutes. .. .. 0 2
For every carriage constructed to
carry two persons, for the first
hour, or part of hour .. .. 2 6
For every additional 15 minutes, or
part of 15 minutes.. .. .. 0 6
Any person hiring any carriage
otherwise than by time is entitled
to detain the same five minutes
without extra charge, but for
every 15 minutes, or part thereof,
over the first five minutes, the
hirer must pay .. .. .. 0 6
_By distance_:--
Cabs or Cars to carry 2 persons not
exceeding 1-1/2 miles .. .. 1 0
Per 1/2 mile after .. .. .. 0 4
One horse vehicles to carry 4
persons, not exceeding 1 mile .. 1 0
For any further distance, per 1/2 mile
after .. .. .. .. .. .. 0 6
Cars or Carriages with 2 horses, to
carry 4 persons, not exceeding 1
mile .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 9
Per 1/2 mile after .. .. .. 0 9
_Double Fares_ shall be allowed and
paid for every fare, or so much of
any fare as may be performed by
any carriage after 12 o'clock at
night, and before 6 in the morning.
~Calthorpe Park,~ Pershore road, has an area of 3la. 1r. 13p., and was
given to the town in 1857 by Lord Calthorpe. Though never legally
conveyed to the Corporation, the Park is held under a grant from the
Calthorpe family, the effect of which is equivalent to a conveyance in
fee. The Duke of Cambridge performed the opening ceremony in this our
first public park.
~Calthorpe Road~ was laid out for building in the year 1818, and the
fact is worthy of note as being the commencement of our local West End.
~Calico, Cotton, and Cloth.~--In 1702 the printing or wearing of printed
calicoes was prohibited, and more strictly so in 1721, when cloth
buttons and buttonholes were also forbidden. Fifty years after, the
requisites for manufacturing cotton or cotton cloth were now allowed to
be exported, and in 1785 a duty was imposed on all cotton goods brought
into the Kingdom. Strange as it may now appear, there was once a
"cotton-spinning mill" in Birmingham. The first thread of cotton ever
spun by rollers was produced in a small house near Sutton Coldfield as
early as the year 1700, and in 1741 the inventor, John Wyatt, had a mill
in the Upper Priory, where his machine, containing fifty rollers, was
turned by two donkeys walking round an axis, like a horse in a modern
clay mill. The manufacture, however, did not succeed in this town,
though carried on more or less till the close of the century, Paul's
machine being advertised for sale April 29, 1795. The Friends'
schoolroom now covers the site of the cotton mill.
~Canals.~--The first Act for the construction of the "cut" or canal in
connection with Birmingham was passed in 1761, that to Bilston being
commenced in 1767. The delivery here of the first boat-load of coals
(Nov. 6, 1769) was hailed, and rightly so, as one of the greatest
blessings that could be conferred on the town, the immediate effect
being a reduction in the price to 6d per cwt, which in the following May
came down to 4d. The cutting of the first sod towards making the Grand
Junction Canal took place July 26, 1766, and it was completed in 1790.
In 1768 Briudley, the celebrated engineer, planned out the Birmingham
and Wolverhampton Canal, proposing to make it 22 miles long; but he did
not live to see it finished. The work was taken up by Smeaton and
Telford; the latter of whom calling it "a crooked ditch" struck out a
straight cut, reducing the length to 14 miles, increasing the width to
40 feet, the bridges having each a span of 52 feet. The "Summit" bridge
was finished in 1879. The Fazeley Canal was completed in 1783, and so
successfully was it worked that in nine years the shares were at a
premium of £1170. In 1785 the Birmingham, the Fazeley, and the Grand
Junction Companies took up and completed an extension to Coventry. The
Birmingham and Worcester Canal was commenced in 1,791, the cost being a
little over £600,000, and it was opened for through traffic July 21,
1815. By an agreement of September 18, 1873, this canal was sold to the
Gloucester and Berkeley Canal Co. (otherwise the Sharpness Dock Co.),
and has thus lost its distinctive local name. The Birmingham and Warwick
commenced in 1793; was finished in 1800. Communication with Liverpool by
water was complete in 1826, the carriage of goods thereto which had
previously cost £5 per ton, being reduced to 30s. For a through cut to
London, a company was started in May, 1836, with a nominal capital of
£3,000,000, in £100 shares, and the first cargoes were despatched in
August, 1840. In April, 1840, an Act was passed to unite the Wyrley and
Essington Canal Co. with the Birmingham Canal Co., leading to the
extension, at a cost of over £120,000, of the canal system to the lower
side of the town. There are 2,800 miles of canals in England, and about
300 miles in Ireland. The total length of what may properly be called
Birmingham canals is about 130 miles, but if the branches in the "Black
Country" be added thereto, it will reach to near 250 miles. The first
iron boat made its appearance on canal waters July 24, 1787; the first
propelled by steam arrived here from London, September 29, 1826. The
adaptation of steam power to general canal traffic, however, was not
carried to any great extent, on account of the injury caused to the
banks by the "wash" from the paddles and screws, though, when railways
were first talked about, the possibility of an inland steam navigation
was much canvassed. When the Bill for the London and Birmingham Railway
was before Parliament, in 1833, some enterprising carriers started (on
Midsummer-day) an opposition in the shape of a stage-boat, to run daily
and do the distance, with goods and passengers, in 16 hours. The
Birmingham and Liverpool Canal Company introduced steam tugs in 1843. On
Saturday, November 11, they despatched 16 boats, with an aggregate load
of 380 tons, to Liverpool, drawn by one small vessel of 16-horse power,
other engines taking up the "train" at different parts of the voyage.
