have had any place of worship of their own in this town, what few of
them there were travelling backwards and forwards every Sunday to
Bromsgrove. The first home they acquired here was a little room in a
small yard at the back of 38, High Street (now covered by the Market
Hall), which was opened Aug. 24, 1737. In March of the following year a
friend left the Particulars a sum of money towards erecting a
meeting-house of their own, and this being added to a few subscriptions
from the Coventry Particulars, led to the purchase of a little bit of
the Cherry Orchard, for which £13 was paid. Hereon a small chapel was
put up, with some cottages in front, the rent of which helped to pay
chapel expenses, and these cottages formed part of Cannon Street; the
land at the back being reserved for a graveyard. The opening of the new
chapel gave occasion for attack; and the minister of the New Meeting,
Mr. Bowen, an advocate of religious freedom, charged the Baptists
(particular though they were) with reviving old Calvinistic doctrines
and spreading Antinomianism and other errors in Birmingham; with the
guileless innocence peculiar to polemical scribes, past and present. Mr.
Dissenting minister Bowen tried to do his friends in the Bull Ring a
good turn by issuing his papers as from "A Consistent Churchman." In
1763 the chapel was enlarged, and at the same time a little more land
was added to the graveyard. In 1780 a further enlargement became
necessary, which sufficed until 1805, when the original buildings,
including the cottages next the street, were taken down to make way for
the chapel so long known by the present inhabitants. During the period
of demolition and re-erection the Cannon Street congregation were
accommodated at Carr's Lane, Mr. T. Morgan and Mr. John Angell James
each occupying the pulpit alternately. The new chapel was opened July
16, 1806, and provided seats for 900, a large pew in the gallery above
the clock being allotted to the "string band," which was not replaced by
an organ until 1859. In August, 1876, the Corporation purchased the site
of the chapel, the graveyard, and the adjoining houses, in all about
1,000 square yards in extent, for the sum of £26,500, the last Sunday
service being held on October 5, 1879. The remains of departed ministers
and past members of the congregation interred in the burial-yard and
under the chapel were carefully removed, mostly to Witton Cemetery. The
exact number of interments that had taken place in Cannon Street has
never been stated, but they were considerably over 200; in one vault
alone more than forty lead coffins being found. The site is now covered
by the Central Arcade. Almost as old as Cannon Street Chapel was the one
in Freeman Street, taken down in 1856, and the next in date was "Old
Salem," built in 1791, but demolished when the Great Western Railway was
made. In 1785 a few members left Cannon Street to form a church in
Needless Alley, but soon removed to Bond Street, under Mr. E. Edmonds,
father of the well-known George Edmonds.--In the year 1870 fifty-two
members were "dismissed" to constitute a congregation at Newhall Street
Chapel, under the Rev. A. O'Neill.--In the same way a few began the
church in Graham Street in 1828.--On Emancipation Day (Aug. 1, 1838),
the first stone was laid of Heneage Street Chapel, which was opened June
10, 1841.--In 1845 a chapel was erected at Shirley; and on Oct. 24,
1849, the Circus in Bradford Street was opened as a Baptist Chapel.
Salem Chapel, Frederick Street, was opened Sept. 14, 1851.--Wycliffe
Church, Bristol Road, was commenced Nov. 8, 1859, and opened June 26,
1861.--Lombard Street Chapel was started Nov. 25, 1864.--Christ Church,
Aston, was opened April 19, 1865.--The Chapel in Balsall Heath Road was
opened in March, 1872; that in Victoria Street, Small Heath, June 24,
1873; and in Great Francis Street, May 27, 1877. When the Cannon Street
Chapel was demolished, the trustees purchased Graham Street Chapel and
schools for the sum of £14,200, other portions of the money given by the
Corporation being allotted towards the erection of new chapels
elsewhere. The Graham Street congregation divided, one portion erecting
for themselves the Church of the Redeemer, in Hagley Road, (opened May
24, 1882), while those living on the Handsworth side built a church in
Hamstead Road (opened March 1, 1883), each building costing over
£10,000. The first stone of the Stratford Road Church (the site of
which, valued at £1,200, was given by Mr. W. Middlemore) was laid on the
8th of June, 1878, and the building, which cost £7,600, was opened June
3, 1879. Mr. Middlemore also gave the site (value £2,200) for the Hagley
Road Church, £6,000 of the Cannon Street money going to it, and £3,500
to the Stratford Road Church.--The Baptists have also chapels in
Guildford Street, Hope Street, Lodge Road, Longmore Street, Great King
Street, Spring Hill, Warwick Street, Yates Street, as well as at
Erdington, Harborne, King's Heath, Selly Oak, Quinton, &c.
