Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham Part 28

_Munden_, T.--In the year 1818, Mr. Munden (born in London in 1798) came to this town as organist of Christ Church, and was also chosen as teacher of the Oratorio Choral Society, and to this day it may be said that the reputation of our Festival Choir is mostly based on the instruction given by him during his long residence among us. From 1823 till 1849 Mr. Munden acted as a.s.sistant-conductor at the Festivals, retiring from public life in 1853.

_Muntz_.--The Revolution in 1792 drove the Muntz family to emigrate from their aristocratic abode in France, and a younger son came to this town, where he married a Miss Purden, and established himself in business.

From this alliance sprung _our_ race of the Muntzes. George Frederic, the eldest, was born in November, 1794, and losing his father in early life, was head of the family in his 18th year. He devoted himself for many years, and with great success, to mercantile affairs, but his most fortunate undertaking, and which has made his name known all over the world, was the manufacture of sheathing metal for ships bottoms. It has been doubted whether he did any more than revive another man's lapsed patent, but it has never been questioned that he made a vast sum of money out of the "yellow metal." In politics, G.F.M. took a very active part, even before the formation of the Political Union in 1830, and for many years he was the idol of his fellow-townsmen. He was elected M.P.

for Birmingham, in January, 1840, and held the seat till the day of his death, which took place July 30, 1857. His name will be found on many a page of our local history, even though a statue of him is not yet posed on a pedestal.

_Murdoch_, William.--Born at Bellow Mill, near Old c.u.mnock, Ayrshire, in 1750, and brought up as a millwright, came here in search of work in 1777. He was employed by Boulton at 15s. per week for the first two years, but he soon became the most trusted of all the many engaged at Soho, and never left there though offered 1,000 a year to do so. The first steam engine applied to drawing carriages was constructed by him in the shape of a model which ran round a room in his house at Redruth in 1784, and which is still in existence. As an inventor, he was second only to Watt, his introduction of gas lighting being almost equal to that of the steam engine. He lived to be 85, dying November 15, 1839, at his residence, Sycamore Hill, Handsworth. His remains lie near those of his loved employers, Boulton and Watt, in the parish church.

_Pett.i.tt_.--Mr. Joseph Pett.i.tt, who died Sept. 9, 1882, in his 70th year, was a local artist of note, a member of the Society of Artists, and for many years a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy, our local, and other exhibitions. In his younger years Mr. Pett.i.tt was employed in the papier-mache trade, a business peculiarly suited to persons gifted with artistic faculties. His earliest specimens of landscape attracted attention, and Mr. Joseph Gillott commissioned the painter to furnish a number of Swiss views for the collection of pictures he had began to gather. Mr. Pett.i.tt pleased the penmaker, and soon made a name for himself, his works being characterised by fine colour and broad vigorous handling.

_Phillips_, Alderman, died Feb. 25, 1876. A member of the first Town Council, and Mayor in 1844. Mr. Phillips long took active part in munic.i.p.al matters, and was the founder of the Licensed Victuallers'

Asylum.

_Pickard_, James.--A Birmingham b.u.t.ton maker, who patented, Aug. 23, 1780, the use of the crank in the steam engine to procure rotary motion.

He is supposed to have got the idea from overhearing the conversation of some Soho workmen while at their cups. The first engine in which it was used (and the fly-wheel) was for a manufacturer in Snow Hill, and was put up by Matthew Washborough, of Bristol.

_Plant_.--Mr. T.L. Plant, who died very suddenly in a railway carriage in which he was coming into town on the morning of August 31, 1883, came to Birmingham in 1840. As a meteorologist, who for more than forty years had kept close record of wind and weather, he was well known; his letters to the newspapers on this and kindred subjects were always interesting, and the part he took in advanced sanitary questions gained him the friendship of all. Mr. Plant was a native of Yorkshire, and was in his 64th year at the time of his death.

_Playfair_, William (brother of the eminent Scotch mathematician) was engaged as a draughtsman at the Soho Works, after serving apprenticeship as a millwright. He patented various inventions, and was well known as a political writer, &c. Born, 1759; died, 1823.

_Postgate_, John.--This name should be honoured in every household for a life's exertion in the obtainment of purity in what we eat and drink.

