year 1731," is the earliest published map yet met with; Bradford's in
1750, is the next. Hanson's of 1778, was reduced for Hutton's work, in
1781. For the third edition, 1792, Pye's map was used, and it was added
to in 1795. 1800 saw Bissett's "Magnificent Directory" published, with a
map; and in 1815 Kempson's survey was taken, and, as well as Pye's, was
several times issued with slight alterations, as required. In 1825,
Pigott Smith's valuable map, with names of landowners (and a miniature
copy of Westley's in upper left-hand corner), was issued, and for many
years it was the most reliable authority that could be referred to. 1834
was prolific in maps; Arrowsmith's, Wrightson and Webb's, Guest's, and
Hunt's, appearing, the best of them being the first-named. The Useful
Knowledge Society's map, with views of public buildings, was issued in
1844, and again in 1849. In 1848, Fowler and Son published a
finely-engraved map, 68-1/4in. by 50-1/2in., of the parish of Aston,
with the Duddeston-cum-Nechells, Deritend, and Bordesley wards, and the
hamlets of Erdington, Castle Bromwich, Little Bromwich, Saltley, and
Washwood Heath, Water Orton, and Witton. The Board of Health map was
issued in 1849; Guest's reissued in 1850; Blood's "ten-mile map" in
1853; and the Post-office Directory map in 1854. In the next year, the
Town Council street map (by Pigott Smith) was published, followed by
Moody's in 1858, Cornish's and Granger's in 1860, and also a corrected
and enlarged edition of the Post-office Directory map. A variety, though
mostly of the nature of street maps, have appeared since then, the
latest, most useful, and correct (being brought down to the latest date)
being that issued to their friends, mounted for use, by Messrs. Walter
Showell and Sons, at whose head offices in Great Charles Street copies
can be obtained.--In 1882 the Corporation reproduced and issued a series
of ancient and hitherto private maps of the town and neighbourhood,
which are of great value to the historian and everyone interested in the
land on which Birmingham and its suburbs are built. The first of these
maps in point of date is that of the Manor of Edgbaston 1718, followed
by that of the Manor of Aston 1758, Little Bromwich Manor 1759,
Bordesley Manor 1760, Saltley Manor 1760, Duddeston and Nechells Manors
1778, and of Birmingham parish 1779. The last-named was the work of a
local surveyor, John Snape, and it is said that he used a camera obscura
of his own construction to enable him to make his work so perfect that
it served as correct guide to the map makers for fifty years after.
~Markets.~--Some writers have dated the existence of Birmingham as a
market town as being prior to the Norman Conquest, charters (they say)
for the holding of markets having been granted by both Saxon and Danish
Kings. That market was held here at an early period is evident from the
fact of the charter therefore being renewed by Richard I., who visited
the De Berminghams in 1189. The market day has never been changed from
Thursday, though Tuesday and Saturday besides are now not enough; in
fact, every day may be called market day, though Thursday attracts more
of our friends from the country. The opening of Smithfield (May 29,
1817) was the means of concentrating the markets for horses, pigs,
cattle, sheep, and farm produce, which for years previously had been
offered for sale in New Street, Ann Street, High Street, and Dale End.
The Market tolls, for which £12,500 was paid in 1812, produced £5,706
10s. 5d. in the year 1840.
_Cattle Market_.--Prior to 1769 cattle were sold in High Street; in that
year their standings were removed to Dale End, and in 1776 (Oct. 28.) to
Deritend. Pigs and sheep were sold in New Street up to the opening of
Smithfield. Some five-and-twenty years back a movement was set on foot
for the removal of the Cattle Market to the Old Vauxhall neighbourhood,
but the cost frightened the people, and the project was shelved. The
"town improvers" of to-day, who play with thousands of pounds as
children used to do at chuck-farthing, are not so easily baulked, and
the taxpayers will doubtless soon have to find the cash for a very much
larger Cattle Market in some other part of the borough. A site has been
fixed upon in Rupert Street by the "lords in Convention," but up to now
(March, 1885), the question is not _quite_ settled.
_Corn Market_.--The ancient market for corn, or "Corn Cheaping," formed,
part of "le Bul ryng" which at one time was almost the sole place of
traffic of our forefathers. At first an open space, as the market
granted by the early Norman Kings grew in extent, the custom arose of
setting up stalls, the right to do which was doubtless bought of the
Lords of the Manor. These grew into permanent tenements, and stallages,
"freeboards," shambles, and even houses (some with small gardens
abutting on the unfenced churchyard), gradually covered the whole
ground, and it ultimately cost the town a large sum to clear it, the
Commissioners, in 1806-7, paying nearly £25,000 for the purpose. The
farmers of a hundred years ago used to assemble with their samples of
grain round the Old Cross, or High Cross, standing nearly opposite the
present Market Hall steps, and in times of scarcity, when bread was
dear, they needed the protection of special constables.