_Catholic Apostolic Church_, Summer Hill Terrace.--This edifice, erected
in 1877, cost about £10,000, and has seats for 400.
_Christian Brethren_.--Their head meeting-house is at the Central Hall,
Great Charles Street, other meetings being held in Bearwood Road,
Birchfield Road, Green Lanes, King Street, (Balsall Heath), New John
Street, Wenman Street, (opened in June, 1870), and at Aston and
Erdington.
_Christadelphians_ meet at the Temperance Hall, Temple Street.
_Church of the Saviour_, Edward Street.--Built for George Dawson on his
leaving the Baptists, the first turf being turned on the site July 14,
1846, and the opening taking place Aug. 8, 1847.
_Congregational_.--How the Independents sprang from the Presbyterians,
and the Congregationalists from them, is hardly matter of local history,
though Carr's Line Chapel has sheltered them all in rotation. The first
building was put up in 1747-48, and, with occasional repairs lasted full
fifty years, being rebuilt in 1802, when the congregation numbered
nearly 900. Soon after the advent of the Rev. John Angell James, it
became necessary to provide accommodation for at least 2,000, and in
1819 the chapel was again rebuilt in the form so well known to the
present generation. The rapidity with which this was accomplished was so
startling that the record inscribed on the last late affixed to the roof
is worth quoting, as well on account of its being somewhat of a novel
innovation upon the usual custom of foundation-stone memorial stone, and
first-stone laying and fixing:--
"Memoranda. On the 30th day of July, 1819, the first stone of this
building was laid by the Rev. John Angell James, the minister. On the
30th day of October, in the same year, this the last slate was laid by
Henry Leneve Holland, the builder, in the presence of Stedman Thomas
Whitwell, the Architect.--_Laus Deo_."
In 1875-76 the chapel was enlarged, refronted, and in many ways
strengthened and improved, at a cost of nearly £5,000, and it now has
seats for 2,250 persons.--Ebenezer Chapel, Steelhouse Lane, which will
seat 1,200, was opened Dec. 9, 1818. Its first pastor, the Rev. Jehoida
Brewer, was the first to be buried there.--The first stone of Highbury
Chapel, which seats 1,300, was laid May 1, 1844, and it was opened by
Dr. Raffles in the following October.--Palmer Street Chapel was erected
in 1845.--The first stone of the Congregational Church in Francis Road
was laid Sept. 11, 1855, the opening taking place Oct. 8, 1856.--The
first stone of the Moseley Road building was laid July 30, 1861, and of
that in the Lozells, March 17, 1862.--The chapel at Small Heath was
commenced Sept. 19, 1867, and opened June 21, 1868; that at Saltley was
began June 30, 1868, and opened Jan. 26, 1869.--The chapel in Park Road,
Aston, was began Oct. 7, 1873; the church on Soho Hill, which cost
£15,000, was commenced April 9, 1878, and opened July 16, 1879.--The
memorial-stones of the church at Sutton Coldfield, which cost £5,500,
and will seat 640, were laid July 14, 1879, the opening taking place
April 5, 1880; the Westminster Road (Birchfield) Church was commenced
Oct. 21, 1878, was opened Sept. 23, 1879, cost £5,500, and will seat
900; both of these buildings have spires 100ft. high.--The
foundation-stone of a chapel at Solihull, to accommodate 420, was laid
May 23, 1883.--Besides the above, there is the Tabernacle Chapel,
Parade, chapels in Bordesley Street, Gooch Street, and St. Andrew's
Road, and others at Acock's Green, Erdington, Handsworth, Olton,
Yardley, &c.