Mr. Inshaw, in 1853, built a steamboat for canals with a screw on each
side of the rudder. It was made to draw four boats with 40 tons of coal
in each at two and a half miles per hour, and the twin screws were to
negative the surge, but the iron horses of the rail soon put down, not
only all such weak attempts at competition, but almost the whole canal
traffic itself, so far as general merchandise and carriage of light
goods and parcels was concerned. "Flyboats" for passengers at one time
ran a close race with the coaches and omnibuses between here,
Wolverhampton, and other places, but they are old people now who can
recollect travelling in that manner in their youth.
~Canal Accidents.~--The banks of the Birmingham and Worcester Canal,
near Wheeley's Road, gave way on May 26, 1872, causing considerable
damage to the properties near at hand. A similar occurrence took place
at Aston, July 20, 1875; and a third happened at Solihull Lodge Valley,
October 27, 1880, when about 80ft. of an embankment 30-ft. high
collapsed.
~Canal Reservoir,~ better known as "The Reservoir," near Monument Lane,
a popular place of resort, covers an area of 62A. 1R. 5P., and is
three-quarters of a mile long. Visitors and others fond of boating can
be accommodated here to their heart's content.
~Cannon.~--The first appearance of these instruments of destruction in
connection with the English army was in the time of Edward III. in his
wars with the Scotch and the French, the first great battle of
historical note in which they were used being that of Cressy, in 1346.
The manufacture of "small arms," as they are called, has been anything
but a small feature in the trade history of our past, but
cannon-founding does not appear to have been much carried on, though a
local newspaper of 1836 mentioned that several 250 and 300-pounder guns
were sent from here in that year for the fortifications on the
Dardanelles.
~Cannon Hill Park~ covers an area of 57a. 1r. 9p., and was presented to
the town by Miss Ryland, the deed of conveyance bearing date April 18th,
1873. The nearest route to this Park is by way of Pershore Road and
Edgbaston Lane, omnibuses going that way every half-hour.
~Caps.~--The inventor of percussion caps is not known, but we read of
them as being made here as early as 1816, though they were not
introduced into "the service" until 1839. The manufacture of these
articles has several times led to great loss of life among the workers,
notes of which will be found under the head of "_Explosions_." See also
"_Trades_."
~Carlyle.~--The celebrated philosopher, Thomas Carlyle, resided here for
a short time in 1824; and his notes about Birmingham cannot but be worth
preserving. Writing to his brother John under date Aug. 10, he says:--
"Birmingham I have now tried for a reasonable time, and I cannot
complain of being tired of it. As a town it is pitiful enough--a mean
congeries of bricks, including one or two large capitalists, some
hundreds of minor ones, and, perhaps, a hundred and twenty thousand
sooty artisans in metals and chemical produce. The streets are
ill-built, ill-paved, always flimsy in their aspect--often poor,
sometimes miserable. Not above one or two of them are paved with
flagstones at the sides; and to walk upon the little egg-shaped,
slippery flints that supply their places is something like a penance.
