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BIRMINGHAM , a See also:city and a municipal, See also:county, and See also:parliamentary See also:borough, the See also:metropolis of one of the greatest See also:industrial districts in See also:England. Pop. (Igor) 522,204. It lies in the See also:north-See also:west of See also:Warwickshire, but its suburbs extend into See also:Staffordshire on the north and west, and into See also:Worcestershire on the See also:south. It is 113 m. north-west from See also:London by the London & North-Western railway, lying on the See also:loop See also:line between See also:Rugby and See also:Stafford; it is also served by the See also:northern line of the See also:Great Western, and by the north and west (See also:Derby-See also:Bristol) line of the Midland railway. Site.—Birmingham, built upon the New Red See also:Sandstone, is situated in the valleys of the Rea and other small feeders of the See also:river Tame, near their See also:sources, and upon the rising ground between these valleys. The site is, therefore, boldly undulating, varying from 200 to 600 ft. above See also:sea-level, steadily rising towards the north and west, while the well-marked line of the Lickey hills skirts the site on the south-west, extending thence south-eastward. From the high ground to the south-See also:east Birmingham thus presents the See also:appearance of a vast semicircular See also:amphitheatre, the masses of houses broken by innumerable factory-chimneys; the whole See also:scene conveying a remarkable impression of a community of untiring industrial activity. The See also:area of the See also:town is nearly 20 sq. m., the greatest length from north to south 7 m., and the greatest breadth about 4 m. Yet Birmingham is a fraction only of an industrial See also:district, of which it forms the south-eastern extremity, which itself resembles one vast city, and embraces such famous manufacturing towns as See also:Dudley, See also:Wolverhampton, See also:Walsall, See also:Wednesbury and many others. This is the district commonly known as the " See also:Black See also:Country," which forms See also:part of the South Staffordshire industrial district. Birmingham, however, does not See also:lie actually within the "Black Country" properly so-called. Streets and Buildings.—The See also:plan of the town, as dictated by the site, is irregular; the streets are mostly winding, and often somewhat narrow. In the centre are several See also:fine thoroughfares, containing nearly all the most important buildings. New See also:Street, See also:Corporation Street and Colmore See also:Row are the See also:chief of these. At the western end of New Street is a fine See also:group of buildings, including the See also:council See also:house and See also:art See also:gallery, the town See also: The See also:purchase of pictures has been made from time to time by means of an art gallery purchase fund of £12,000, privately contributed and placed under the See also:control of the corporation. Many valuable See also:works of art are the See also:gift of individuals. In 1906 plans were obtained for additional municipal offices and another art gallery on a site on the opposite side of See also:Edmund Street from the council house. The town hall, completed in 1850, is severely classic, modelled upon a See also:Greek See also:temple. The See also:lower See also:stage consists of a See also:plinth or See also:basement, 23 ft. high, upon which is reared a See also:facade of See also:peripteral See also:character, with eight Corinthian columns (36 ft. high) at the two See also:principal fronts, and thirteen columns on each side. These columns (imitated from those of the temple of See also:Jupiter Stator at See also:Rome) support a bold and enriched See also:cornice, finished at each end with a lofty pediment and See also:entablature. The exterior of the hall is built of Anglesea See also:marble. The interior consists chiefly of a regularly-built See also:room, 984 designed specially for meetings and concerts, with an See also:orchestra containing a fine See also:organ. The hall seats upwards of 2000 persons, but when cleared of benches, as is the See also:case at great See also:political meetings, over 5000 may find See also:standing room. The Midland See also:Institute, adjacent to the town hall on the west, has a fine lecture See also:theatre. To the south lie the post office, the inland See also:revenue office and See also:Queen's See also:College. To the north is the See also:Gothic See also:building of See also:Mason College, an institution merged in the university. The Central See also:free library, adjoining the Midland Institute, was rebuilt in 1879, after a See also:fire which destroyed the fine See also:Shakespeare library, the Cervantes collection, and a large See also:series of books on, and antiquities of, Warwickshire, known as the See also:Staunton collection. The Shakespeare series was as far as possible replaced, and the whole forms one of the largest reference and lending See also:libraries in England. Edmund Street and Colmore Row are fine thoroughfares See also:running parallel in a north-easterly direction from either side of the council house; in the first the principal building is the school of art, in the second are several noteworthy private buildings. Both terminate at See also:Snow See also: The See also:foundation stone was laid by Queen Victoria in 1887, after Birmingham had been created an assize district; the building was completed in 1891. There is a See also:hand-some entrance, and within is a great hall, 8o ft. by 40, with a series of stained-glass windows. The exterior is red, and highly ornamented in the style of the Renaissance.