_Fish Market_.--In April, 1851, the fishmongers' stalls were removed
from Dale End, and the sale was confined to the Market Hall, but
consequent on the increase of population, and therefore of consumption,
a separate market, at corner of Bell Street, was opened in 1870, and
that is now being enlarged.
_Hide and Skin Market_.--The sale of these not particularly
sweet-smelling animal products was formerly carried on in the open at
Smithfield, but a special market for them and for tallow was opened May
25, 1850; the same building being utilised as a wool market July 29,
1851.
_Vegetable Market_, so long held in the Bull Ring, is now principally
held in the covered portion of Smithfield, which promises to be soon a
huge wholesale market.
~Marriages.~--This is the style in which these interesting events used
to chronicled:--
"Sept. 30, 1751. On Monday last, the Rev. Mr. Willes, a relation of the
Lord Chief Justice Willes, was married to Miss Wilkins, daughter of an
eminent grocer of this town, a young lady of great merit, and handsome
fortune."
"Nov. 23, 1751. On Tuesday last, was married at St. Mary-le-Bow, in
Cheapside, Mr. W. Welch, an eminent hardware man of Birmingham, to Miss
Nancy Morton, of Sheffield, an agreeable young lady, with a handsome
fortune."
"June 4, 1772 (and not before as mentioned by mistake) at St. Philip's
Church in this town, Mr. Thomas Smallwood, an eminent wine merchant, to
Miss Harris, a young lady of distinguished accomplishments, with a
fortune of £1,500."
~Masshouse Lane.~--Takes its name from the Roman Catholic Church (or
Mass House, as such edifices were then called) erected in 1687, and
dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen and St. Francis. The foundation stone was
laid March 23, in the above year, and on 16th August, 1688, the first
stone of a Franciscan Convent was laid adjoining to the Church, which
latter was consecrated Sept. 4. The Church was 95ft long by 33ft. wide,
and towards the building of it and the Convent, James II. gave 125 "tuns
of timber," which were sold for £180; Sir John Gage gave timber valued
at £140; the Dowager Queen Catherine gave £10 15s.; and a Mrs. Anne
Gregg, £250. This would appear to have been the first place of worship
put up here by the Romish Church since the time of Henry VIII., and it
was not allowed to stand long, for the Church and what part of the
Convent was built (in the words of the Franciscan priest who laid the
first stone) "was first defaced, and most of it burrent within to near
ye vallue of 400lb., by ye Lord Dellamer's order upon ye 26 of November,
1688, and ye day sevennight following ye rabble of Birmingham begon to
pul ye Church and Convent down, and saesed not until they had pulled up
ye fundations. They sold ye materials, of which many houses and parts of
houses are built in ye town of Birmingham, ye townsmen of ye better sort
not resisting ye rabble, but quietly permitting, if not prompting them
to doe itt." The poor priests found shelter at Harborne, where there is
another Masshouse Lane, their "Masshouse" being a little further on in
Pritchett's Lane, where for nearly a century the double work of
conducting a school and ministering to their scattered Catholic flock
was carried on, the next local place of worship built here being "St.
Peters's Chapel," off Broad Street, erected about 1786. It is believed
that St. Bartholomew's Church covers the site of the short-lived "Mass
House."
~Masonic.~--That the Freemasons are many among us is proved by the
number of their Lodges, but the writer has no record throwing light on
their past local history, though mention is found now and then in old
newspapers of their taking part in the ceremonies attending the erection
of more than one of our public buildings. Of their local acts of
benevolence they sayeth naught, though, as is well-known, their charity
is never found wanting. The three Masonic charitable institutions which
are supported by the voluntary contributions of the craft during 1883
realised a total income of £55,994 14s. 3d. Of this sum the boys' school
received £24,895 7s. 1d.; the Benevolent Institution, £18,449 6s.; and
the girls' school, £12,650 1s. 2d. The largest total attained previous
to 1883 was in 1880, when the sum amounted to £49,763. The boys' school,
which is now at the head of the list, is boarding, housing clothing, and
educating 221 boys; the Benevolent Institution, the second on the list,
is granting annuities of £40 each to 172 men and £32 each to 167 widows;
and the girls' school houses, boards, clothes, and educates 239 girls,
between the ages of seven and sixteen. The boys leave school at fifteen.
