Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham Part 43

An attempt to extend the medical education to female students was made at one time, but the ladies were refused permission to attend the College June 27, 1873; they are still debarred from studying surgery here, and none have as yet entered their names on the list of theological students. In the other departments greater facilities have been allowed the fair s.e.x, a Central High School for girls being opened at the College September 17, 1879, accommodation being provided for eighty pupils. The Museum of Natural History formed at the College soon after its opening, long one of the town attractions for visitors, was presented to the Corporation, and formed the nucleus of the heterogenous collection at Aston Hall. The medical students have the advantage of an extensive Anatomical Museum, and there is, besides, a library of about 6,000 volumes of the best works and books of reference that could be obtained.

_Oscott College_.--The old Roman Catholic College of St. Mary's, at Oscott, was first used as such in 1808. The present building was commenced in 1835, and opened May 31, 1838, and is considered one of the chief English seminaries for Catholic students in theology. The chapel is 112 ft. long by 33 ft. wide, and is richly decorated, having side chapels and several handsome memorial windows. The College library is very extensive, and includes many very rare, valuable, and ancient works, some choice MSS., and a number of "old masters," the latter having been contributed by the late Earl of Shrewsbury.

_Saltley Training College_, which covers nearly seven acres of land, was inst.i.tuted in 1847, and was opened at Easter, 1852, for the education of future schoolmasters in connection with the Established Church. The building cost nearly 18,000 and will accommodate 100 students who undergo a two years' training, the College being under the inspection of the Committee of Council on Education. Government grants amount to about two-thirds of the income, the balance being raised by public subscription and from fees. In addition to over fifty scholarships tenable by students who pa.s.s their examination, there are four exhibitions arising from a sum of 2,000 given in October, 1874, by the late Mr. Arthur Ryland (for a donor who desired to be anonymous) to the governing body of this College "to found a trust for promoting the teaching of teachers the laws of health, and inducing teachers to make that subject one of the things statedly taught in their own schools,"

and a further 1,000 for four exhibitions to students.

_Severn Street First Day Adult School_.--The name tells pretty well that this school was commenced by some members of the Society of Friends, though there is really nothing sectarian about it. Established in 1815, in a simple way and with but few cla.s.ses, there is hardly an inst.i.tution in the town that can be compared to it in the matter of practical usefulness, and certainly none at which there has been exhibited such an amount of unselfish devotedness on the part of teachers and superintendents. The report to the end of 1883 stated that during the year the progress of the school had been of an encouraging character.

The following statistics were given of the total attendance at all the schools connected with the movement:--Number of teachers, 57 males, 25 females--total, 82, average attendance, 51 males, 23 females--total 74.

Elementary teachers, 173 males, 21 females--total, 194; average attendance, 152 males, 19 females--total, 171. Number of scholars, 3,370 males, 653 females--total, 4,023; average attendance, 2,510 males, 510 females--total 3,080. The total number admitted since the men's school commenced in 1845, and the women's in 1848, had been 40,350. In connection with the school there are a number of organisations of great utility, such as sick societies, building societies, savings' funds, libraries, excursions clubs, &c. In the savings' fund the balance in hand reached 14,000, while over 18,000 had been paid into the building societies. There are a dozen other "adult schools" in the town which have sprung from Severn Street.

_Spring Hill College_.--For the education and training of Independent ministers, was first opened in 1838, in the mansion of Mr. George Storer Mansfield, at Spring Hill, that gentleman giving certain landed property towards its future support. The present edifice, near Moseley, to which the old name was given, was opened in June, 1857, the cost of the building, &c., nearly 18,000, being raised by voluntary contributions.

It has room for 36 students.

_Sunday Schools_.--Sunday cla.s.ses for the teaching of the Catechism, &c., date from a very early period of Church history, but Sunday Schools as they are now known seem to have been locally organised about a hundred years ago, the Sunday after Michaelmas Day in 1784 being marked as a red-letter-day on account of there being twenty-four schools then opened, though the course of instruction went no further than teaching the children to read. In 1789 some young men formed the "Sunday Society"

as an addition thereto, the object being to teach writing and arithmetic to boys and youths of the artisan cla.s.s. In 1796 the society was extended, other cla.s.ses being formed, lectures delivered, &c., and it was then called the "Brotherly Society." Mr. James Luckc.o.c.k and Mr.