Among other noteworthy buildings are the county See also:court, See also:education offices and military See also:drill hall. Among a fine series of statues and monuments may be mentioned the statue of See also:Nelson by See also:Richard See also:Westmacott, in the Bull See also:Ring; those of See also:Joseph See also:Sturge, at the Five Ways, and of See also: Sir See also:Francis See also:Chantrey's famous statue of James Watt is in a See also:special See also:chapel at See also:Handsworth See also: On this side are Soho and Handsworth, which gives name to a parliamentary See also:division of Staffordshire. To the north lies Aston See also:Manor, a municipal borough of itself, with See also:Perry See also:Bar beyond. To the north-east a populous district extends towards the town of See also:Sutton Coldfield. Aston Hall is a fine Jacobean See also:mansion standing in an extensive park. Aston Lower Grounds is an adjacent See also:pleasure-ground. Besides these and the Edgbaston grounds the chief parks are Summersfield Park, towards Smethwick; Soho Park; Victoria Park, Handsworth; Adderley Park, towards Saltley; and Victoria Park, Small Heath. There is a See also:race-course at See also:Castle Bromwich, 3 M. east of the town. Churches and See also:Religion.—Birmingham is not rich in ecclesiastical See also:architecture. It became a bishopric under the Bishoprics of See also:Southwark and Birmingham See also:Act 1904, including the arch-deaconry of Birmingham and the rural deanery of Handsworth, previously in the See also:diocese of See also:Worcester. Before 1821 it was in the diocese of See also:Lichfield. There were formerly a religious house, the priory of St Thomas the Apostle, and a Gild of the See also:Holy See also:Cross, an association partly religious and partly charitable, having a See also:chantry in the See also:parish church. The possessions of the priory went to the See also:crown at the See also:dissolution, and the building was destroyed before the close of the 16th See also:century. The lands of the Gild of the Holy Cross were granted by Edward VI. to trustees for the support of the free grammar school. Until 1715 there was but one parish church, St See also: See also:Pearson's work, and Edgbaston church is a picturesque Perpendicular structure.
Under the See also:Commonwealth Birmingham was a stronghold of See also:Puritanism. See also:Clarendon speaks of it and the neighbourhood as " the most eminently corrupted of any in England." See also:Baxter, on the other hand, commending the See also:garrison of See also:Coventry, says it contained " the most religious men of the parts See also:round about, especially from Birmingham." The traditional reputation for See also:Nonconformity is maintained by the town, all varieties of dissenters being numerous and influential. The Unitarians, the
See also:oldest See also:body established here, have among their chapels a hand-some structure in Bristol Road, the Old See also:Meeting, which in 1885 replaced the building in which the See also:congregation was formed on the Presbyterian See also:model by a number of ministers ejected under the Act of Uniformity. Another chapel, the New Meeting, in See also:Moor Street, is memorable as having been the place of Dr Joseph Priestley's ministerial labours from 1780 onwards. In 1862 the Unitarians removed from this place to a new Gothic edifice, called the church of the See also:Messiah, in Broad Street, where they preserve a See also:monument of Priestley, with a medallion portrait in See also:profile, and an inscription written by Priestley's friend, Dr See also:Parr. The first meeting-house of the Society of See also:Friends See also:dates from about 1690. Among See also:Independent chapels, that of Carr's See also:Lane had See also: From the revolution of 1688 until 1789 the See also:Roman Catholics had no place of worship here; but Birmingham is now a Roman See also:Catholic bishopric. The cathedral of St See also:Chad was built from the designs of A. W. See also:Pugin. At Erdington, towards Sutton Coldfield, is a large See also:Benedictine See also:Abbey (1897) of the Beuron congregation, founded as a monastery in 1876; and in the vicinity, at Oscott, is St Mary's College, where the chapel is a fine example of Pugin's work. See also:Cardinal See also:Newman was See also:superior of the See also:Oratory of St Philip See also:Neri from its foundation in 1851. See also:Administration.