During the year £8,675 has been granted to 334 cases of distress from
the Fund of Benevolence, which is composed of 4s. a year taken from
every London Mason's subscription to his lodge and 2s. a year from every
country Mason's subscription. The local lodges meet as follows:--_At the
Masonic Hall, New Street_: St. Paul's Lodge, No. 43; the Faithful Lodge,
No. 473; the Howe Lodge, No. 587; the Howe R.A. Chapter; the Howe Mark
Master's Lodge; the Howe Preceptory of Knight Templars; the Temperance
Lodge, No. 739; the Leigh Lodge, No. 887; the Bedford Lodge, No. 925;
the Bedford R.A. Chapter; the Grosvenor Lodge, No. 938; the Grosvenor
R.A. Chapter; the Elkington Lodge, No 1,016; the Elkington R.A. Chapter;
the Fletcher Lodge, No. 1,031; the Fletcher R.A. Chapter; the Lodge of
Emulation, No. 1,163; the Forward Lodge, No. 1,180; the Lodge of
Charity, No. 1,551; and the Alma Mater Lodge, No. 1,644. _At the Masonic
Hall, Severn Street_: The Athol Lodge, No. 74; the Athol R.A. Chapter;
the Athol Mark Master's Lodge; and the Lodge of Israel, No. 1,474. _At
the Great Western Hotel_: The Lodge of Light, No. 468; the R.A. Chapter
of Fortitude; and the Vernon Chapter of S.P.R.C. of H.R.D.M., No. 5. _At
the Holte Hotel, Aston_: The Holte Lodge, No. 1,246.
~Matches.~--Baker's are best, the maker says. Lucifer matches were the
invention of a young German patriot, named Kammerer, who beguiled his
time in prison (in 1832) with chemical experiments, though a North of
England apothecary, Walker, lays claim to the invention. They were first
made in Birmingham in 1852, but they have not, as yet, completely driven
the old-fashioned, and now-despised tinder-box out of the world, as many
of the latter are still manufactured in this town for sundry foreign
parts.
~Mecca.~--The late Mr. J.H. Chamberlain, shortly before his death, said
that he looked upon Birmingham, "perhaps with a foolish pride," as the
Holy City, the Mecca of England; where life was fuller of possibilities
of utility--happier, broader, wiser, and a thousand times better than it
was in any other town in the United Kingdom.
~Mechanical Engineers.~--The Institution of Mechanical Engineers was
organised in this town, in October 1847, but its headquarters were
removed to London, in 1877.
~Mechanics' Institute.~--The proposal to form a local institution of a
popular nature, for the encouragement of learning among our workers,
like unto others which had been established in several large places
elsewhere, was published in June, 1825, and several meetings were held
before December 27, when officers were chosen, and entry made of nearly
200 members, to start with, the subscription being 5/-per quarter. The
formal opening took place March 21, 1826, the members assembling in
Mount Zion Chapel, to hear an address from Mr. B. Cook, the
vice-president. The class-rooms, library, and reading-rooms, were at the
school attached to the Old Meeting House, and here the Institution, so
far as the conduct of classes, and the imparting of knowledge went,
thrived and prospered. Financially, however, though at one time there
were nearly 500 members, it was never successful, possibly through lack
of assistance that might have been expected from the manufacturers and
large employers, for, hide it as we may, with a few honourable
exceptions, that class, fifty years ago, preferred strong men to wise
ones, and rather set their banks against opening the doors of knowledge
to their workpeople, or their children. It was a dozen years before the
Institution was able to remove to a home of its own in Newhall Street,
but it rapidly got into a hopeless state of debt. To lessen this
incubus, and provide funds for some needed alterations, the committee
decided to hold an exhibition of "manufactures, the fine arts, and
objects illustrative of experimental philosophy, &c." The exhibition was
opened Dec. 19, 1839, and in all ways was a splendid success, a
fairly-large sum of money being realised. Unfortunately, a second
exhibition was held in the following years, when all the profits of the
former were not only lost, but so heavy an addition made to the debt,
that it may be said to have ruined the institution completely. Creditors
took possession of the premises in January, 1842, and in June operations
were suspended, and, notwithstanding several attempts to revive the
institution, it died out altogether. As the only popular educational
establishment open to the young men of the time, it did good work, many
of its pupils having made their mark in the paths of literature, art,
and science.
