from Lawley Street Aug. 12th, 1839. The first portion of the Birmingham
and Gloucester line, between Barnt Green and Cheltenham, was opened July
1, 1840, coaches running from here to Barnt Green to meet the trains
until Dec. 15, 1840, when the line was finished to Camp Hill, the
Midland route being completed and opened Feb. 10, 1842. The first sod
was cut for the West Suburban line Jan. 14, 1873, and it was opened from
Granville Street to King's Norton April 3, 1876. This line is now being
doubled and extended from Granville Street to New Street, at an
estimated cost of £280,400, so that the Midland will have a direct run
through the town.
_Great Western_.--The first portion of the Oxford and Birmingham Railway
(between here and Banbury) was opened Sept. 30, 1852, the tunnel from
Moor Street to Monmouth Street being finished on June 6th previous. The
original estimated cost of this line was but £900,000, which was swelled
to nearly £3,000,000 by the bitter fight known as the "Battle of the
Gauges." The line from Snow Hill to Wolverhampton was opened Nov. 14,
1854. The first train to Stratford-on-Avon was run on Oct. 9, 1860. The
Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton line was opened in May, 1852. The
broad gauge was altered in 1874.
~Railway Jottings.~--The London and Birmingham line cost at the rate of
£23,000 per mile, taking nearly five years to make, about 20,000 men
being employed, who displaced over 400,000,000 cubic feet of earth. The
Grand Junction averaged £16,000 per mile, and at one time there were
11,000 men at work upon it. Slate slabs were originally tried for
sleepers on the Birmingham and London line.
The first railway carriages were built very like to coaches, with an
outside seat at each end for the guard, though passengers often sat
there for the sake of seeing the country.
The fares first charged between Birmingham and London were 30s. by first
class, and 20s. second class (open carriages) by day trains; 32s. 6d.
first class and 25s. second class, by night. In 1841 the fares were 30s.
first, 25s. second, and 20s. 3d. third class; they are now 17s. 4d.,
13s. 6d., and 9s. 5d.
"Booking" was a perfectly correct term when the lines were first used,
as when passengers went for their tickets they had to give their names
and addresses, to be written on the tickets and in the book containing
the counterfoils of the tickets.
The day the Grand Junction line was opened was kept as a general holiday
between here and Wolverhampton, hundreds of tents and picnic parties
being seen along the line.
The directors of the Birmingham and Gloucester line ordered eleven
locomotives from Philadelphia at a cost of 85,000 dollars, and it was
these engines that brought their trains to Camp Hill at first. In
comparison with the engines now in use, these Americans were very small
ones. The trains were pulled up the incline at the Lickey by powerful
stationary engines.
On the completion of the London line, the engineers who had been
employed presented George Stephenson at a dinner held here with a silver
tureen and stand worth 130 guineas. This celebrated engineer made his
last public appearance at a meeting in this town of the Institute of
Mechanical Engineers, July 16, 1848, his death taking place on the 12th
of the following month.
The L. & N.W.R. Co. have 46,000 men in their employ.
The G.W.R. has the longest mileage of any railway in England, 2,276-1/2
miles; the L. and N.W.R., 1,774-1/2 miles; the Midland, 1,225 miles.
The returns of the L. and N.W., Midland and G.W.R. Companies for 1878
showed local traffic of 936,000 tons of goods, 693,000 tons of coal,
coke and other minerals, 20,200 loads of cattle, and 7,624,000
passengers.
The south tunnel in New Street was blocked April 18, 1877, by a
locomotive turning over. In October, 1854, an engine fell over into
Great Charles Street.
The unused viaduct between Bordesley and Banbury Street belongs to the
G.W.R. Co. and was intended to connect their lines with the other
Companies. It now stands as a huge monument of the "Railway Mania" days.
The extensive carrying trade of Crowley and Co. was transferred to the
L. & N.W.R. Co. May 17, 1873.
~Railway Stations.~--As noted on a previous page, the first railway
stations were those in Duddeston Row, Lawley Street, Vauxhall, the Camp
Hill, but the desirability of having a Central Station was too apparent
for the Companies to remain long at the outskirts, and the L. & N.W.R.