_Disciples of Christ_ erected a chapel in Charles Henry Street in 1864;
in Geach Street in 1865; in Great Francis Street in 1873.
_Free Christian Church_, Fazeley Street--Schoolrooms were opened here in
1865 by the Birmingham Free Christian Society, which were enlarged in
1868 at a cost of about £800. Funds to build a church were gathered in
succeeding years and the present edifice was opened April 1, 1877, the
cost being £1,300.
_Jews_.--The Hebrew Synagogue in Blucher Street was erected in 1856, at
a cost of £10,000.
_Methodists_.--The Primitive Methodists for some time after their first
appearance here held, their meetings in the open air or in hired rooms,
the first chapel they used being that in Bordesley Street (opened March
16, 1823, by the Wesleyans) which they entered upon in 1826. Other
chapels they had at various times in Allison Street, Balloon Street,
Inge Street, &c. Gooch Street Chapel was erected by them at a cost of
over £2,000 (the first stone being laid August 23, 1852) and is now
their principal place of worship, their services being also conducted in
Chapels and Mission Rooms in Aston New Town, Garrison Lane, Long Acre,
Lord Street, Morville Street, Wells Street, Whitmore Street, The Cape,
Selly Oak, Perry Barr, Sparkbrook, and Stirchley Street.--_The Methodist
New Connexion_ have chapels in Heath Street, Kyrwick's Lane, Ladywood
Lane, Moseley Street, and Unett Street--The first stone of a chapel for
the _Methodist New Congregational_ body was placed July 13, 1873, in
Icknield Street West.--The _Methodist Reformers_ commenced to build a
chapel in Bishop Street, November 15, 1852.--The _Methodist Free Church_
has places of worship in Bath Street, Cuckoo Road, Muntz Street, Rocky
Lane, and at Washwood Heath.
_New Church_.--The denomination of professing Christians, who style
themselves the "New Church," sometimes known as "The New Jerusalem
Church," and more commonly as "Swedenborgians," as early as 1774 had a
meeting room in Great Charles Street, from whence they removed to a
larger one in Temple Row. Here they remained until 1791, when they took
possession of Zion Chapel, Newhall Street, the ceremony of consecration
taking place on the 19 of June. This event was of more than usual
interest, inasmuch as this edifice was the first ever erected in the
world for New Church worship. The rioters of 1791, who professed to
support the National Church by demolishing the Dissenting places of
worship, paid Zion Chapel a visit and threatened to burn it, but the
eloquence of the minister, the Rev. J. Proud, aided by a judicious
distribution of what cash he had in his pocket, prevailed over their
burning desires, and they carried their torches elsewhere. On the 10th
of March, 1793, however, another incendiary attempt was made to suppress
the New Church, but the fire was put out before much damage was done.
What fire and popular enmity could not do, however, was accomplished by
a financial crisis, and the congregation had to leave their Zion, and
put up with a less pretentious place of worship opposite the Wharf in
Newhall Street. Here they remained till 1830, when they removed to
Summer Lane, where a commodious church, large schools, and minister's
house had been erected for them. In 1875 the congregation removed to
their present location in Wretham Road, where a handsome church has been
built, at a cost of nearly £8,000, to accommodate 500 persons, with
schools in the rear for as many children. The old chapel in Summer Lane
has been turned into a Clubhouse, and the schools attached to it made
over to the School Board. The New Church's new church, like many other
modern-built places for Dissenting worship, has tower and spire, the
height being 116ft.