Beginning life as a grocer's boy, he saw the most gross adulteration carried on in all the varieties of articles sold by his employers, and afterwards being with a medical firm, he studied chemistry, and devoted his life to a.n.a.lysing food and drugs. Coming to this town in 1854, he obtained the a.s.sistance of Mr. Wm. Scholefield, by whose means the first Parliamentary Committee of Enquiry was appointed; the revelations were astounding, but it was not till 1875 that anything like a stringent Act was pa.s.sed whereby the adulterators could be properly punished. The author of this great national benefit was allowed to die almost in poverty, uncared for by his countrymen at large, or by his adopted townsmen of Birmingham. Born October 21, 1820, Mr. Postgate died in July, 1881.

_Ragg_, Rev. Thomas.--Once a bookseller and printer, editor and publisher of the _Birmingham Advertiser_, and author of several works, one of which secured for him the goodwill of the Bishop of Rochester, who ordained him a minister of the Established Church in 1858. He died December 3rd, 1881, in his 74th year, at Lawley, Salop, having been perpetual curate thereof from 1865. His parishioners and friends subscribed for a memorial window, and a fund of a little over 200 was raised for the benefit of the widow, but a very small part thereof went from Birmingham.

_Ratcliffe_.--Mr. John Ratcliffe, who had in past years been a Town Commissioner, a Low Bailiff, a Town Councillor, and Alderman, was chosen as Mayor in 1856, and, being popular as well as wealthy, got reappointed yearly until 1859. In the first-named year, H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge was the Mayor's guest when he came to open Calthorpe Park. When the Princess Royal was married, in 1858, the Mayor celebrated the auspicious event by giving a dinner to more than a thousand poor people, and he headed the deputation which was sent from here to present England's royal daughter with some articles of Birmingham manufacture. On the occasion of the Queen's visit to open Aston Park, Mr. Mayor received the honour of Knighthood, and became Sir John, dying in 1864, in his 67th year.

_Rennie_, John.--The celebrated engineer and architect, who built Waterloo and Southwark Bridges, Plymouth Breakwater, &c., was for a short time in the employ of Boulton and Watt.

_Roebuck_, Dr. John, grandfather of the late John Arthur Roebuck, M.D.

was born at Sheffield in 1718; came to Birmingham in 1745. He introduced better methods of refining gold and silver, originated more economical styles of manufacturing the chemicals used in trade (especially oil of vitriol), and revived the use of pit coal in smelting iron. After leaving this town he started the Carron Ironworks on the Clyde, and in 1768 joined James Watt in bringing out the latter's steam engine. Some mining investments failed before the engine was perfected, and his interest thereon was transferred to Mr. Boulton, the doctor dying in 1794 a poor man.

_Rogers_.--John Rogers, one of "the glorious army of martyrs," was burnt at Smithfield (London) on February 4, 1555. He was born in Deritend about the year 1500, and a.s.sisted in the translation and printing of the Bible into English. He was one of the Prebendaries of St. Paul's, London, but after Queen Mary came to the throne he gave offence by preaching against idolatry and superst.i.tion, and was kept imprisoned for eighteen months prior to condemnation and execution, being the first martyr of the Reformation. He left a wife and eleven children. See "_Statues and Memorials_."

_Russell_.--William Congreve Russell, Esq., J.P., and in 1832 elected M.P. for East Worcestershire, who died Nov. 30, 1850, aged 72, was the last of a family whose seat was at Moor Green for many generations.

_Ryall_, Dr. John.--The first headmaster of the Edgbaston Proprietary School, which opened under his superintendence in January, 1838, his connection therewith continuing till Christmas, 1846. He was a man of great learning, with a remarkable command of language, and a singularly accurate writer. Born March 11, 1806, his intellectual acquirements expanded so rapidly that at sixteen he was able to support himself, and, pa.s.sing with the highest honours, he had taken his degree and accepted the head mastership of Truro Grammar School before his 21st birthday.

For the last 30 years of his life he filled the post of Vice-President of Queen's College, Cork, departing to a better sphere June 21, 1875.