Thos. Carpenter were the leaders, and this is claimed to have been the origin of Mechanics' Inst.i.tutes. The Unitarians date their Sunday Schools from 1787: the Baptists and Methodists from 1795. Deritend Sunday School was opened by Mr. Palmer in 1808, with but six scholars; in a month they were so numerous that part had to be taught in the street. The first prizes given to the children were new Boulton pennies.

On Emanc.i.p.ation Day (August 1, 1838) there was a procession of over 3,000 scholars from the Baptist Sunday Schools. In 1812 the Birmingham Sunday School Union was organised. The medallists of this town sent out about 800,000 commemoration medals in 1880, when the Sunday School Centenary was kept. Nearly 2,000 teachers attend the Church schools and about 2,500 attend Dissenting and other schools, the number of children on the books of Sunday Schools in Birmingham being estimated at--

14 years and Under 14 over. years. Total.

Church of England schools 5,500 16,500 22,000 Sunday School Union 7,312 13,660 20,972 Wesleyan and others 2,745 6,627 9,372 Roman Catholic 1,200 1,950 3,150 Unitarian 692 1,359 1,961 Other schools 550 750 1,250 ------- ------- ------- 17,859 40,846 58,705

_Wesleyan College_.--The five memorial stones of a College for training Wesleyan ministers, at the corner of Priory and College Roads, Handsworth, were laid June 8, 1880. The site includes 17-1/2 acres, and cost over 7,000, the total cost of the College when completed and furnished being estimated at 40,000. About fifty students are accommodated at present, but there is room for thirty more.

~Sc.r.a.ps of Local History.~--A foreign visitor here in the reign of James II., wrote that our tradesmen were in the habit of spending their evenings in public-houses, and were getting into lazy habits, so that their shops were often not opened before 7 a.m.

Another intelligent foreigner (_temp_ Charles II.) has left it on record that not only was smoking common among women here, but that the lads took a pipe and tobacco with them to school, instead of breakfast, the schoolmaster teaching them at the proper hour how to hold their pipes and puff genteelly.

Hutton believed that the scythe-blades attached to the wheels of Queen Boadicea's war chariots (A.D. 61), as well as the Britons' swords, were made in this neighbourhood.

When escaping from Boscobel, in the guise of Miss Lane's servant, Charles II. had to appeal to a blacksmith at Erdington to re-shoe his horse. The knight of the hammer was a republican, and his majesty chimed in with the man's views so readily, that the latter complimented his customer on "speaking like an honest man." Miss Lane afterwards married Sir Clement Fisher, of Packington, and her portrait may be still seen at the Hall.

During the battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington saw a little fellow in plain clothes riding about on a cob, and, beckoning him up, told him he was in danger. The litlle man, however, said he had come to see a fight, and meant to stop it out. Shortly after, the Duke wanting a messenger, employed the rider of the cob to take a message across the field, directing a certain regiment to charge the enemy. This was done, and the Duke took his messenger's card and saw no more of him at that time; but afterwards, finding that the little man was the traveller to a Birmingham b.u.t.ton maker, he appointed him to a situation in the Mint, at 800 a year.

In 1766, it was necessary to have 25 constables ready to protect the farmers coming to market with their corn, the times were so hard with the poor. In the following year large quant.i.ties of rice were purchased by subscription, and one gentleman, it is said, himself gave away half-a-ton per day for ten days.

In 1853, a premium of 30 was offered for the best design of an illuminated clock, to be erected on the open s.p.a.ce in front of Christ Church.

A Queen Anne's farthing of rare type was turned up in the Bull Ring, in July, 1879.

The body of William Woodward was found (March 21, 1878) in the branches of a tree in Little Green Lane, he having climbed up there previous to death.

The giving of free breakfasts on a Sunday morning to the poor children of the streets, was commenced July 4, 1875, at Park Street Ragged Schools. A system of supplying school-children with penny dinners is the latest philanthropic movement.

The hottest day recorded in our local history was June 23, 1868.

The Orsini bombs used in Paris, January 15, 1858, were made in this town.

A hundred years back, meetings of the inhabitants were called by the tolling of one of St. Martin's bells.

The declaration of war, or cessation thereof, used to be proclaimed in the market by the High Bailiff.

The 7th Earl of Stirling officiated in this town as a Nonconformist minister, simply styling himself the Rev. John Alexander; he died Dec.