—The See also:government of the town resided origin-ally in the high and See also:low bailiffs, both See also:officers chosen at the court of the See also:lord of the manor, and acting as his deputies. The See also:system was a loose one, but by degrees it became somewhat organized, and crown writs were addressed to the bailiffs. In 1832, when the town was enfranchised, they were made the returning officers. About the beginning of the 19th century, however, a more See also:regular system was instituted, by an act creating a body of street commissioners, who acted for the parish of Birmingham, the hamlets outside its boundaries having similar boards of their own. The annoyance and difficulty caused by these bodies, thirteen in number, led to a demand for the See also:incorporation of Birmingham as a borough; and a See also:charter was accordingly granted by the crown in 1838, vesting the See also:general government in a See also:mayor, sixteen aldermen and See also:forty-seven councillors. The powers of this body were, however, unusually restricted, the other See also:local governing bodies remaining in existence. It was not until 1851 that an act of See also:parliament was obtained, abolishing all governing authorities excepting the town council, and transferring all powers to this body. Another local act was obtained in 1862, and in 1883 these various acts were combined into the Birmingham Corporation Consolidation Act. In 1889 Birmingham was created a city, and a See also: About £5,900,000 had been spent when, on the 21st of See also:July 1904, King Edward VII. formally opened the supply. Two reservoirs on the river Elan, formed by See also:masonry dams from 98 to 128 ft. above the river-See also:bed, were then completed, the construction of the three planned on the Claerwen being deferred until See also:necessity should arise. Nearly a mile below the confluence of the rivers the great Caban Coch See also:dam, 122 ft. high, and the same in thickness at the See also:base, and 600 ft. See also:long at the See also:top, holds up the water for over 4 M. in the Elan, and over 2 in the Claerwen, having a capacity of 1500 million gallons. A series of See also:thirty See also:filter beds is included in the See also:original scheme; and the water travels 73.3 M. from the source to Birmingham by gravity alone with a fall of about 170 ft. The area of the gathering ground is 45,562 acres, the mean See also:annual rainfall in the district being 63 in. The complete scheme provided water for fifty years in advance, and a maximum of 75 million gallons a day was taken into See also:account, in addition to 27 million gallons for See also:compensation water to the river. The part of the works opened in 1904 provided about 27 million gallons of supply daily to the city. The corporation is obliged by the act to supply towns within 15 m. of the line of the See also:aqueduct. A See also:village for the See also:accommodation of workmen was established near the Caban Coch dam; and the corporation adopted a modified form of the See also:Gothenburg system in respect of the supply of intoxicating liquors, permitting no publican to open a licensed house. The administration of the poor-See also:law is vested in a See also:board of guardians of sixty members for the parish of Birmingham. The parish of Edgbaston (wholly within the borough) is in the poor-law union of King's Norton, and that part of the parish of Aston included in the borough is in the Aston Union. There are three workhouses—that for Birmingham parish, situated at Birmingham Heath, is capable of receiving over 2000 inmates. In 1882 a See also:superintendent relieving officer was appointed, and a system of cross-visitation started for the purpose of checking abuses of outdoor See also:relief. Workhouses, infirmaries and cottage homes are managed by the board, on which See also:women first sat in 1880. The administration of See also:justice was performed from 1838 to 1884 by a court of quarter sessions, with a See also:recorder, and a court of See also:petty sessions. In 1884 Birmingham was made an assize district of Warwickshire. In 1905 a special juvenile offenders' court was initiated. The borough See also:gaol is at Winson Green towards Smethwick. The drainage system is managed by the Birmingham, Tame and Rea District drainage board, constituted in 1877, and consisting of members from the city council and from districts outside the municipal area. Birmingham was enfranchised in 1832, when two representatives were assigned to it, and Thomas Attwood and See also:Joshua See also:Scholefield, leaders of the Political Union, were elected. In 1867 three members were assigned, and in 1885 the number was increased to seven, and a corresponding number of parliamentary divisions created, namely Bordesley, Central, East, Edgbaston, North, South and West. By the Provincial Local Government