Co. undertook the erection in New Street, of what was then (and will
soon be again) the most extensive railway station in the kingdom, making
terms with the Midland for part use thereof. The work of clearance was
commenced in 1846, the estimated cost being put at £400,000, £39,000
being paid to the Governors of the Grammar School for land belonging to
them. Several streets were done away with, and the introduction of the
station may be called the date-point of the many town improvements that
have since been carried out. The station, and the tunnels leading
thereto, took seven years in completion, the opening ceremony taking
place June 1, 1853. The iron and glass roof was ihe largest roof in the
world, being 1,080 ft. long, with a single span of 212 ft. across at a
height of 75 ft. from the rails. This immense span has since been
surpassed, as the roof of the St. Pancras Station, London, is 243 ft.
from side to side. The roof of Lime Street Station, Liverpool, is also
much larger, being 410ft wide, but it is in two spans. The station has
been since greatly enlarged, extending as far as Hill Street, on which
side are the Midland Booking Offices. The tunnels have been partially
widened or thrown into open cuttings, additional platforms constructed,
and miles of new rails laid down, one whole street (Great Queen Street)
being taken bodily into the station for a carriage drive. The station
now covers nearly 12 acres, the length of platforms exceeding 1-1/2
miles. The cost of this enlargement was over half-a-million sterling.
As in the case of New Street Station, the introduction of the Great
Western Railway caused the removal of a very large number of old
buildings, but the monster wooden shed which did duty as the Snow Hill
Station for many years was as great a disgrace to the town as ever the
old tumbledown structures could have been that were removed to make way
for it. This, however, was remedied in 1871, by the erection of the
present building, which is extensive and convenient, the platforms
having a run of 720 feet, the span of the roof being 92 feet.
~Rateable Values.~--In 1815 the annual rateable value of property in the
borough was totaled at £311,954; in 1824 the amount stood at £389,273,
an increase of £77,319 in the ten years; in 1834 the return was
£483,774, the increase being £94,501; in 1814 it was £569,686, or an
increase of £85,912; in 1854 the returns showed £655,631, the increase,
£85,934, being little more than in the previous decennial period. The
next ten years were those of the highest prosperity the building trade
of this town has ever known, and the rateable values in 1864 went up to
£982,384, an increase of £326,763. In 1870 a new assessment was made,
which added over £112,000 to the rateable values, the returns for 1874
amounting to £1,254,911, an increase in the ten years of £272,527. In
1877 the returns gave a total of £1,352,554; in 1878 £1,411,060, an
increase in the one year of £58,506; but since 1878 the increase has not
been so rapid, the average for the next three years being £36,379; and,
as will be seen by the following table, the yearly increase of values
during the last three years is still less in each of the several parish
divisions of the borough:--
1881 1882 1883
Birmingham parish £985,081 £991,445 £1,001,541
Yearly increase 18,483 6,364 10,096
Edgbaston parish £179,328 £180,327 £181,552
Yearly increase 8,474 999 1,225
Aston, part of parish £355,788 £362,337 £365,875
Yearly increase 9,419 6,549 3,538
Total rateable value of
the Borough £1,520,179 £1,534,109 £1,548,968
Yearly increase 36,379 13,912 14,859
~Rainfall.~--The mean annual rainfall in the eleven years ending with
1871, in this neighbourhood, was 29.51 inches, in the following eleven
years 36.01 inches, the two heaviest years being 1872 with 47.69 inches,
and 1882 with 43.06 inches. The depth of rain registered in the last
three months of 1882 (14.93 inches), was the largest for any three
consecutive months ever recorded by our painstaking meteorologist, the
late Mr. T.L. Plant, of Moseley.
~Ravenhurst.~--The old house at Camp Hill, which gave names to Hurst
Street and Ravenhurst Street, leading in the direction of the mansion,
where in 1810 there were found a number of coins and tokens of the
period of Queen Elizabeth and Charles I., as well as sundry Scotch
"bawbees."