29, 1765, and was buried in the Old Meeting grave-yards. His sister, who became Countess in her own right, was married to a local manufacturer, William Humphrys.

~Sessions.~--The first of the Borough Quarter Sessions was held July 5, 1839, M.D. Bill, Esq., Recorder. On the 25th of November following the magistrates began to sit daily at Petty Sessions.

~Secular Club and Inst.i.tute.~--The members having bought the remainder of lease (32 years) of No. 18, Crescent, for 340, have fitted it up for the purposes of their club and on June 1, 1877, the foundation-stone was laid of a lecture hall at the rear, 70ft. long by 19ft. wide. St.

George's Hall, Upper Dean Street, was their former meeting place.

~Sewerage and Sanitary Works.~--The disposal of the sewage of a large town away from the sea or tidal rivers has at all times been a source of difficulty, and Birmingham forms no exception to the rule. When it was in reality but the little "hardware village" it has so often been called, the Rea was sufficient to carry off the surface waters taken to its channel by the many little rills and brooks of the neighbourhood, but as the town increased, and house drainage defiled that limped stream, it became necessary to construct culverts, so as to take the most offensive portion of the sewage to a distance from inhabited houses. A great improvement was looked for after the introduction of the Waterworks, allowing the use of water-flushed closets in the better cla.s.s of houses, instead of the old style of accommodation usually provided at the end of the garden, but even this system became a nuisance, especially to residents near the river Tame, the receptacle of all liquid filth from our streets, closets, middens, and manufactories, and legal as well as sanitary reasons forced upon the Corporation the adoption of other plans. Our present sanitary system comprises the exclusion, as far as possible, of closet refuse and animal and vegetable matters from the sewers, and secondly, the purification by filtration, &c., of the outpourings of the sewers, after the partial separation therefrom of the more solid const.i.tuents. In 1871, when the real sanitary work of the borough may be said to have practically commenced, out of about 73,200 houses only 3,884 were provided with water-closets, the remainder being served by middens, drained and undrained, the greater part uncovered and polluting the atmosphere, while the soakage fouled the earth and contaminated the wells. From these places in 1873 there were removed 160,142 loads of ashes, &c., the number of men employed being 146, and the cost, allowing for sales, over 20,000, or 55 10s. per 1,000 of the Population. In the following year the Council approved of "the Rochdale system," closet-pans and ash-tubs taking the place of the old style with middens, the contents being removed weekly instead of being left to acc.u.mulate for months. At first the new system was far from perfect, and met with much opposition, notwithstanding the certainty of its being a more healthy plan than the old one; but improvements have been made, and it is now generally confessed that the pans and tubs are the right things in the right places. The number of pans in use in 1874 was 3,845; in 1875, 7,674; in 1876, 15,992; in 1877, 22,668; in 1883, 37,287, equal to a collection of 1,900,000 pans per year. The sanitary force now numbers 622 men, who, in addition to the above, removed in 1883, from tubs, middens, &c., 128,966 loads of ashes.

The chief depot for this acc.u.mulation of refuse and rubbish is at the Corporation's wharf, in Montague Street, where over 52,000 has been laid out in buildings and machinery for its due disposal. At first, nearly two thirds of the ma.s.s had to be taken by ca.n.a.l into the country, where it was "tipped," the expense being so heavy that it entailed a loss of about 6s. 6d. per ton on the whole after allowing for that part which could be sold as manure. Now, however, the case is different.

Extensive machinery has been introduced, and the contents of the pans are dried to a powder, which finds a good market; the ashes, &c., are used in the furnaces for the drying process, and the residue therefrom, or clinkers, forms a valuable substance for roadmaking or building purposes, &c., in the shape of concrete, paving flags, mantelpieces, tabletops, and even sepulchral monuments being constructed with it, so that in a short time the receipts will, it is expected, more than balance the expenditure in this department of local sanitary work. The pollution of the river Tame in past years led to continuous litigation until the year 1877, when, as the result of an exhaustive inquiry, it was determined to form a United Drainage District Board, with powers to construct and maintain intercepting sewers sufficient for carrying the drainage of the whole district, comprising Aston, Aston Manor, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, Handsworth, Harborne, King's Norton, Northfield, Perry Barr, Saltley, and Smethwick. The first meeting of this Board was held December 6, 1877, when it took over the sewage farm at Saltley belonging to the Corporation (about 262 acres), the plant and stock, &c.