Board Act of 1891 four local board districts were added to the city of Birmingham for local government—Harborne (Stafford-See also:shire), Balsall Heath (Worcestershire), Saltley and the rural See also:hamlet of Little Bromwich (Warwickshire). These districts were by the act declared to be in the county of See also:Warwick, though still remaining in their respective counties for the exercise of See also:freehold votes. By this act the boundaries of the city were made conterminous for parliamentary, municipal and school board purposes. The area is 12,639 acres. The See also:population of Birmingham in 1700 was about 15,000. In 1801 it was 73,000, and it increased rapidly through the century. In 1891 it was 478,113 and in 1901, 522,204. Education.—The oldest educational institution is the grammar school of King Edward VI., founded in 1552 out of the lands of the Gild of the Holy Cross, then of the annual value of £21. The endowments now yield upwards of £37,000. The principal school included in the foundation is the boys' high school, held in the building in New Street. It has a classical and a modern side, and educates about 500 boys. Adjoining it, in a new building opened in 1896, is a large high school for girls, with 300 986 pupils. There are also on the foundation seven middle See also:schools, called grammar schools, four for girls and three for boys, situated in different parts of the city, and containing about 190o pupils altogether. The schools have numerous scholarships tenable at the schools as well as exhibitions to the See also:universities and other places of higher education. Queen's College, founded in 1828 as a school of See also:medicine, subsequently embraced other subjects, though in 1882 only the medical and theological departments were maintained. In 1882 a large part of the scientific teaching, hitherto done by special professors in Queen's College, was taken over by Mason College, and in 1892 the whole medical See also:department was removed to the same institution under an See also:order from the court of See also:chancery. This See also:change helped to advance the Birmingham medical school to a position of high repute. The theological students (Church of England) of Queen's College are few. The See also:idea of developing Queen's College into a university had long existed. But it was destined to be realized in connexion with Mason College, founded by Sir Josiah Mason in 1870. Subsequent deeds (1874 and 1881) added Greek and Latin to the See also:practical, See also:mechanical and See also:artistic curriculum of the original foundation, and provided that instruction may be given in all such other subjects as the trustees may from time to time See also:judge necessary, while once in every fifteen years the provisions of the See also:deed may be varied to meet changing needs—theology only being definitely excluded. In 1897 a new act was passed at the instance of the trustees, creating a court of 18o members, and removing the theological restriction. A measure of- popular control is given through the See also:appointment by the city council of five out of the eleven trustees. In 1898 a public meeting carried a See also:resolution in favour of creating a university. It was estimated that a quarter of a million was needed to endow and equip a university on the See also:scale proposed. Including 50,000 offered by Mr See also:Andrew See also:Carnegie, an equal amount from an See also:anonymous donor, and the See also:rest from local subscribers, in the autumn of 1899, f325,000 had been subscribed, and the privy council was at once petitioned for a charter, which was granted. The draft provided for the the incorporation of the university of Birmingham with faculties of See also:science, arts, medicine and See also:commerce, with power to grant degrees, and for its government by a court of See also:governors (of which women may be members), a council and a See also:senate. Mason College was merged in the university. The See also:faculty of commerce constitutes a distinctive feature in the scheme of the university, the object being to bring its teaching into close See also:touch with the industrial See also:life of the city, the district and the See also:kingdom. In 1905 Sir Edward See also:Elgar (who resigned in 1908) became the first occupant of a See also:chair of See also:music, founded owing to the liberality of Mr Richard Peyton. From the same See also:year great strides were made in the development of the scientific departments of the university. A site at Edgbaston was given by Lord Calthorpe, and the erection of a complete and costly set of buildings was undertaken. The Municipal School of Art was formed by the transference to the corporation in 1885 of the then existing school of art and the society of arts, and by the erection of the building in See also:Margaret Street, the site having already been given and a portion of the cost provided by private donors. There are one central school and two See also:branch schools. Evening