_Ryland_, Arthur.--Descendant of a locally long-honoured family this gentleman, a lawyer, added considerably to the prestige of the name by the prominent position he took in every work leading to the advancement of his townsmen, social, moral, and political. Connected with almost every inst.i.tution in the borough, many of which he aided to establish or develop. Mr. Ryland's name is placed foremost among the founders of the Birmingham and Midland Inst.i.tute, the Art Gallery, the public Libraries, the Hospitals for Women and Children, the Sanatorium, &c., while he was one of the greatest friends to the Volunteer movement and the adoption of the School Board's system of education. During life he was appointed to all the leading offices of citizenship, in addition to being chosen President of the Law Society and other bodies. He died at Cannes, March 23, 1877, in his 70th year.

_Scholefield_, William.--Son of Joshua Scholefield, was chosen as the first Mayor after the incorporation, having previously been the High Bailiff of the Court Leet. In 1847 he was elected M.P., holding that office through five Parliaments and until his death July 9, 1867 (in his 58th year). In the House, as well as in his private life and business circles, he was much esteemed for the honest fixity of purpose which characterised all his life.

_Shaw_, Charles, commonly known as "Charley" Shaw, was a large manufacturing merchant, and held high position as a moneyed man for many years down to his death. He was as hard as a nail, rough as a bear, and many funny tales have been told about him, but he is worth a place in local history, if only for the fact that it was princ.i.p.ally through his exertions that the great monetary panic of 1837 was prevented from becoming almost a national collapse.

_Sherlock_.--Though not to be counted exactly as one of our Birmingham men, Thomas Sherlock, Bishop of London, who purchased the manor estates in or about 1730, must have a place among the "noteworthies." Hutton states that when the Bishop made his bargain the estate brought in about 400 per annum, but that in another thirty years or so it had increased to twice the value. The historian goes on to say that "the pious old Bishop was frequently solicited to grant building leases, but answered, 'his land was valuable, and if built upon, his successor, at the expiration of the term, would have the rubbish to carry off:' he therefore not only refused, but prohibited his successor from granting such leases. But Sir Thomas Gooch, who succeeded him, seeing the great improvement of the neighbouring estates, and wisely judging fifty pounds per acre preferable to five, procured an Act in about 1766, to set aside the prohibiting clause in the Bishop's will. Since which, a considerable town may be said to have been erected upon his property, now (1787) about 2,400 per annum." Bishop and historian alike, would be a little astonished at the present value of the property, could they see it.

_Small_, Dr. William.--A friend of Boulton, Watt, and Priestley, and one of the famous Lunar Society, born in county Angus, Scotland, in 1734, dying here in 1778. A physician of most extensive knowledge, during a residence in America he filled the chair of Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Williamsburg, Virginia. In the beautiful pleasure grounds of Soho House, when Matthew Boulton lived, there was an urn inscribed to the memory of Dr. Small, on which appeared some impressive lines written by Dr. Darwin, of Derby:--

"Here, while no t.i.tled dust, no sainted bone, No lover weeping over beauty's bier, No warrior frowning in historic stone, Extorts your praises, or requests your tear; Cold Contemplation leans her aching head, On human woe her steady eye she turns, Waves her meek hand, and sighs for Science dead, For Science, Virtue, and for SMALL she mourns."

_Smith_.--Mr. Brooke Smith (of the well-known firm of Martineau and Smith), a valued supporter of Penn Street and Dale Street Industrial Schools, the Graham Street Charity, and other inst.i.tutions connected with the welfare of the young, died in April, 1876, in his 78th year. A Liberal in every way, the sound common sense of Mr. Brooke Smith, who was noted for an unvarying courtesy to all parties and creeds, kept him from taking any active share in local politics where urbanity and kindliness is heavily discounted.

