recurring, and the date of some few are here preserved. Our loyal
grandfathers honoured the hundredth, anniversary of the Revolution of
1688, by a public dinner, November 4, 1788. Old Bluecoat boys in like
manner kept the centenary of their school, August 24, 1824. Admirers of
the Philosopher Priestley chose All Fools' Day, 1831, as the fitting day
to celebrate the anniversary of his birth. The Centenary of the
Protestant Dissenting Charity Schools was worthily celebrated by the
raising of a special sum amounting to £1,305, as an addition to the
funds. In January, 1859, Robert Burns' anniversary was remembered by the
holding a supper in Aston Hall, at which only half-a-dozen Scotchmen
were present out of half-a-hundred guests. The Dissenting Ministers of
this and the neighbouring counties, who, for a hundred years, have met
together once a month, celebrated the event by a quiet luncheon-dinner,
December 13, 1882. The Tercentenary of the Free Grammar School was
celebrated with learned speeches April 16, 1852; that of Good Queen
Bess, by a public prayer meeting, November 16, 1858; and that of
Shakespeare, April 23, 1864, by the founding of a Shakespeare Memorial
Library. The thousandth anniversary of Alfred the Great, October 29,
1849, was made much of by the Political Knowledge Association, which had
not been in existence it thousand days. The fact of John Bright being
M.P. for Birmingham for a quarter of a century, was celebrated in June,
1883, by the Liberal Association, who got up a "monster" procession in
imitation of the celebrated Attwood procession of the old days of
Reform. The holiday was most thoroughly enjoyed by the public generally,
and immense numbers of people thronged the streets to hear the bands and
see what was to be seen.
~Chamberlain Memorial.~--See "_Statues_," &c.
~Chamber of Commerce.~--In 1783 there was a "Standing General Commercial
Committee," composed of the leading merchants and Manufacturers, who
undertook the duty of looking after the public interests of the town
(not forgetting their own peculiarly private ditto). That they were not
so Liberal as their compeers of to-day may be gathered from the fact of
their strongly opposing the exportation of brass, and on no account
permitting a workman to go abroad.
~Chamber of Manufacturers.~--When Pitt, in 1784, proposed to tax coal,
iron, copper, and other raw materials, he encountered a strong
opposition from the manufacturers, prominent among whom were Boulton
(Soho), Wilkinson (Bradley), and Wedgwood (Potteries), who formed a
"Chamber," the first meeting of which was held here in February, 1785.
The Minister was induced to alter his mind.
~Chandeliers.~--Many beautiful works of art have been manufactured in
this town, which, though the wonder and admiration of strangers, receive
but faint notice here, and find no record except in the newspaper of the
day or a work like the present. Among such may be ranked the superb
brass chandelier which Mr. R.W. Winfield sent to Osborne in 1853 for Her
Majesty, the Queen. Designed in the Italian style, this fine specimen of
the brassworkers' skill, relieved by burnishing and light matted work,
ornamented with figures of Peace, Plenty, and Love in purest Parian,
masks of female faces typical of night, and otherwise decorated in the
richest manner, was declared by the late Prince Consort as the finest
work he had ever seen made in this country and worthy to rank with that
of the masters of old. Not so fortunate was Mr. Collis with the
"Clarence chandelier" and sideboard he exhibited at the Exhibition of
1862. Originally made of the richest ruby cut and gilded glass for
William IV., it was not finished before that monarch's death, and was
left on the maker's hand. Its cost was nearly £1,000, but at the final
sale of Mr. Collis's effects in Dec. 1881 it was sold for £5.
~Chapels and Churches.~--See "_Places of Worship_."
~Charity.~--Charitable collections were made in this neighbourhood in
1655, for the Redmontese Protestants, Birmingham giving £15 11s. 2d.,
Sutton Coldfield £14, and Aston £4 14s. 2d. On the 6th of June, 1690,
£13 18s. 1-1/2d. were collected at St. Martin's "for ye Irish
Protestants." In 1764 some Christmas performances were given for the
relief of aged and distressed housekeepers, and the charitable custom
thus inaugurated was kept up for over seventy years. In the days of
monks and monasteries, the poor and needy, the halt and lame, received
charitable doles at the hands of the former and at the gates of the
latter, but it would be questionable how far the liberality of the
parsons, priests, and preachers of the present day would go were the
same system now in vogue. It has been estimated that nearly £5,000 is
given every year in what may be called the indiscriminate charity of
giving alms to those who ask it in the streets or from door to door. By
far the largest portion of this amount goes into the hands of the
undeserving and the worthless, and the formation of a central relief
office, into which the charitably-disposed may hand in their
contributions, and from whence the really poor and deserving may receive
help in times of distress, has been a long felt want. In 1869 a "Charity
Organisation Society" was established here, and it is still in
existence, but it does not appear to meet with that recognised support
which such an institution as suggested requires. In 1882 a special fund
was started for the purpose of giving aid to women left with children,
and about £380 was subscribed thereto, while the ordinary income was
only £680. The special fund can hardly be said as yet to have got into
working order, but when the cost of proving the property of the
recipients, with the necessary expenses of office rent, salaries, &c.,
have been deducted from the ordinary income, the amount left to be
distributed among the persons deemed by the officials deserving of
assistance is small indeed, the expenses reaching about £330 per year.