classes are also held in some of the provided schools. The Midland Institute, the building of which was founded in 1855, and enlarged subsequently, includes a general See also:literary and an industrial department. A marked development took place in 1885, when, fresh room having been provided by the removal of the school of art hitherto held in the building, the industrial department was greatly enlarged, resulting in the creation of one of the best metallurgical schools in the kingdom. The Municipal Technical School was established in 1893 in the building of the Midland Institute, and in 1895 was housed in a fine building of its own, in See also:Suffolk Street, whither the whole of the scientific teaching of the institute was transferred. It contains metallurgical and See also:engineering workshops and laboratories, lecture theatres for the teaching of See also:chemistry and physics, a women's department, and rooms for the teaching of See also:machine See also:drawing and building See also:con-struction. Among other educational See also:foundations may be mentioned a number of industrial schools, reformatories and private schools of a good class. The principal libraries are the Birmingham library, founded in 1798 by Dr Priestley, in a modern building, the Central free library, and other free libraries in different parts of the city, each with a lending department and a See also:reading room. Charities.—The general See also:hospital, the foundation of Dr Ash, an eminent local physician, was opened in 1779. The old building was replaced in 1897 by a splendid new one in St Mary's Square, costing £206,000. The Queen's hospital, See also:Bath Row, the other large hospital of the town, was founded in 1840 by W. Sands Cox, F.R.S., an eminent local surgeon, who also founded the Queen's College as a medical school. The general dispensary, the officers of which visit patients at their own homes, relieves about 8000 yearly. The See also:children's hospital (free) established in 1864 by Dr Heslop, has two establishments—for out-patients (a handsome Gothic building) in Steelhouse Lane, and an in-patient department in Broad Street. There is also a women's hospital (free) for the special diseases of women; a lying-in charity; special hospitals for diseases of the See also:eye, the See also:ear, bodily deformities, and the See also:teeth; and a homoeopathic hospital. The parish of Birmingham maintains a large infirmary at the workhouse (Birmingham Heath), and a dispensary for out-patients in See also:Paradise Street. The See also:majority of the hospitals and dispensaries are free. Nearly all these medical charities depend upon subscriptions, donations, legacies and income from invested property. There are two public organizations for aiding the charities, both of which were begun in Birmingham. One is a simultaneous collection in See also:October in churches and chapels, on the See also:Sunday called Hospital Sunday, established in 1859; the other is the Saturday Hospital collection, made by the work-See also:people in See also: In it dwell smiths and cutlers. There be many smithes in the towne that use to make knives and all manner of See also:cutlery tooles, and many lorimers that make bittes, and a great many naylors, so that a great part of the towne is maintained by smithes, who have their iron and sea-tole out of Staffordshire." The cutlers no longer exist, this See also:trade having gone to See also:Sheffield; but the smiths remain, and the heavier cutting tools are still largely made here. The wide importance of Birmingham as a centre of manufactures began towards the close of the 17th century, one great source of it being the See also:absolute freedom of the town, there being no, See also:gilds, companies or restrictions of any kind; besides which the easy See also:access to cheap See also:coal and iron indirectly helped the development. It is remarkable that two important trades, now located elsewhere, were first established here. See also:Steel was made in Birmingham until 1797, but then ceased to be so for about seventy years, when an experiment in steel-making was made by a single See also:firm. See also:Cotton-See also:spinning was begun in Birmingham by John See also:Wyatt, See also:Lewis Paul and Thomas See also:Warren as early as 1730; but the See also:speculation was University. abandoned before the end of the century. The great See also:staple of Birmingham is metal-working in all its various forms. The chief variety is the See also:brass-working trade. Iron-working, though largely carried on, is a much less important trade, works of this kind being chiefly established in the Staffordshire district. See also:Jewelry, See also:gold, See also:silver and gilt come next to brass. The remarkable development of this branch of See also:industry is demonstrated by the increase in the amount of gold and silver marked, as recorded by the Assay office—the figures of 48,123 oz. of gold and 84,323 oz. of silver in 187o had been increased to 363,000 