~Rea.~--This little river takes its rise among the Lickey Hills, and
from certain geological discoveries made in 1883, there is every reason
to believe that, in Saxon days, it was a stream of considerable force.
The name Rea, or Rhea, is of Gaelic derivation, and, with slight
alteration, it is the name of some other watercourses in the kingdom.
From time to time, alterations have been made in the course of the Rea,
and prior to the introduction of steam its waters were used extensively
for mill-power, dams, fleams, and shoots interfering with the free
running in all directions. Long little better than an open sewer, there
is a prospect that, within a few years, it may be cleansed and become
once more a limpid stream, if the sanitary authorities will but find
some more convenient site as burial-place for unfortunate canines and
felines.
~Rebellion of 1745.~--The first news of the Rebellion and of the landing
of the Young Pretender reached here Aug. 19, 1745. The Scotch did not
come so far as Birmingham, but [though thousands of swords were made
here for "Bonnie Prince Charlie"] some little preparation was made to
receive them. At a meeting held October 5, 1745, it was proposed to form
a regiment of volunteers against them, and Sir Lister Holte found 250
horses to pursue the unfortunate "Pretender," whose great-grandfather
had been the guest of Sir Lister's ancestor.
~Rebus.~--Poking fun at our town is no new game, as may be seen by the
following local rebus (by "Dardanus") copied from the _Gentlemen's
Magazine_ of 1752:--
"Take three-fourths of a creature which many admire,
That's often confined in a castle of wire;
Three-fourths of a herb that the garden doth yield,
And a term used by husbandmen ploughing the field;
With that part of a swine which is now much in fashion,
And a town you'll discover in this brave English nation."
The answer was _Bir_d, _Min_t, _G_, and _Ham_--Birmingham, the scribe
who poetically replied, [**]inding-up by saying that it was
"A town that in trading excels half the nation,
Because, Jove be thanked, there is no Corporation!"
~Recorders.~--The first Recorder appointed for the borough was Mr.
Matthew Davenport Hill, whose name is so intimately connected with the
history of Reformatory and Industrial Schools. Mr. Arthur Robarts Adams,
Q.C., who succeeded Mr. M.D. Hill on his resignation in January, 1866,
was a native of the county, and had acted as Deputy-Recorder for some
years. He died in an apoplectic fit, while out shooting (Dec. 19, 1877),
in Bagley Wood, near Oxford, in his 65th year. The present Recorder is
Mr. John Stratford Dugdale, of Blythe Hall, Coleshill.
~Recreation Grounds.~--Early in 1854 Joseph Sturge set apart a field in
Wheeley's Lane as a public playground for children, and this must rank
as the first recreation ground. The last is the disused burial ground of
St. Mary's Church, which, after an expenditure of about £1,500 was
thrown open to the public as "St. Mary's Garden," October 16, 1882.--see
"_Parks_."
~Red Book.~--Quite a local institution is the yearly publication known
as "The Birmingham Red Book," which was first issued in 1865.
~Reformatories.~--See "_Industrial Schools_."
~Reform Leagues.~--The first local affair of this kind that we have note
of (though likely enough there had been "reform clubs" before that date)
seems to have originated at a meeting of some dozen or so gentlemen at
the Royal Hotel, Dec 14, 1829. On the 25th of Jan., 1830, a public
meeting to organise a kind of local political body was held at
Beardsworth's Repository, and it is chronicled that about 15,000 persons
were present. The result was the formation of the celebrated Birmingham
Political Union, though the full name was "The General Political Union
between the Lower and Middle Classes of the People." The Union's
"Petition of Rights" was issued Dec. 13, and the "Declaration of
Council" Dec. 20, 1830. This is not the place to enter upon a history of
the doings of the Political Union, which was dissolved by mutual consent
of the leaders May 10, 1834, but there can be no doubt that it did have
considerable influence on the political changes of the period. In 1848
an attempt was made to resuscitate the Old Union, though the promoters
of the new organisation called it the "Political Council," and in 1865
another League or Union was started, which has a world-wide fame as "The
Caucus." Indeed, it may be safely said the town has never, during the
past sixty years or so, been without some such body, the last appointed
being the "Reform League," started Sept. 2, 1880, by the Rev. Arthur
O'Neill and his friends, to agitate for a change in the Constitution of
the House of Lords.