In 1880 it cost £329 18s. 4d. to give away food, cash, and clothing,
&c., valued at £386 16s. 6d., an apparent anomally which would not be so
glaring if the kind-hearted and charitable would only increase the
income of the Society, or re-organise it upon a wider basis.--For
statistics of poverty and the poor see "_Pauperism_" and "_Poor Rates_."
~Charitable Trusts.~--See "_Philanthropical Institutions_," &c.
~Chartism.~--Following the great Reform movement of 1832, in which
Birmingham led the van, came years of bad harvests, bad trade, and
bitter distress. The great Chartist movement, though not supported by
the leaders of the local Liberal party, was taken up with a warmth
almost unequalled in any other town in the Kingdom, meetings being held
daily and nightly for months in succession, Feargus O'Connor, Henry
Vincent, and many other "orators of the fiery tongue," taking part. On
the 13th of August, 1838, a monstre demonstration took place on Holloway
Head, at which it was reckoned there were over 100,000 persons present,
and a petition in favour of "The Charter" was adopted that received the
signatures of 95,000 people in a few days. The Chartist "National
Convention" met here May 13, 1839, and noisy assemblages almost daily
affrighted the respectable townsmen out of their propriety. It was
advised that the people should abstain from all exciseable articles, and
"run for gold" upon the savings banks--very good advice when given by
Attwood in 1832, but shockingly wicked in 1839 when given to people who
could have had but little in the savings or any other banks. This, and
the meetings which ensued, so alarmed the magistrates for the safety of
property that, in addition to swearing in hundreds of special
constables, they sent to London for a body of police. These arrived on
July 4, and unfortunately at the time a stormy meeting was being held in
the Bull Ring, which they were at once set to disperse, a work soon
accomplished by the free use they made of their staves. The indignant
Brums, however, soon rallied and drove the police into the Station,
several being wounded on either side. The latent fury thus engendered
burst out in full force on the 15th when the notorious Chartist Riots
commenced, but the scenes then enacted, disgraceful as they were, may
well be left in oblivion, especially as the best of "the points" of the
Charter are now part of the laws of the land. Besides many others who
were punished more or less, two of the leaders, Wm. Lovett and John
Collins, were sentenced to one year's imprisonment for a seditious libel
in saying that "the people of Birmingham were the best judges of their
own rights to meet in the Bull Ring, and the best judges of their own
power and resources to obtain justice." On the 27th July, 1849, Lovett
and Collins were accorded a public welcome on their release from prison,
being met at the Angel by a crowd of vehicles, bands of music, &c., and
a procession (said to have numbered nearly 30,000), accompanied them to
Gosta Green where speeches were delivered; a dinner, at which 800
persons sat down, following on the site of "The People's Hall of
Science," in Loveday Street. In 1841, Joseph Sturge gave in his adhesion
to some movement for the extension of the franchise to the working
classes, and at his suggestion a meeting was held at the Waterloo Rooms
(Feb. 25th, 1842), and a memorial to the Queen drawn up, which in less
than a month received 16,000 signatures. On the 5th of April, 87
delegates from various parts of England, Ireland, and Scotland,
assembled here, and after four days' sitting formed themselves into "The
National Complete Suffrage Union," whose "points" were similar to those
of the Charter, viz., manhood suffrage, abolition of the property
qualification, vote by ballot, equal electoral districts, payment of
election expenses and of members, and annual Parliaments. On the 27th of
December, another Conference was held (at the Mechanics' Institute), at
which nearly 400 delegates were present, but the apple of discord had
been introduced, and the "Complete Suffrage Union" was pooh-poohed by
the advocates of "the Charter, the whole Charter, and nothing but the
Charter," and our peace-loving townsman, whom _The Times_ had dubbed
"the Birmingham Quaker Chartist," retired from the scene. From that time
until the final collapse of the Chartist movement, notwithstanding many
meetings were held, and strong language often used, Birmingham cannot be
said to have taken much part in it, though, in 1848 (August 15th),
George J. Mantle, George White, and Edward King, three local worthies in
the cause, found themselves in custody for using seditious language.