OZ. of gold and nearly 3,000,000 oz. of silver by the end of the century. Then follow " small arms " of all kinds. Until 1906 a Royal Small Arms factory was maintained by the government at Sparkbrook, but it was then transferred to the Birmingham Small Arms See also:Company, which had already extensive works in the district. Buttons, hooks and eyes, pins and other articles used for See also:dress, constitute a large class of manufactures. Glass, especially table glass, is a renowned staple of the town. Screws, nails, &c., are made in enormous quantities; indeed, Birmingham has a See also:monopoly of the English See also:screw trade. Steel pens are also a specialty, the name best known in this connexion being that of Sir Josiah Mason. Electro-plating, first established in 1841 by the firm of See also:Elkington, is one of the leading trades. Among other branches of manufacture are See also:wire-drawing, See also:bell See also:founding, metal See also:rolling, railway-See also:carriage building (a large and important industry), the manufacture of cutting implements and tools of all kinds, See also:die-sinking, See also:papier-mache making and a variety of others. In 1897 there was a sudden development of See also:cycle manufacturing, followed in 1899 by an almost equally sudden collapse, but this industry is maintained and accompanied by the manufacture of motor cars, tyres and accessories, for which Birmingham is one of the principal centres in Great See also:Britain. Birmingham may claim as her own the perfection of the See also:steam See also:engine, through the See also:genius of James Watt and the courage of Matthew See also:Boulton. The memory of the great Soho factory is one of the most See also:precious heritages of the town, and Watt's own private workshop continues just as he See also:left it, with no single See also:article disturbed, carefully preserved in the See also:garret of his house at See also:Heathfield. The mention of Watt and of Soho recalls the memories of distinguished inventors and others who have been connected with Birmingham. Here John See also:Baskerville, the printer, carried on his work. An institution called the Lunar Society, which met each See also:month about the time of full See also:moon, brought together a brilliant company—Watt, Boulton, Joseph Priestley, Josiah Wedgwood, See also:Erasmus See also:Darwin, See also:Samuel Parr, Dr William Withering, Richard See also:Lovell See also:Edgeworth, Sir Joseph See also:Banks, Sir William See also:Herschel, Dr Solander, John See also:Roebuck, James Keir and many others. William See also:Murdock, the inventor of gas, was a Soho See also:man, and first used his invention to See also:light the Soho factory at the See also:peace of See also:Amiens in 1802. The series of inventors is continued by the names of See also:Gillott, Elkington, See also:Chance, Mason and others. Thomas See also:Rickman, the reviver and historian of Gothic architecture, practised as an architect in Birmingham. William Hutton, the See also:antiquary and historian, carried on his See also:bookselling business here. Many of the best engravers were Birmingham men, notably James Tibbitts See also:Willmore and John See also:Pye, the special translators of See also:Turner's marvellous creations. Attwood, Joseph See also:Parkes, John See also:Bright and Joseph Chamberlain speak for Birmingham in the region of politics and statesmanship. One of the most marked features of social life in Birmingham is the fact that contrasts in the See also:distribution of See also:wealth are less strongly marked than in most other great cities. The distance between the poorest and the richest is bridged over by a larger number of intermediate gradations. See also:Colossal fortunes are few; on the other hand there is a numerous class of rich men. These, however, for the greater part are actually engaged in trade or manufactures, and hold their place in local life rather on account of industry pursued than of wealth possessed. The number of the leisured class, enjoying large incomes without participating in any local industry, is relatively small, but is said to be on the increase. There are many manufacturing companies, but great private firms are also numerous. In regard to labour conditions,98 the system of small masters holds its own in the manufactures of Birmingham, and shows no signs of extinction. One effect of this condition is that See also:capital and labour are not brought into enmity, and consequently strikes and disputes are infrequent. As regards the condition of the working classes it may he noted that Birmingham was the birthplace of the freehold land and building societies, by which workmen are enabled on easy terms to acquire houses of their own. The See also:risk of an over-crowded population is consequently minimized; the houses, moreover, are generally well situated as regards light and See also:air, and many have small gardens. Among industrial communities where See also:peculiar See also:attention is paid to the See also:housing of workmen and their families, that of Bourneville, occupied by the employes of Messrs Cadbury, See also:chocolate manufacturers, is well known. See also:History.