_Sturge_, Joseph.--Born August 2, 1793, at Alberton, a village on the Severn, was intended for a farmer, but commenced trading as a cornfactor at Bewdley, in 1814, his brother Charles joining him in 1822, in which year they also came to Birmingham. Mr. Sturge was chosen a Town Commissioner, but resigned in 1830, being opposed to the use of the Town Hall being granted for oratorios. He was one of the directors of the London and Birmingham Railway when it was opened in 1836, but objecting to the running of Sunday trains, withdrew from the board. In 1838 he was elected Alderman for St. Thomas's Ward, but would not subscribe to the required declaration respecting the Established religion. At a very early date he took an active part in the Anti-slavery movement, and his visit to the West Indies and subsequent reports thereon had much to do with hastening the abolition of slavery. When the working-cla.s.ses were struggling for electoral freedom and "the Charter," Mr. Sturge was one of the few found willing to help them, though his peace-loving disposition failed to induce them to give up the idea of "forcing" their rights. Having a wish to take part in the making of the laws, he issued an address to the electors of Birmingham in 1840, but was induced to retire; in August, 1842, he contested Nottingham, receiving 1,801 votes against his opponent's 1885; in 1844 he put up for Birmingham, but only 364 votes were given him; and he again failed at Leeds in 1847, though he polled 1,976 voters. In 1850 he visited Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark, and in February, 1854, St. Petersburgh, each time in hopes of doing something to prevent the wars then commencing, but failure did not keep him from Finland in 1856 with relief for the sufferers. In 1851 he took a house in Ryland Road and fitted it up as a reformatory, which afterwards led to the establishment at Stoke Prior. Mr. Sturge died on May 14, 1859, and was buried on the 20th in Bull Street. His character needs no comment, for he was a Christian in his walk as well as in his talk.

_Taylor_, John.--Died in 1775, aged 64, leaving a fortune of over 200,000, acquired in the manufacture of metal b.u.t.tons, j.a.panned ware, snuff boxes, &c. It is stated that he sent out 800 worth of b.u.t.tons weekly, and that one of his workmen earned 70s. per week by painting snuff boxes at 1/4d. each. Mr. Taylor must have had a monopoly in the latter, for this one hand at the rate named must have decorated some 170,000 boxes per annum.

_Tomlins_.--Samuel Boulton Tomlins, the son of a local iron merchant (who was one of the founders of the Birmingham Exchange) and Mary Harvey Boulton (a near relative to Matthew) was born September 28, 1797, at Park House, in Park Street, then a vine-covered residence surrounded by gardens. His mother was so great a favourite with Baskerville that the celebrated printer gave her one of two specially-printed Bibles, retaining the other for himself. After serving an apprenticeship to a bookseller, Mr. Tomlins was taken into Lloyd's Bank as a clerk, but was soon promoted to be manager of the branch then at Stockport, but which was taken over afterwards by a Manchester Banking Company, with whom Mr.

Tomlins stayed until 1873, dying September 8, 1879.

_Ulwin_.--Though nearly last in our list, Ulwin, or Alwyne, the son of WiG.o.d, and the grandson of Woolgeat, the Danish Earl of Warwick, must rank first among our noteworthy men, if only from the fact that his name is absolutely the first found in historical records as having anything to do with Birmingham. This was in King Edward the Confessor's time, when Alwyne was Sheriff _(vice-comes)_ and through his son Turchill, who came to be Earl of Warwick, the Ardens and the Bracebridges trace their descent from the old Saxon kings, Alwyne's mother being sister to Leofric, III., Earl of Mercia. Whether Alwyne thrived on his unearned increment or not, the politicians of the time have not told us, but the possessions that came to him by the Dano-Saxon marriage of his parents seems to have been rather extensive, as it is written that he owned not only the manor of Birmingham, but also Halesowen, Escelie, Hagley, and Swinford in Wirecescire (Worcestershire), Great Barr, Handsworth, Penn, Rushall and Walsall, in Staffordshire, as well as Aston, Witton, Erdington, and Edgbaston. The modern name of Allen is deducible from Alwyne, and the bearers thereof, if so inclined, may thus be enabled to also claim a kingly descent, and much good may it do them.

_Underwood_, Thomas.--The first printer to introduce the art of lithography into Birmingham, and he is also credited with being the discoverer of chromo-litho, and the first to publish coloured almanacks and calendars. He did much to foster the taste for art, but will probably be most generally recollected by the number of views of old Birmingham and reproductions of pictures and maps of local interest that he published. Mr. Underwood died March 14, 1882, in his 73rd year.