_Presbyterians_.--It took a long time for all the nice distinctive
differences of dissenting belief to manifest themselves before the
public got used to Unitarianism, Congregationalism, and all the other
isms into which Nonconformity has divided itself. When Birmingham was as
a city of refuge for the many clergymen who would not accept the Act of
Uniformity, it was deemed right to issue unto them licenses for
preaching, and before the first Baptist chapel, or the New Meeting, or
the Old Meeting, or the old Old Meeting (erected in 1689), were built,
we find (1672) that one Samuel Willis, styling himself a minister of the
Presbyterian persuasion, applied for preaching licenses for the
school-house, and for the houses of John Wall, and Joseph Robinson, and
Samuel Taylor, and Samuel Dooley, and John Hunt, all the same being in
Birmingham; and William Fincher, another "minister of the Presbyterian
persuasion," asked for licenses to preach in the house of Richard
Yarnald, in Birmingham, his own house, and in the houses of Thomas
Gisboon, William Wheeley, John Pemberton, and Richard Careless, in
Birmingham, and in the house of Mrs. Yarrington, on Bowdswell Heath. In
Bradford's map (1751) Carr's Lane chapel is put as a "Presbiterian
chapel," the New Meeting Street building close by being called
"Presbiterian Meeting." It was of this "Presbiterian Chapel" in Carr's
Lane that Hutton wrote when he said it _was_ the road to heaven, but
that its surroundings indicated a very different route. Perhaps it was
due to these surroundings that the attendants at Carr's Lane came by
degrees to be called Independents and the New Meeting Street folks
Unitarians, for both after a time ceased to be known as Presbyterians.
The Scotch Church, or, as it is sometimes styled, the Presbyterian
Church of England, is not a large body in Birmingham, having but three
places of worship. The first Presbytery held in this town was on July 6,
1847; the foundation-stone of the Church in Broad Street was laid July
24, 1848; the Church at Camp Hill was opened June 3, 1869; and the one
in New John Street West was began July 4, 1856, and opened June 19,
1857.
_Salvation Army_.--The invasion of Birmingham by the soldiers of the
Salvation Army was accomplished in the autumn of 1882, the General (Mr.
Booth) putting in an appearance March 18, 1883. They have several
rendezvous in the town, one of the principal being in Farm Street, from
whence the "soldiers" frequently sally out, with drums beating and
colours flying, much to their own glorification and other people's
annoyance.
_Unitarians_.--The building known for generations as the Old Meeting, is
believed to have been the first Dissenting place of worship erected in
Birmingham; and, as its first register dates from 1689, the chapel most
likely was built in the previous year. It was doubtless but a small
building, as in about ten years (1699) a "Lower Meeting House" was
founded in Meeting House Yard, nearly opposite Rea Street. The premises
occupied here were gutted in the riots of 1715, and the owner promised
the mob that it should no more be used as a chapel, but when calmer he
repented and services were held until the New Meeting House in Moor
Street was opened. The rioters in 1715 partly destroyed the old Meeting
and those of 1791 did so completely, as well as the New Meeting, which
(began in 1730) was opened in 1732. For a time the congregations united
and met at the Amphitheatre in Livery Street, the members of Old Meeting
taking possession of their re-erected chapel, October 4, 1795. New
Meeting being re-opened April 22, 1802. The last-named building remained
in the possession of the Unitarians until 1861, when it was sold to the
Roman Catholics. The last services in Old Meeting took place March 19,
1882, the chapel and graveyard, comprising an area of 2,760 square
yards, being sold to the L. & N. W. R. Co., for the purpose of enlarging
the Central Station. The price paid by the Railway Company was £32,250,
of which £2,000 was for the minister and £250 towards the expense of
removing to private vaults the remains of a few persons whose friends
wished that course. A portion of Witton Cemetery was laid out for the
reception of the remainder, where graves and vaults have been made in
relative positions to those in the old graveyard, the tombstones being
similarly placed. A new church has been erected in Bristol Street for
the congregation, with Sunday Schools, &c., £7,000 being the sum given
for the site.--In 1839, Hurst Street Chapel was built for the Unitarian
Domestic Mission. May 1, same year, the first stone was laid of the
Newhall Hill Chapel, which was opened July 10, 1840.--The Church of the
Messiah, Broad Street, was commenced Aug. 12, 1860, and opened Jan. 1,
1862. This church, which cost £10,000 and will seat nearly 1,000 is
built over a canal, one of the strangest sites ever chosen for a place
of worship. In connection with this church, there is a chapel in
Lawrence Street.
_Welsh Chapels_.--The Welsh Calvinistic Methodists meet in the little
chapel, bottom of Hockley Hill, and also in Granville Street, near Bath
Row.--The Welsh Congregationalists (Independents) assemble at Wheeler
Street Chapel, opened May 1, 1839.