—Owing to its rapid expansion, and the consequent newness of most of the public and other buildings, Birmingham is often supposed to be a modern town. It was, however, in existence as a community in the Saxon period. See also:Proof of this was given in 1309 by William de Bermingham, then lord of the manor, who showed in a law-suit that his ancestors had a See also:market in the place and levied tolls before the See also:Conquest. Some authors have endeavoured to identify the town with the supposed Roman station called Bremenium, but this claim has long been abandoned as fabulous. A Roman road runs north and south across the site of the town, but no remains have been found other than a very few coins. The origin of the name is untraceable; the spelling itself has passed through about Too different forms. See also:Dugdale, the historian of Warwickshire, adopts Bromwycham, and regards it as of Saxon derivation. Hutton, the historian of Birmingham, has the fanciful See also:etymology of Brom (See also:broom), wych (a descent), and See also:ham (a See also:home), making together the home on the hill by the heath. In Domesday See also:Book Birmingham is rated at four See also:miles of land with See also:half a mile of See also:woods, the whole valued at £203. Two See also:hundred years later the See also:family of de Bermingham, the owners of the place, come into sight, one of them, William, being killed at the See also:battle of See also:Evesham, in 1265, fighting with See also:Simon de See also:Montfort and the barons against Henry III. The son of this William afterwards took part in the See also:French See also:war, and was made prisoner; his See also:father's estates, forfeited by See also:treason, were restored to him. Thenceforward the family engaged in various local and other offices, but seemingly abstained from politics. They held the place until 1527, when Edward de Bermingham was deprived of his property by means of John Dudley, See also:duke of See also:Northumberland, who trumped up a pretended See also:charge of See also:riot and See also:robbery against him and procured Birmingham for himself. On the See also:attainder of Dudley the manor passed to the crown, and was granted to Thomas Marrow, of Berkswell, from whom by See also:marriage and descent it went to See also:Christopher See also:Musgrave, and finally, as regards the only valuable part—the market tolls—by purchase to the town itself. In the See also:Wars of the See also:Roses it does not seem that Birmingham took any part; but See also:energy revived in the See also:Civil War under Charles I., when the town sided actively with the Parliamentarians. In 1642, when Charles was marching from See also:Shrewsbury to relieve See also:Banbury, the Birmingham people seized part of his baggage, including much See also:plate, See also:money and See also:wine, which they sent to the Parliamentary garrison at Warwick. Before the battle of Edgehill Charles rested for two nights at Aston Hall, near the town, as the See also:guest of Sir. Thomas Holte. The Birmingham people resented this by helping the Parliamentarians to cannonade the Hall and to See also:levy a fine upon Sir Thomas Holte. They also supplied the Parliamentary See also:army with 15,000 See also:sword See also:blades, refusing to make a single blade for the Royalists. These manifestations of hostility were avenged in See also:April 1643 by Prince See also:Rupert, who, with 2000 men and several pieces of See also:artillery, attacked the town, planting his cannon on an See also:eminence near Sparkbrook, still known as Camphill. The towns-people resisted, but were beaten, many persons being killed or wounded. Amongst the former was Lord See also:Denbigh, one of the Royalist officers. Having captured the place, Prince Rupert allowed his troops to See also:plunder it, to See also:burn about eighty houses and to set their prisoners to See also:ransom. He also levied a fine of £30,000,
equal to at least f See also:ioo,000 of the present value of money. This See also:bitter See also:lesson kept Birmingham quiet during the rest of the Civil War, though the sympathies of the people with the Parliamentarians were unabated. In 1665 Birmingham suffered heavy losses by the See also:plague, great See also:numbers of dead being buried in the Pest See also: This edifice the See also:mob promptly destroyed when James gave place to William and Mary. Rather more than acentury of quiet prosperity ensued, and then occurred the serious and most lamentable outbreak of popular fury known as the Church and King riots of 1791. For some years there had been much political activity in Birmingham, the dissenters, particularly the Unitarians, being desirous of relief from the political and religious disabilities under which they laboured. The See also:leader in these movements was the