Up to the present time (end of 1884), nearly half a million sterling has been spent by the Board, whose "farm" of 1,500 acres, extends from Saltley to Tyburn, two and a half miles, and who have now to deal with the sewage brought there from 188 miles of main sewers, extending as far as King's Norton and Selly Oak, Harborne, Smethwick, &c. The whole of the black and turgid stream of liquid filth brought down by the sewers is utilised upon the farm, some 200 cubic yards of mud being lifted daily from the settling tanks, to be dug in, while the overflow is taken by carriers to the most distant parts, and allowed to filtrate through the soil, until the resulting effluent is as clear as crystal, while immense crops are gathered yearly from the land so treated. An a.n.a.lysis made a little time back of a natural deposit from the town sewerage, formed near the embouchure of several sewers emptying into one of the great arterial mains, showed the absence of all ammoniacal salts and a scarcity of phosphates, particularly alkaline phosphates, and at the same time the presence of a large quant.i.ty of protoxide of iron, also of zinc, copper, and other metals in the state of oxides and sulphurets.

These metallic salts absorb the sulphuretted hydrogen and ammonia generated by decaying vegetable, and animal matter, and doubtless so contributes to promote the health of the town, but nevertheless every precaution should be taken against the possible admission to the house of "sewer gas," which at all times is injurious to health. The a.n.a.lysed deposit contained when dried only 1.4 per cent. of nitrogen (not as ammonia) and 3.5 of earthy phosphates; but about 11.7 of protoxide of iron, besides zinc, copper, and other metals to the extent of 2 or 3 per cent. The latter-named proportions may in some measure account for "what becomes of the pins?" as in the deposit named (which was nearly solid) those useful little articles were exceedingly conspicuous.

~Shambles.~--The name given to the meat market in Jamaica Row. In the map of 1731, "The Shambles" are marked as a long block of buildings, a little higher than opposite the end of Bell Street, and in 1765 they still remained there, forming a kind of "middle row," among the incongruous collection of tenements, stallages, &c., that enc.u.mbered our Bull Ring, down to the gates of the church itself.

~Ship Inn.~--The old Ship Inn, at Camp Hill, where Prince Rupert had his headquarters in 1643, was pulled down in 1867; the present Ship Hotel being opened February 6, 1868. It was sold in July, 1882, for 12,050.

~Shirley.~--Situated in the parish of Solihull, though but a village with some half hundred cottages, has of late become a favorite spot for those fond of a Sunday drive.

~s...o...b..acks.~--An attempt was made in 1875 to form a s...o...b..ack brigade, but only ten gentlemen attended the meeting (called June 21), and the business was left to the irregulars.

~Smallbrook Street.~--A small stream, formerly ran its course along part of this site, proceeding by way of Smithfield Pa.s.sage to the moat, and thence through the mill-pool, back of Bradford Street, to the Rea. The ancient family of the Smallbrokes held considerable lands in the neighbourhood, but whether the street's name came from the small brook or the Smallbrokes is a matter of doubt.

~Smallpox.~--From the opening of the Smallpox Hospital in May, 1882, to July 10, 1884, the duration of the late epidemic, there were 1,591 cases admitted. Among the 1,384 patients who had been vaccinated there occurred 59 deaths; among the 207 unvaccinated, 90 deaths. No re-vaccinated person died.

~Snow Hill.~--There is a difference of 60ft. between the top level next Bull Street and the Bottom of Snow Hill.

~Soho.~--Prior to 1756 the country on the Handsworth side of Birmingham was little better than barren heath, the home of conies and a few beggarly squatters, until Mr. Edward Ruston leased from the Lord of the Manor the whole of the piece of common that lay between Nineveh and Hockley on the left of the West Bromwich Road. He deepened the channel of Hockley brook, and built a small mill by its side, which being purchased from him in 1764 by Matthew Boulton (who soon acquired the freehold also) formed the site of the once world-renowned Soho Works. In 1774, according to "Swinney's Birmingham Directory," these works consisted of four squares of buildings, with workshops, &e., for more than a thousand workmen. Many more than that number, however, were afterwards employed on the grounds, and for long years Soho House, as Boulton's residence was called, was the resort of lords and ladies, princes and philosophers, savants and students, to a far greater extent than many of the European courts. Of this home of the steam engine, and the birthplace of inventions too numerous to count, there is now no vestige left, the foundry being removed to Smethwick in 1848, the celebrated Mint, with the warehouses and shopping, being cleared out early in 1850, and the walls razed to the ground in 1853.