Yet withal it is interesting for some of the commons or lanes that
spot and intersect the green, woody, undulating environs to view this
city of Tubal Cain. Torrents of thick smoke, with ever and anon a
burst of dingy flame, are issuing from a thousand funnels. 'A thousand
hammers fall by turns.' You hear the clank of innumerable steam
engines, the rumbling of cars and vans, and the hum of men interrupted
by the sharper rattle of some canal boat loading or disloading, or,
perhaps, some fierce explosion when the cannon founders [qy: the
proof-house] are proving their new-made ware. I have seen their
rolling-mills, their polishing of teapots, and buttons and
gun-barrels, and lire-shovels, and swords, and all manner of toys and
tackle. I have looked into their ironworks where 150,000 men are
smelting the metal in a district a few miles to the north: their coal
mines, fit image, of Arvenus; their tubes and vats, as large as
country churches, full of copperas and aqua fortis and oil of vitroil;
and the whole is not without its attractions, as well as repulsions,
of which, when we meet, I will preach to you at large."
~Carr's Lane.~--Originally this is believed to have been known as
"Goddes Cart Lane," and was sufficiently steep to be dangerous, as
evidenced by accidents noted in past history.
~Carr's Lane Chapel,~ the meeting house of the old Independents, or as
they are now called, the Congregationalists, will be noticed under
"_Places of Worship_."
~Cartoons.~--If some of our fore-fathers could but glance at the
illustrations or the portait caricatures of local public men and their
doings, now given us almost daily, we fear they would not credit us
moderns with much advancement in the way of political politeness,
however forward we may be in other respects. Many really good cartoons
_have_ appeared, and neither side can be said to hold a monopoly of such
sketchy skilfulness, but one of the best (because most truthful) was the
cartoon issued in October 1868, giving the portrait of a
"Vote-as-you're-told" electer, led by the nose by his _Daily Post_.
~Castle.~--Birmingham Castle is named in an ancient document as being
situated a "bowshot southwestward of the church," but the exact site
thereof has never been traced. It is supposed to have been erected about
the year 1140, and to have been demolished by order of King Stephen, in
1176.
~Castle Street~ takes its name from the hostlery once so famous among
our coach officers.
~Catacombs.~--There is a large number of massively-built stone vaults
underneath Christ Church, each divided into tiers of catacombs, or
receptacles for the dead. It is in one of these that the remains of
Baskerville at last found a resting place.--The catacombs at the General
Cemetery are many, being cut out of the sandstone rock known as Key
Hill, and a large number have been and can be excavated underneath the
church in the Warstone Lane Cemetery.
~Cathedral.~--See "_Places of Warship--Catholic_."
~Cat Shows.~--The first Cat Show held here was opened November 29th,
1873, and was a very successful speculation; but the exhibitions of the
two following years did not pay and since then the grimalkins have been
left at home.
~Cattle Show.~--As first started (in 1849, when it was held near Kent
Street), and at Bingley Hall in the following year, this was an annual
show of cattle, sheep, and pigs only, but after years has made it a
gathering place for specimens, of nearly everything required on a farm,
and the "Show" has become an "_Exhibition_," under which heading full
notice will be found.
~Cemeteries.~--The burial grounds attached to the Churches were formerly
the only places of interment save for suicides and murderers--the former
of whom were buried at some cross-road, with a stake driven through the
body, while the latter were frequently hung in chains and got no burial
at all. In 1807 the first addendum to our churchyards was made by the
purchase of 13,192 square yards of land in Park Street, which cost
£1,600. Having been laid out and enclosed with substantial railed walls
at a further outlay of £764, the ground was duly consecrated July 16,
1813, and for some years was the chief receptacle for decaying humanity
of all classes, many thousands of whom were there deposited. By degrees
the ground came to be looked upon as only fit for the poorest of the
poor, until, after being divided by the railway, this "God's Acre" was
cared fir by none, and was well called the "black spot" of the town.
Since the passing of the Closed Burial Grounds Bill (March 18, 1878) the
Corporations have taken possession, and at considerable expense have
re-walled the enclosure and laid it out as a place of health resort for
the children of the neighbourhood. The burial grounds of St.
Bartholomew's, St. Martin's, St. Mary's, and St. George's have also been
carefully and tastefully improved in appearance, and we can now venture
to look at most of our churchyards without shame.
The General Cemetery at Key Hill was originated at a meeting held Oct.
18, 1832, when a proprietary Company was formed, and a capital fixed at
£12,000, in shares of £10 each. The total area of the property is about
twelve acres, eight of which are laid out for general burials, in a
edition to the catacombs cut into the sandstone rock.
The Church of England Cemetery in Warstone Lane is also the property of
a private Company, having a capital of £20,000 in £10 shares. The area
is nearly fifteen acres, the whole of which was consecrated as a burial
ground for the Church on August 20, 1848.