_Van Wart_.--Henry Van Wart, was born near New York, Sept. 25, 1783, and took up his abode with us in 1808. By birth an American, by descent a Dutchman, he became a Brum through being naturalised by special Act of Parliament, and for nearly seventy years was one of our princ.i.p.al merchants. He was also one of the first Aldermen chosen for the borough.

Died Feb. 15, 1873, in his 90th year.

_Ward_.--Humble Ward, son of Charles I.'s jeweller, who married the daughter of the Earl of Dudley, was created Baron Ward of Birmingham.

Their son Edward thus came to the t.i.tle of Lord Dudley and Ward in 1697.

_Warren_.--Thomas Warren was a well-known local bookseller of the last century. He joined Wyatt and Paul in their endeavours to establish the Cotton Spinning Mill, putting 1,000 into the speculation, which unfortunately landed him in bankruptcy. He afterwards became an auctioneer, and in 1788 had the pleasure of selling the machinery of the mill in which forty years previous his money had been lost.

_Watt_, James, was born at Greenock, Jan. 19, 1736, and (if we are to credit the somewhat apocryphal anecdote of his testing the power of steam as it issued from his aunt's teakettle when a little lad barely breeched) at an early age he gave evidence of what sort of a man he would be. In such a condensed work as the present book, it is impossible to give much of the life of this celebrated genius; but fortunately there are many biographies of him to which the student can refer, as well as scientific and other tomes, in which his manifold inventions have been recorded, and in no corner of the earth where the steam-engine has been introduced can his name be unknown. After many years' labour to bring the new motive power into practical use, Watt, helped by his friend Dr. Roebuck, took out his first patent in 1769. Roebuck's share was transferred to Matthew Boulton in 1773, and in the following year James Watt came to Birmingham. An Act of Parliament prolonging the patent for a term of twenty-four years was obtained in May, 1775, and on the first of June was commenced the world-famous partnership of Boulton and Watt. Up to this date the only engine made to work was the one brought by Watt from Scotland, though more than nine years had been spent on it, and thousands of pounds expended in experiments, improvements, and alterations. Watt's first residence here was in Regent's Place, Harper's Hill, to which (Aug. 17, 1775) he brought his second wife. He afterwards removed to Heathfield, where the workshop in which he occupied his latest years still remains, as on the day of his death. In 1785, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society; in 1806, the University of Glasgow conferred the degree of LL.D. upon him, and in 1808 he was elected a member of the National Inst.i.tute of France. One of the latest inventions of James Watt was a machine for the mechanical copying of sculpture and statuary, its production being the amus.e.m.e.nt of his octogenarian years, for, like his partner Boulton, Watt was permitted to stay on the earth for longer than the so-called allotted term, his death taking place on the 19th of August, 1819, when he was in his 83rd year. He was buried in Handsworth Church, where there is a monument, the features of which are said to be very like him. A statue was erected to his memory in Westminster Abbey in 1824, and others have been set up in Birmingham, Manchester, Greenock, and Glasgow. The following is the inscription (written by Lord Brougham) on the tomb of Watt in Westminster Abbey, towards the cost of which George IV.

contributed 500:--

"Not to perpetuate a name which must endure while the peaceful arts flourish, but to show that mankind have learned to honour those who best deserve their grat.i.tude, the King, his ministers, and many of the n.o.bles and commoners of the realm, raised this monument to JAMES WATT, who, directing the force of an original genius, early exercised in philosophical research, to the improvement of the steam-engine, enlarged the resources of his country, increased the power of man, and rose to an eminent place among the most ill.u.s.trious followers of science and the real benefactors of the world. Born at Greenock, 1736; died at Heathfield, in Staffordshire, 1819."

One of James Watt's sons, Gregory, who devoted himself to science and literature, died in 1804, at the early age of 27. James, born Feb. 5, 1769, resided for a number of years at Aston Hall, where he died in 1848. In 1817 he voyaged to Holland in the first steam vessel that left an English port, the engines having been manufactured at Soho. He was of a very retiring disposition, and not particularly popular with the public, though valued and appreciated by those admitted to closer intimacy.

_West_.--Though he did not come to Birmingham until close upon sixty years of age, being born in 1770, William West, in his "History of Warwickshire," published one of the best descriptions of this town ever yet prepared. He had establishments in London and Cork, and was the author of several amusing and interesting works, such as "Tavern Anecdotes," "Fifty Years' Recollections of an Old Bookseller." &c., now scarce, though "West's Warwickshire" may often be met with at the "Chaucer's Head," and other old bookshops.