_Wesleyans_.--The first Wesleyan Chapel in Birmingham was opened by John
Wesley, March 21, 1764, the building having been previously a theatre.
Cherry Street Chapel, opened July 7, 1782, was rebuilt in 1823.--
Bradford Street Chapel was opened in 1786, Belmont Row in 1789, and Bath
Street in 1839.--In 1825, a chapel was built in Martin Street, which was
converted into a school on the opening (Nov. 10, 1864) of the present
edifice, which cost £6,200.--Newtown Row Chapel was built in 1837 and
Great Hampton Street and Unett Street Chapels in 1838, the latter being
enlarged in 1844.--Branston Street Chapel was opened April 18, and
Moseley Road, May 1, 1853.--The Bristol Road Chapel was opened January
18, 1854, and that in King Edward's Road, January 18, 1859.--The first
stones were laid for the chapels in Villa Street April 21, 1864,
Handsworth Oct. 21, 1872, Selley Oak Oct. 2, 1876, Peel Street, August
30, 1877, Cuckoo Road, June 10, 1878, Nechells Park Road Oct. 25, 1880,
Mansfield Road Feb. 19, 1883. Besides the above there are chapels in
Coventry Road, Inge Street, Knutsford Street, Lichfield Road, Lord
Street, New John Street, Monument Road, and Warwick Road, as well as
mission rooms in several parts of the town and suburbs. Acock's Green,
Erdington. Harborne, King's Heath, Northfield, Quinton, &c. have also
Wesleyan Chapels.--_The Wesleyan Reformers_ meet in Floodgate Street,
and in Upper Trinity Street.
_Miscellaneous_.--Lady Huntingdon's followers opened a chapel in King
Street in 1785, and another in Peck Lane in 1842 (both sites being
cleared in 1851), and a third in Gooch Street, Oct. 26th, 1851.--The
believers in Joannah Southcote also had chosen spots wherein to pray for
their leader, while the imposture lasted.--The celebrated Edward Irving
opened Mount Zion Chapel, March 24th, 1824. "God's Free Church," in Hope
Street, was "established" June 4th. 1854.--Zoar Chapel was the name
given to a meeting-room in Cambridge Street, where a few
undenominational Christians met between 1830 and 1840. It was afterwards
used as a schoolroom in connection with Winfield's factory.--Wrottesley
Street Chapel was originally built as a Jewish Synagogue, at a cost of
about 2,000. After they left it was used for a variety of purposes,
until acquired by William Murphy, the Anti-Catholic lecturer. It was
sold by his executors, Aug. 2nd, 1877, and realised £645, less than the
cost of the bricks and mortar, though the lease had 73 years to run.
~Places of Worship.~--_Roman Catholics_.--From the days of Queen Mary,
down to the last years of James II.'s reign, there does not appear to
have been any regular meeting-place for the Catholic Inhabitants of
Birmingham. In 1687, a church (dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen and St.
Francis) was built somewhere near the site of the present St.
Bartholomew's but it was destroyed in the following year, and the very
foundation-stones torn up and appropriated by Protestant plunderers.
[See "_Masshouse Lane_."]
It was a hundred years before the next church, St. Peter's, near Broad
Street, was erected, and the Catholic community has increased but slowly
until the last thirty years or so. In 1848 there were only seven priests
in Birmingham, and but seventy in the whole diocese. There are now
twenty-nine in this town, and about 200 in the district, the number of
churches having increased, in the same period, from 70 to 123, with 150
schools and 17,000 scholars. The following are local places of
worship:--
_Cathedral of St. Chad_,--A chapel dedicated to St. Chad (who was about
the only saint the kingdom of Mercia could boast of), was opened in Bath
Street, Dec. 17, 1809. When His Holiness the Pope blessed his Catholic
children hereabouts with a Bishop the insignificant chapel gave place to
a Cathedral, which, built after the designs of Pugin, cost no less than
£60,000. The consecration was performed (July 14, 1838) by the Right
Rev. Doctor (afterwards Cardinal) Wiseman, the district bishop, in the
presence of a large number of English noblemen and foreign
ecclesiastical dignitaries, and with all the imposing ceremonies
customary to Catholic celebrations of this nature. The adjoining houses
detract much from the outside appearance of this reproduction of
medieval architecture, but the magnificence of the interior decorations,
the elaborate carvings, and the costly accessories appertaining to the
services of the Romish Church more than compensate therefor. Pugin's
plans have not even yet been fully carried out, the second spire, that
on the north tower (150ft. high), being added in 1856, the largest he
designed still waiting completion. Five of a peal of eight bells were
hung in 1848, and the remainder in 1877, the peculiar and locally-rare
ceremony of "blessing the bells" being performed by Bishop Ullathorne,
March 22nd, 1877.