~Chauntries.~--In 1330 Walter of Clodeshale, and in 1347 Richard of
Clodeshale, the "Lords of Saltley," founded and endowed each a Chauntry
in old St. Martin's Church, wherein daily services should be performed
for themselves, their wives, and ancestors, in their passage through
purgatory. In like manner, in 1357, Philip de Lutteley gave to the
Lutteley chantry in Enville Church, a parcel of land called Morfe Woode,
"for the health of his soul, and the souls of all the maintained of the
said chantry;" and in 1370 he gave other lands to the chantry, "for the
priest to pray at the altar of St. Mary for the health of his soul, and
Maud his wife, and of Sir Fulke de Birmingham," and of other benefactors
recited in the deed. It is to be devoutly hoped that the souls of the
devisees and their friends had arrived safely at their journeys' end
before Harry the Eighth's time, for he stopped the prayers by stopping
the supplies.
~Cherry Street~ took its name from the large and fruitful cherry orchard
which we read of as being a favourite spot about the year 1794.
~Chess.~--See "_Sports and Sporting_."
~Chicago Fire.~--The sum of £4,300 was subscribed and sent from here
towards relieving the sufferers by this calamity.
~Children.~--A society known as "The Neglected Children's Aid Society,"
was founded in 1862, by Mr. Arthur Ryland, for the purpose of looking
after and taking care of children under fourteen found wandering or
begging, homeless or without proper guardianship. It was the means of
rescuing hundreds from the paths of dishonesty and wretchedness, but as
its work was in a great measure taken up by the School Board, the
society was dissolved Dec. 17, 1877. Mr. Thos. Middlemore, in 1872,
pitying the condition of the unfortunate waifs and strays known as
"Street Arabs," took a house in St. Luke's Road for boys, and one in
Spring Road for girls, and here he has trained nearly a thousand poor
children in ways of cleanliness and good behaviour prior to taking the
larger part of them to Canada. A somewhat similar work, though on a
smaller scale, is being carried on by Mr. D. Smith, in connection with
the mission attached to the Bloomsbury Institution. In both instances
the children are found good homes, and placed with worthy people on
their arrival in Canada, and, with scarcely an exception all are doing
well. The total cost per head while at the Homes and including the
passage money is about £16, and subscriptions will be welcomed, so that
the work of the Institutions may be extended as much as possible.
~Chimes.~--The earliest note we can find respecting the chimes in the
tower of St. Martin's is in a record dated 1552, which states there were
"iiij belles, with a clocke, and a chyme."
~Chimnies.~--Like all manufacturing towns Birmingham is pretty well
ornamented with tall chimnies, whose foul mouths belch forth clouds of
sooty blackness, but the loftiest and most substantial belongs to the
town itself. At the Corporation Wharf in Montague Street the "stack" is
258 feet in height, with a base 54 feet in circumference, and an inside
diameter of 12 feet. About 250,000 bricks were used in its construction,
which was completed in September, 1879.--Householders of an economical
turn must remember it is not always the cheapest plan to clean their
chimnies by "burning them out," for in addition to the danger and risk
of damage by so doing, the authorities of Moor Street have the peculiar
custom of imposing a penalty (generally 10s.) when such cases are
brought before them. Should such an event occur by mischance keep all
doors and windows shut, and do not admit the sweeps who may come
knocking at your door, unless fully prepared with the half-crowns they
require as bribes not to tell the police. As a rule it is cheaper to
trust to "Robert" not seeing it.
~China Temple Field~ was a noted place for amusements about the year
1820, and was situate where Cattell Road is now. Originally it formed
part of the grounds of Bordesley Hall, which was wrecked in the riots of
1791.
~Choral Society.~--This Society held its first Choral Concert, August 2,
1836. The Festival Choral Society was established in 1845.
~Cholera.~--This dreadful epidemic has never yet been felt in severity
in this town, though several fatal cases were reported in August, 1832.
In July, 1865, great alarm was caused by the fact of 243 inmates of the
Workhouse being attacked with choleraic symptoms, but they all
recovered.