~Soho Hill.~--The top is 177ft. higher than at Hockley Bridge, the foot of the hill.

~Soho Pool~ was formed by the make of an embankment (1756-60) impounding the waters of Hockley brook, and for some years after the demolition of the Soho Works it was a favourite place for boating, &c.. The pool was drained in 1866, and, having been filled up, its site will ere long be covered with streets of houses.

~Solihull.~--This very pleasant village, but a few miles distant, could boast of a Free School for its children at a very early date, for we read of the buildings being repaired in 1573. In 1882 the School was rebuilt, at a cost of about 5,700, and its endowments, some of which were given in the reign of Richard II., are yearly becoming of greater value as building progresses. The present population is nearly 6,000, the rateable value of property being 45,202, from an area of 12,000 acres. The parishes in the Union comprise Baddesley, Balsall, Barston, Bushwood, Elmdon, Knowle, Lapworth, Nuthurst, Packwood, Solihull, Tanworth, and Yardley, including an area of 46,302 acres, a population of 21,000, with a rateable value amounting to 157,000.

~Spanish Armada.~--The n.o.bility and gentry of this and adjoining counties, at the time of the threatened invasion by the Spaniards, contributed sums of money sufficient to hire and equip no less than 43 ships of war. Among the names we note the following local subscribers of 25 each:--William Kinge and William Collmer (Colmore), of Burmingham; Richard Middlemore, Edgbaston; Mrs. Margarett Knowlys, Nuneton; Gabriell Powltney, Knowle; Richard Corbett, Meryden, &c.

~Speaking Stile Walk.~--In a footpath leading from Holloway Head to Edgbaston Church, there was a stile at a spot from which an exceedingly clear echo, could be raised, and the footpath being partly thrown into a lane the latter became "Speaking Stile Lane." The short street or road at present existing preserves the name, but that is all, the echo, the stile, and the footpath having vanished long, long ago.

~Spelling Bee.~--The first "Spelling Bee" held in Birmingham took place January 17th, 1876. Like many other Yankee notions, it did not thrive here, and the humming of those bees soon ceased.

~Springs.~--In Hutton's time there was, "a short distance from Birmingham, in the manor of Duddeston, and joining the turnpike road to Coleshill," a chalybeate spring of which he speaks very highly, though even then it was neglected and thought but little of. In 1849 Mr. Robert Rawlinson making inquiries, was told by the Town Clerk that "the chalybeate spring in Duddeston was turned into a culvert by the railway people when the Birmingham and Liverpool Railway was constructed," to the great regret of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood who spoke strongly of the virtues of the water in diseases of the eye. It was suggested in 1862 that an attempt should be made to reopen the spring for public use, but as it was n.o.body's business n.o.body did it. There was (sixty years ago) a spring a little below Sat.u.r.day Bridge opposite Charlotte Street, which always give forth a constant stream of beautifully clear soft water. Another in Coventry Road, where 25 years or so ago an old man stooping to quench his thirst fell head foremost, and not being able to recover his equilibrium, was drowned, leading to the spring being covered up. Several mineralised springs existed in Gooch Street, and thereabouts, and there was one that sprung out close to where Kent Street Baths are now. The spring which gives name to Spring Street and Spring Vale, and which has been turned so that its waters run into the sewers, is estimated to discharge 20,000 gallons of pure limpid water per hour. The little stream arising from this spring const.i.tuted part of the boundary line between the Birmingham and Edgbaston parishes and at far less cost than it has taken to waste its water it could have been utilised for the above-named Baths, less than a thousand yards off, and with a natural fall of 6ft. or 8ft. Spring Hill takes its name from a spring now non-existent, but which was once a favourite with the cottagers who lived near to it.

~Sporting Notes.~--It is not for a moment to be admitted that the men of Birmingham in past years were one whit more brutal in their "sports"

than others of their countrymen, but it must be confessed they somehow managed to acquire a shocking bad name to that effect. This of course must be laid to the credit of the local supporters of "the n.o.ble art of self-defence," the Brummagem bruisers. Bullbaiting and c.o.c.kfighting were no more peculiar to this neighbourhood than parson-pelting or woman ducking at Coventry, where the pillory and ducking-stool were in use long after they had been put aside in Birmingham.