_Oratory_, Hagley Road--Founded by the Fathers of the Order of St.
Philip Neri, otherwise called Oratorians. The Father Superior is the
Rev. Dr.J. H. Newman (born in 1801), once a clergyman of the Church of
England, the author of the celebrated "Tract XC.," now His Eminence
Cardinal Newman.
_St. Anne's_, Alcester Street.--In 1851, some buildings and premises
originally used as a distillery were here taken on a lease by the
Superior of the Oratory, and opened in the following year as a
Mission-Church in connection with the Congregation of the Fathers in
Hagley Road. In course of time the property was purchased, along with
some adjacent land, for the sum of £4,500, and a new church has been
erected, at a cost of £6,000. The foundation-stone was laid Sept. 10th,
1883, and the opening ceremony took place in July, 1884, the old chapel
and buildings being turned into schools for about 1,500 children.
_St. Catherine of Sienna_, Horse Fair.--The first stone was laid Aug.
23, 1869, and the church was opened in July following.
_St. Joseph's_, Nechells, was built in 1850, in connection with the
Roman Catholic Cemetery.
_St. Mary's_, Hunter's Lane, was opened July 28, 1847.
_St. Mary's Retreat_, Harborne, was founded by the Passionist Fathers,
and opened Feb. 6, 1877.
_St. Michael's_, Moor Street, was formerly the Unitarian New Meeting,
being purchased, remodelled, and consecrated in 1861.
_St. Patrick's,_ Dudley Road, was erected in 1862.
_St. Peter's_, Broad Street, built in 1786, and enlarged in 1798, was
the first Catholic place of worship erected here after the sack and
demolition of the church and convent in Masshouse Lane. With a lively
recollection of the treatment dealt out to their brethren in 1688, the
founders of St. Peter's trusted as little as possible to the tender
mercies of their fellow-townsmen, but protected themselves by so
arranging their church that nothing but blank walls should face the
streets, and with the exception of a doorway the walls remained
unpierced for nearly seventy years. The church has lately been much
enlarged, and the long-standing rebuke no more exists.
In addition to the above, there are the Convents of "The Sisters of the
Holy Child," in Hagley Road; "Sisters of Notre Dame," in the Crescent;
"Little Sisters of the Poor," at Harborne; "Our Lady of Mercy," at
Handsworth; and others connected with St. Anne's and St. Chad's, besides
churches at Erdington, &c.
~Police.~--Though the Court Leet provided for the appointment of
constables, no regular body of police or watchmen appear to have existed
even a hundred years ago. In February, 1786, the magistrates employed
men to nightly patrol the streets, but it could not have been a
permanent arrangement, as we read that the patrol was "resumed" in
_October, 1793_, and later on, in March, 1801, the magistrates
"solicited" the inhabitants' consent to a re-appointment of the
night-watch. After a time the Commissioners of the Streets kept regular
watchmen in their employ--the "Charleys" occasionally read of as finding
sport for the "young bloods" of the time--but when serious work was
required the Justices appear to have depended on their powers of
swearing-in special constables. The introduction of a police force
proper dates from the riotous time of 1839 [See "_Chartism_"], for
immediately after those troublous days Lord John Russell introduced a
Bill to the House of Commons granting special powers for enforcing a
rate to maintain a police force here, under the command of a
Commissioner to be appointed by the Government. The force thus sought to
be raised, though paid for by the people of Birmingham, were to be
available for the whole of the counties of Warwick, Worcester and
Stafford.