The Catholic Cemetery of St. Joseph, at Nechell's Green, received its
first consignment in 1850.
The introduction and extension of railways have played sad havoc with a
number of the old burial grounds belonging to our forefathers. As
mentioned above the London and North Western took a slice out of Park
Street Cemetery. The Great Western cleared the Quakers' burial ground in
Monmouth Street (where the Arcade now stands) the remains of the
departed Friends being removed to their chapel yard in Bull Street, and
a curious tale has been told in connection therewith. It is said that
the representative of the Society of Friends was a proper man of
business, as, indeed, most of them are, and that he drove rather a hard
bargain with the railway directors, who at last were obliged to give in
to what they considered to be an exorbitant demand for such a small bit
of freehold. The agreement was made and the contract signed, and Friend
Broadbrim went on his way rejoicing; but not for long. In selling the
land he apparently forgot that the land contained bones, for when the
question of removing the dead was mooted, the Quaker found he had to pay
back a goodly portion of the purchase money before he obtained
permission to do so. In clearing the old streets away to make room for
New Street Station, in 1846, the London and North Western found a small
Jewish Cemetery in what was then known as the "Froggery," but which had
long been disused. The descendants of Israel carefully gathered the
bones and reinterred them in their later-dated cemetery in Granville
Street, but even here they did not find their last resting-place, for
when, a few years back, the Midland made the West Suburban line, it
became necessary to clear out this ground also, and the much-disturbed
remains of the poor Hebrews were removed to Witton. The third and last
of the Jewish Cemeteries, that in Betholom Row, which was first used in
or about 1825, and has long been full, is also doomed to make way for
the extension of the same line.--During the year 1883 the time-honoured
old Meeting-house yard, where Poet Freeth, and many another local
worthy, were laid to rest, has been carted off--dust and ashes, tombs
and tombstones--to the great graveyard at Witton, where Christian and
Infidel, Jew and Gentile, it is to be hoped, will be left at peace till
the end of the world.
In 1860, the Corporation purchased 105 acres of land at Witton for the
Borough Cemetery. The foundation stones of two chapels were laid August
12, 1861, and the Cemetery was opened May 27, 1863, the total cost being
nearly £40,000. Of the 105 acres, 53 are consecrated to the use of the
Church of England, 35 laid out for Dissenters, and 14 set aside for
Catholics and Jews.
~Census.~--The numbering of the people by a regular and systematic plan
once in every ten years, only came into operation in 1801, and the most
interesting returns, as connected with this town and its immediate
neighbourhood, will be found under the heading of "_Population_."
~Centre of Birmingham.~--As defined by the authorities for the
settlement of any question of distance, Attwood's statue at the top of
Stephenson Place, in New Street, is reckoned as the central spot of the
borough. In olden days, Nelson's monument, and prior to that, the Old
Cross, in the Bull Ring, was taken as the centre. As an absolute matter
of fact, so far as the irregular shape of the borough area will allow of
such a measurement being made, the central spot is covered by Messrs.
Harris and Norton's warehouse in Corporation Street.
~Centenarians.~--John Harman, better known as Bishop Vesey, died in
1555, in his 103rd year. James Sands, who died at Harborne in 1625, was
said to have been 140 years old, and his wife lived to be 120. Joseph
Stanley, of Aston, died in May, 1761, in his 106th year. Wesley, under
date of March 19, 1768, wrote of having seen George Bridgens, then in
his 107th year; Hutton, in noticing the long life of Bridgens, also
mentions one John Pitt who lived to be 100, a Mrs. Moore who reached
104, and an old market man who completed his 107th year. A Mr. Clarkson
died here, in February, 1733, aged 112. William Jennens, _the_ Jennens
of untold, but much coveted, wealth, died in June, 1798, aged 103. John
Roberts, of Digbeth, had a family of twenty-eight children, six by his
third wife, whom he married when nearly eighty, and lived to see his
103rd year, in 1792, dying July 6. Thomas Taylor, a cobbler, stuck to
his last until a week of his death, July 8, 1796, at 103. T. Blakemore
died November 12, 1837, aged 105. Mrs. E. Bailey, founder of the Female
Charity School, was also 105 at her death, December 2, 1854. Another old
lady was Elizabeth Taylor, who died at Sparkbrook, March 5, 1864, aged
104 years. Mary Hemming, of Moseley Wake Green, died December 5, 1881,
in her 104th year.