_Williams_, Fleetwood, who died in 1836, at the early age of 29, was the author of sundry locally interesting prose works and poetical "skits."

He was connected with several debating clubs, and showed talent that promised future distinction.

_Willmore_.--James Tibbets Willmore, a native of Handsworth, was an eminent landscape engraver, famed for his reproductions of Turner's works. His death occurred in March, 1863, in his 63rd year.

_Winfield_.--Mr. Robert Walter Winfield, though he took comparatively little part in the public life of our town, deserves a prominent place among our men of note as a manufacturer who did much towards securing Birmingham a somewhat better name than has occasionally been given it, in respect to the quality of the work sent out. Starting early in life, in the military ornament line, Mr. Winfield began in a somewhat small way on the site of the present extensive block of buildings known as Cambridge Street Works, which has now developed into an establishment covering several acres of land. Here have been manufactured some of the choicest specimens of bra.s.s foundry work that could be desired, no expense being spared at any time in the procuring of the best patterns, and (which is of almost equal importance) the employment of the best workmen. The goods sent from Cambridge Street to the first Great Exhibition, 1851, obtained the highest award, the Council's Gold Medal, for excellence of workmanship, beauty of design, and general treatment, and the house retains its position. Mr. Winfield was a true man, Conservative in politics, but most, truly liberal in all matters connected with his work-people and their families. In the education and advancement of the younger hands he took the deepest interest, spending thousands in the erection of schools and the appointment of teachers for them, and not a few of our present leading men have to thank him for their first step in life. The death of his only son, Mr. J.F. Winfield, in 1861, was a great blow to the father, and caused him to retire from active business through failing health. His death (Dec. 16, 1869), was generally felt as a loss to the town.

_Wyatt_.--John Wyatt, one of Birmingham's most ingenious sons, invented (in 1738) the spinning of cotton by means of rollers, but unlike Richard Arkwright, who afterwards introduced a more perfect machine and made a fortune, the process was never other than a source of loss to the original inventor and his partners, who vainly tried to make it a staple manufacture of the town. The weighing machine was also the work of Wyatt's brain, though he did not live to see the machine in use, dying Nov. 29, 1766, broken down by misfortune, but honoured by such men as Baskerville and Boulton who, then rising themselves, knew the worth of the man whose loss they deplored. Wyatt's grave is on the Blue Coat School side of St. Philip's churchyard.

_Wyon_.--A celebrated local family of die-sinkers and medalists. William Wyon (born in 1795) receiving the gold medal of the Society of Arts, for his medal of Ceres, obtained in 1816 the post of second engraver at the Mint, his cousin, Thomas Wyon, being then the chief. One of the finest medals engraved by him was that of Boulton, struck by Thomason, in high relief, and 4in. in diameter. He died in 1851, having produced all the coins and medals for Queen Victoria and William IV., part of George IV.'s, and prize medals for many societies. His son, Leonard Wyon, produced the Exhibition medals in 1851.

The preceding are really but a few of the men of note whose connection with Birmingham has been of historical interest, and the catalogue might be extended to great length with the names of the De Birminghams, the Smalbrokes, Middlemores, Colmores, and others of the old families alone.

Scores of pages would not suffice to give even the shortest biographies of the many who, by their inventive genius and persistent labour, placed our town at the head of the world's workshops, the a.s.sistants and followers of the great men of Soho, the Thomasons, Taylors, and others living in the early part of the century, or the Elkingtons, Chances, &c., of later days. A volume might easily be filled with lives of scientific and literary men of the past, Hutton the historian, Morfitt, poet and barrister; Beilby, Hodgetts, Hudson, and other bookmen, to say naught of the many Press writers (who in their day added not a little to the advancement of their fellow-townsmen), or the venerable doctors, the school teachers and scholars, the pastors and masters of the old School and the old Hospital. Mention is made of a few here and there in this book; of others there have been special histories published, and, perchance _some_ day "Birmingham men" will form the t.i.tle of a more comprehensive work.