~Reform Meetings.~--We have had a few big meetings of the kind one time
and another, and give the dates of the principal. Newhall Hill used to
be the favourite spot, and the first meeting held there was on January
22, 1817.--On July 22, 1819, there were 60,000 there, and a member was
chosen to represent the town in Parliament. (See "_Newhall Hill_.") The
meeting of October 3, 1831, had only 150,000 persons at it, but May 7,
in following year, saw 200,000 on the Hill.--The "great" Reform meetings
at Brookfields were on August 27, 1866, and April 22, 1867.--A
procession to, and demonstration at Soho Pool, Aug. 4, 1884, at which
100,000 persons are said to have been present, is the last big thing of
the kind.
~Regattas.~--Usually the A1 amusement of places blessed with sea or
river space, but introduced to us (Aug 2, 1879), on the Reservoir, by
the Y.M.C.A., whose members had to compete with some crack rowers from
Evesham, Shrewsbury, Stratford, Stourport, and Worcester.
~Registers.~--At what date a parish register was first kept here is not
known, but Mr. Hamper, the antiquarian, once found some old parts stowed
away under the pulpit staircase, and he had them bound and preserved.
There are very few perfect registers in this neighbourhood, though Aston
can boast of one dated from 1544, King's Norton 1547, Handsworth 1558,
Northfield 1560, Castle Bromwich 1659, and Moseley 1750--The
Registration Act was passed Aug. 17, 1836.
~Register Offices.~--The custom of hiring servants at "statute fairs"
and "mops" still exists in theory if not in practice, in several parts
of the adjoining counties but thanks to the low scale for advertising,
such a system is not needed now. The introduction of register offices
was a great improvement, the first opened in Birmingham being at 26, St.
John Street (then a respectable neighbourhood), in January 1777, the fee
being 6d. for registering and 3d. for an enquiry. There are a number of
respectable offices of this kind now, but it cannot be hidden that there
have been establishments so called which have been little better than
dens of thievery, the proprietors caring only to net all the half-crowns
and eighteen-pences they could extract from the poor people who were
foolish enough to go to them.
~Rejoicing, Days of.~--Great were the rejoicings in Birmingham, October
9, 1746, when the news came of the battle of Culloden. The capture of
Quebec, in 1759, was celebrated here on December 3, by a gneral
illumination; the peace-loving Quakers, however, had to rejoice over
broken windows, for the mob smashed them, one unfortunate Friend having
to provide 115 squares of glass before his lights were perfect again. We
were _loyal_ in those days, and when we heard of our gallant boys
thrashing their opponents, up went our caps, caring not on whose heads
lay "the blood-guiltiness," and so there was shouting and ringing of
bells on May 20, 1792, in honour of Admiral Rodney and his victory. The
next great day of rejoicing, however, was for the Peace of Amiens in
1802, and it was notable the more especially from the fact of Soho Works
being illuminated with gas, for the first time in the world's history
used for such a purpose. In 1809, we put up the first statue in all
England to the hero of Trafalgar, and we made the 6th of June the day to
rejoice over it, because forsooth, it happened to be the jubilee day of
George the Third. What _he_ had done for us to rejoice about would be
hard to tell; even more difficult is the query why we were so gleeful
and joyous on February 1, 1820, when his successor was proclaimed.
George IV.'s Coronation was celebrated here by the public roasting of
oxen, and an immense dinner party in front of Beardsworth's Repository.