~Medical Associations.~--According to the "Medical Register" there are
35 physicians and 210 surgeons resident in the borough, and there are
rather more than 300 chemists and druggists. According to a summary of
the census tables, the medical profession "and their subordinates"
number in Birmingham and Aston 940, of whom 376 are males and 564
females. In 1834, at Worcester, under the presidency of Dr. Johnson, of
this town, the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association was formed
for encouraging scientific research, improving the practice of medicine,
and generally looking after the interests of the profession. In 1856 the
name was changed to The British Medical Association, with head offices
in London, but prior to that branches had been established in various
large towns, the Birmingham and Midland Counties' branch being foremost,
holding its first meeting at Dee's Hotel, in December, 1854. The society
has now about 9,000 members, with a reserve fund of £10,000; in the
local branch there are 359 members, who subscribe about £150 per annum.
--The Birmingham Medical Institute was launched Feb. 5, 1876, but the
question of admitting homeopathists as members was nearly the upsetting
of the craft at the first meeting; thanks to the sails being trimmed
with a little common sense, however, the difficulty was tided over. The
opening of the Institute in Edmund Street took place December 17, 1880.
The cost of the building was about £6,000, and the purposes to which it
is applied are the providing accommodation for meetings of the
profession and the housing of the valuable medical library of over 6,000
books. As something worthy of note, it may be mentioned that the
Institute was opened free from debt, the whole cost being previously
subscribed.
~Memorials and Monuments.~--See "_Statues," &c._
~Men of Worth.~--The "Toy-shop of the World," the home of workers, free
from the blue blood of titled families, and having but few reapers of
"unearned increment," is hardly the place to look for "men of worth or
value" in a monetary point of view, but we have not been without them. A
writer in _Gazette_, September 1, 1828, reckoned up 120 inhabitants who
were each worth over £10,000 each; 50 worth over £20,000; 16 worth over
£50,000; 9 worth over £100,000; 3 worth over £200,000; 2 worth over
£300,000 each, and 1 worth over £400,000. Taking certain Income Tax
Returns and other information for his basis another man of figures in
1878 made calculations showing that there were then among us some 800
persons worth more than £5,000 each, 200 worth over £10,000, 50 worth
over £20,000, 35 worth over £50,000, 26 worth over £100,000, 12 worth
over £250,000, 5 worth over £500,000, and 2 worth over or near
£1,000,000 each.
~Mercia.~--In 585, this neighbourhood formed part of the Heptarchic
kingdom of Mercia, under Cridda; in 697, Mercia was divided into four
dioceses; this district being included in that of Lichfield; in 878,
Mercia was merged in the kingdom of England. According to Bede and the
Saxon Chronicles, Beorned was, in 757, king of Mercia, of which
Birmingham formed part, and in Canute's reign there was an Earl Beorn,
the king's nephew, and it has been fancifully suggested that in this
name Beorn may lie the much-sought root for the etymology of the town's
name. Beorn, or Bern, being derived from _ber_, a bear or boar, it might
be arranged thusly:--
_Ber_, bear or boar; _moeng_, many; _ham_, dwelling--the whole making
_Bermoengham_, the dwelling of many bears, or the home of many pigs!
~Metchley Camp.~--At Metchley Park, about three miles from town, near to
Harborne, there are the remains of an old camp or station which Hutton
attributes to "those pilfering vermin, the Danes," other writers
thinking it was constructed by the Romans, but it is hardly possible
that an undertaking requiring such immense labour as this must have
done, could have been overlooked in any history of the Roman occupation.
More likely it was a stronghold of the native Britons who opposed their
advance, a superstition borne out by its being adjacent to their line of
Icknield Street, and near the heart of England. From a measurement made
in 1822, the camp appears to have covered an area of about 15-1/2 acres.
Hutton gives it as 30 acres, and describes a third embankment. The
present outer vallum was 330 yards long by 228 wide, and the interior
camp 187 yards long by 165 wide. The ancient vallum and fosse have
suffered much by the lapse of time, by the occupiers partially levelling
the ground, and by the passing through it of the Worcester and
Birmingham canal, to make the banks of which the southern extremity of
the camp was completely destroyed. Some few pieces of ancient weapons,
swords and battle-axes, and portions of bucklers, have been found here,
but nothing of a distinctively Roman or Danish character. As the
fortification was of such great size and strength, and evidently formed
for no mere temporary occupation, had either of those passers-by been
the constructors we should naturally have expected that more positive
traces of their nationality would have been found.