~Church Pastoral Aid Society.~--There is a local branch of this Society
here, and about £1,300 per annum is gathered in and forwarded to the
parent society, who in return grant sums in aid of the stipends of
thirty Curates and as many Scripture readers, amounting to nearly £4,700
per year.
~Churchrates.~--Prior to 1831, Churchrates had been regularly levied,
and, to a great extent, cheerfully paid, but with the other reforms of
that Reforming age came the desire to re-form this impost, by doing away
with it altogether, and at a meeting held on August 7, 1832, the
ratepayers assembled not only denounced it, but petitioned Parliament
for its entire abolition. Between that year and 1837, Churchrates of 6d.
to 9d. in the £ were not at all infrequent, but in the latter year there
was a sweet little row, which led to an alteration. At a vestry meeting
held March 28, the redoubtable George Frederick Muntz, with George
Edmonds, and other "advanced" men of the times, demanded a personal
examination of the books, &c., &c., with the result doubtless
anticipated and wished for--a general shindy, free fight, and tumult.
For his share in the riot, G.F.M. was put on his trial in the following
year (March 30 to April 1) and had to pay over £2,000 in the shape of
costs, but he may be said to have won something after all, for a better
feeling gradually took the place of rancour, and a system of "voluntary"
rates--notably one for the rebuilding of St. Martin's--was happily
brought to work. The Bill for the abolition of Churchrates was passed
July 13, 1868.
~Church Street.~--In 1764 at Warwick a legal battle was fought as to a
right of way through the New Hall Park, the path in dispute being the
site of the present Church Street.
~Circuses.~--The first notice we have of any circus visiting Birmingham
is that of Astley's which came here October 7, 1787. In 1815 Messrs.
Adams gave performances in a "new equestrian circus on the Moat," and it
has interest in the fact that this was the first appearance locally of
Mr. Ryan, a young Irishman, then described as "indisputably the first
tight-rope dancer in the world of his age." Mr. Ryan, a few years later,
started a circus on his own account, and after a few years of tent
performances, which put money in his pocket, ventured on the speculation
of building a permanent structure in Bradford-street, opening his "New
Grand Arena" there in 1827. Unfortunately, this proved a failure, and
poor Ryan went to the wall. The circus (known now as the Circus Chapel),
long lay empty, but was again re-opened May 19, 1838, as an
amphitheatre, but not successfully. In 1839 the celebrated Van Amburgh,
whose establishment combined the attractions of a circus and a
menagerie, visited this town, and his performances were held, rather
strangely, at the Theatre Royal. On the night of the Bull Ring Riots,
July 15th, when there was "a full house," the startling news that a
number of buildings were on fire, &c., was shouted out just at the
moment that Van Amburgh was on the stage with a number of his
well-trained animals. He himself was reclining on the boards, his head
resting on the sides of a tawny lion, while in his arms was a beautiful
child, four or five years old, playing with the ears of the animal. The
intelligence naturally caused great excitement, but the performer went
quietly on, hoisting the little darling to his shoulder, and putting his
animals through their tricks as calmly as if nothing whatever was the
matter. In 1842, Ducrow's famous troupe came, and once again opened
Ryan's Circus in the Easter week, and that was the last time the
building was used for the purpose it was originally erected for.
Cooke's, Hengler's, Newsome's, and Sanger's periodical visits are
matters of modern date. The new building erected by Mr. W.R. Inshaw, at
foot of Snow Hill, for the purposes of a Concert Hall, will be adaptable
as a Circus.
~Climate.~--From the central position in which Birmingham is situated,
and its comparative elevation, the town has always been characterised as
one of the healthiest in the kingdom. Dr. Priestley said the air
breathed here was as pure as any he had analysed. Were he alive now and
in the habit of visiting the neighbourhood of some of our rolling mills,
&c., it is possible he might return a different verdict, but
nevertheless the fact remains that the rates of mortality still contrast
most favourably as against other large manufacturing towns.
~Clocks.~--One of Boulton's specialties was the manufacture of clocks,
but it was one of the few branches that did not pay him. Two of his
finest astronomical clocks were bought by the Empress of Russia, after
being offered for sale in this country in vain. His friend, Dr. Small,
is said to have invented a timepiece containing but a single wheel. The
"town clocks" of the present day are only worth notice on account of
their regular irregularity, and those who wish to be always "up to the
time o' day," had best set their watches by the instrument placed in the
wall of the Midland Institute. The dome of the Council House would be a
grand position in which to place a really good clock, and if the dials
were fitted with electric lights it would be useful at all hours, from
near and far.