~Religious Queerosities.~--Among all its multifarious manufactures it
would have been strange, indeed, if Birmingham had not produced
something new in religious matters, and accordingly we find that in 1840
some of our advanced townsmen had formed themselves into a "Universal
Community Society of Rational Religionists." We have not met with a copy
of their rules, though Tidd Pratt registered them as of a Friendly
Society (under cap. 4, Will. IV.), but the county magistrates, at the
November Quarter Sessions would not pass them nor seal them. Of late
years there have been introduced amongst us several other curiosities in
the way of religious bodies, like the Theists, the Polytheists, the
Positivists, the Secularists, the Latter-day Saints, and others.
~Religious Societies.~--In addition to those noted elsewhere, there have
been many societies formed here which may come under this heading, such
as the Lay Association for the Refutation of Infidelity, founded in
1839; the Protestant Association, commenced in 1847; the Christian
Evidence Society, began in 1869; the Church Defence and Reform
Association, formed in 1871, the Protestant and Church Association,
inaugurated May 23, of same year, &c.
~Repository.~--Before the building of the Town Hall, there was no place
in which a town's meeting could be held, except the Public Office in
Moor Street, besides Beardsworth's Repository. As its name implies, it
was originally built as a sale-room for horses and carriages, but some
of the most important meetings known in Birmingham history have been
held within its walls, grand banquets were often laid out there, popular
lecturers have discoursed, and popular pugilists exhibited their prowess
in the same arena, and the building has even been used as a barracks.
~Republicanism.~--In 1873 a small band of Brummagem bouncers
patriotically provided us with a real "Republican Club," and proud of
the feat announced the world-stirring fact to the "Hero of Caprera." The
simple honest-hearted General, who knew not the guile of their hearts,
was deluded into wishing them success. Ten years have passed since "Mio
Caro Cattell" secured Garibaldi's autograph, but still Victoria remains
Queen of Great Britain, Empress of Hindostan, and the best-beloved
sovereign on the earth.
~Reservoir.~--See "_Canals_" and "_Roach Pool_."
~Restaurants.~--Our grandfathers knew them not. They took their chop or
steak at their inn or hotel, or visited the tripe houses. Indeed, Joe
Allday's tripe shop in Union Street (opened about 1839-40) may be called
the first "restaurant" established here, as it was the favourite resort
of many Town Councillors and leading men of the town. A vegetarian
restaurant was opened in Paradise Street in July, 1881, and 1883 saw the
commencement of another novelty in the line, a fish restaurant in the
old Warwick Passage.--See "_Luncheon Bars_."
~Rifle Clubs.~--The Midland Rifle Club was started in 1875, the
Staffordshire Rifle Association dating from 1861. Both clubs use the
range at Sandwell Park, by permission of the Earl of Dartmouth. At the
International Match at Creedmore, New York, in 1881, the representatives
of this neighbourhood scored high numbers, Corporal Bates (of the
M.R.C.) taking the only first prize secured by visitors in the open
competitions of the U.S. Associations.
~Rights of Man.~--An effigy of Tom Paine, author of "The Rights of Man,"
was paraded through the streets, Feb. 12, 1793, and ignominiously burned
in the evening.
~Ringers.~--The St. Martin's Society of Change Ringers, date from 1755,
and have always held high rank among the bellringers of the country.
Many old newspapers have chronicled their mighty doings with bobs and
treble bobs, caters and cinques, in all their courses and changes. In
Southey's "Doctor" (vol. 1, p. 303) mention is made of "eight Birmingham
youths who ventured upon a peal of 15,120 bob major, but after ringing
for eight hours and a half were so fatigued that the caller brought them
round at the 14,224th change, perhaps the longest peal that had ever
been rung." On February 28, 1881, the ringers achieved a true peal of
Stedman cinques, containing 9,238 change, in 6-3/4 hours, being the
longest peal ever rung in that method, and noteworthy as the composition
of H. Johnson, senr., and rung in honour of his 72nd birthday. In former
days the local ringers were also famed for their skill with handbells,
one celebrated performer being Elijah Roberts, an extraordinary adept,
who died in 1865. One of this worthy's feats was the ringing (at
Liverpool, [**]ch 23, 1837) a peal comprising [**] of Kent treble bob
maxi[**] hours--See "_Bells_."