famous Dr Priestley, who kept up an active controversy with the local See also:clergy and others, and thus See also:drew upon himself and his co-religionists the hatred of the more violent members of the Church and Tory party. The smouldering fire See also:broke out on the occasion of the French Revolution. On the 14th of July a See also:dinner of Birmingham Liberals was held at the Royal hotel to celebrate the destruction of the See also:Bastille. This was the See also:signal of a popular outbreak. A Church and King mob, encouraged and organized by leaders of better station, who were too cowardly to show themselves, began an attack upon the Unitarians. Priestley was not present at the dinner, but his house at See also:Fair Hill, Spark-brook, was one of the first to be sacked and burnt—his library and laboratory, with all his See also:manuscripts, the records of life-long scientific and philosophical inquiries, perishing in the flames. The house and library of Hutton the historian were also destroyed. The Unitarian chapel was burnt, and several houses belonging to members of the See also:sect were sacked and burnt. The riot continued until a strong body of troops was marched into the town, but before their arrival damage to the amount of more than £6o,000 had been done. Some of the rioters perished in the burning buildings, in the cellars of which they drank themselves into stupefaction. Others were tried and imprisoned, and four of the prisoners were hanged. The persecuted Unitarians recovered a small part of their losses from the county; but Priestley himself, owing in a great measure to the unworthy See also:prejudice against him, was forced to remove to the See also:United States of See also:America, where he spent the rest of his life. A See also:late See also:atonement was made by the town to his memory in 1873, by the erection of a statue in his See also:honour in front of the town hall and the foundation of a Priestley scholarship at the Midland Institute. As if ashamed of the excesses of 1791, Birmingham thenceforth became, with one or two exceptions, a peaceful town. In the See also:dismal period from 1817 to 1819, when the manufacturing districts were heavily distressed and were disturbed by riots, Birmingham remained quiet. Even when some of the inhabitants were tried and punished for demanding parliamentary See also:representation, and for electing Sir Charles See also:Wolseley as their delegate, there was no demonstration of violence—the See also:wise counsels of the leaders inducing orderly submission to the law. The same prudent course was observed when in the Reform agitation of 1831–1832 the Political Union was formed, under the leadership of Thomas Attwood, to promote the passing of the Reform See also:Bill. Almost the whole town, and great part of the surrounding district, joined in this agitation; vast meetings were held on Newhall Hill; there was much talk of marching upon London roo,000 strong; but, owing to the firmness and statesmanship of Attwood and his associates, there was no rioting or any sign of violence. Ultimately the Political Union succeeded in its object, and Birmingham helped to secure for the nation the enfranchisement of the middle classes and other political reforms. One exception to the tranquillity of the town has to be recorded—the occurrence of riots in 1839, during the Chartist agitation. See also:Chartism took a strong hold in Birmingham, and, under theinfluence of Feargus O'See also:Connor and some of his associates, nightly meetings of a threatening character were held in the Bull Ring. The magistrates resolved to put these down, and having obtained the help of a detachment of the See also:metropolitan police—the town then having no local See also:police force—a meeting was dispersed, and a riot ensued, which resulted in injury to several persons and required military force to suppress it. This happened on the 4th of July. On the 15th of the same month another meeting took place, and the mob, strongly armed and numbering many thousands, set fire to several houses in the Bull Ring, some of which were burned to the ground and others were greatly damaged. The military again interfered, and order was restored, several of the ringleaders being afterwards tried and imprisoned for their See also:share in the disturbance. There was another riot in r867, caused by the ferocious attacks of a lecturer named See also:Murphy upon the Roman Catholics, which led to the sacking of a street chiefly inhabited by Irishmen; but the incident was comparatively trivial and further disorders were prevented by the prompt See also:action of the authorities. See W. Hutton, History of Birmingham (2nd ed., Birm., 1783); J. A. Langford, A Century of Birmingham Life, 1941–1841 (Birm., 1868), and Modern Birmingham and its Institutions, 1841–1871 (Birm., 1893) ; J. T. Bunce, History of the Corporation of Birmingham (Birm., 1885). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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