~Methodism.~--The introduction here must date from Wesley's first visit
in March, 1738. In 1764, Moor Street Theatre was taken as a meeting
place, and John Wesley opened it March 21. The new sect afterwards
occupied the King Street Theatre. Hutton says:--"The Methodists
occupied for many years a place in Steelhouse Lane, where the wags of
the age observed, 'they were eaten out by the bugs.' They therefore
procured the cast-off Theatre in Moor Street, where they continued to
exhibit till 1782, when, quitting the stage, they erected a superb
meeting house in Cherry Street, at the expense of £1,200. This was
opened, July 7, by John Wesley, the chief priest, whose extensive
knowledge and unblemished manners give us a tolerable picture of
apostolic purity, who believed as if he were to be saved by faith, and
who laboured as if he were to be saved by works." The note made by
Wesley, who was in his 80th year, respecting the opening of Cherry
Street Chapel, has been preserved. He says:--"July 6th, 1782. I came to
Birmingham, and preached once more in the old dreary preaching-house.
The next day I opened the new house at eight, and it contained the
people well, but not in the evening, many more then constrained to go
away. In the middle of the sermon a huge noise was heard, caused by the
breaking of a bench on which some people stood. None of them were hurt;
yet it occasioned a general panic at first, but in a few minutes all was
quiet." Four years after the opening, Wesley preached in the chapel
again, and found great prosperity. "At first," he wrote, "the
preaching-house would not near contain the congregation. Afterwards I
administered the Lord's Supper to about 500 communicants." Old as he
then was, the apostle of Methodism came here a time or two after that,
his last visit being in 1790. Many talented men have since served the
Wesleyan body in this town, and the society holds a strong position
among our Dissenting brethren. The minutes of the Wesleyan Conference
last issued give the following statistics of the Birmingham and
Shrewsbury District:--Church members, 18,875; on trial for membership,
l,537; members of junior classes, 2,143; number of ministerial class
leaders, 72; lay class leaders, 1,269; local or lay preachers, 769 (the
largest number in any district except Nottingham and Derby, which has
798). There are 40 circuits in the district, of which 27 report an
increase of membership, and 13 a decrease.--See "_Places of Worship_."
~Methodism, Primitive.~--The origin of the Primitive Methodist Connexion
dates from 1808, and it sprung solely from the custom (introduced by
Lorenzo Dow, from America, in the previous year) of holding "camp
meetings," which the Wesleyan Conference decided to be "highly improper
in England, even if allowable in America, and likely to be productive of
considerable mischief," expelling the preachers who conducted them. A
new society was the result, and the first service in this town was held
in Moor Sreet, in the open air, near to the Public Office, in the summer
of 1824. The first "lovefeast" took place, March 6, 1825, and the first
"camp meeting," a few months later. A circuit was formed, the first
minister being the Rev. T. Nelson, and in 1826, a chapel was opened in
Bordesley Street, others following in due course of time, as the
Primitives increased in number. The Birmingham circuit contains about
800 members, with over 2,000 Sunday School scholars, and 250 teachers.--
See "_Places of Worship_."
~Metric System.~--This, the simplest decimal system of computation yet
legalised is in use in France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Spain, and other
parts of Europe, as well as in Chili, Peru, Mexico, &c., and by 27 and
28 Vic., cap. 117, its use has been rendered legal in this country. As
our local trade with the above and other countries is increasing
(unfortunately in some respects), rules for working out the metric
measures into English and _vice versa_ may be useful. The unit of length
is the _metre_ (equal to 39.37 inches); it is divided into tenths
(decimetres), hundredths (centimetres), and thousandths (millimetres),
and it is multiplied by decimals in like way into hectometres,
kilometres, and myriometres. The unit of weight is the _gramme_, divided
as the metre into decigrammes, centigrammes, and milligrammes;
multiplied into decagrammes, hectogrammes, and kilogrammes. The unit of
capacity is the _litre_, divided and multiplied like the others.
1 inch equals 2-1/2 centimetres.
1 foot equals 3 decimetres.
1 mile equals 1-3/5 kilometres.
1 cwt. equals 50.8 kilogrammes.
1 ounce (troy) equals 31 grammes.
1 pound (troy) equals 3.72 decagrammes.
1 gallon equals 4-1/2 litres.
1 quart equals 1-1/16 litres.
1 metre equals 39.37 inches.
1 hectometre equals 109-1/3 yards.
1 cubic metre equals 61,027 cubic inches.
1 kilometre equals 1,093 yards.
1 decigramme equals 1-1/2 grains.
1 gramme equals 15 grains.
1 kilogramme equals 2-1/5 pounds (avoirdupois).
1 litre equals 1-3/4 pints.
To turn inches into millimetres add the figures 00 to the number of
inches, divide by 4, and add the result two-fifths of the original
number of inches.
To turn millimetres to inches add the figure 0 and divide by 254.
To make cubic inches into cubic centimetres multiply by 721 and divide
by 44; cubic centimetres into cubic inches multiply by 44 and divide by
721.
To turn grains into grammes, multiply the number by 648 and divide the
product by 10,000.