Thomas Thalric Harman

“ But as figs do not grow on thistles, neither was it to be expected that men from the weaving-sheds, or the mines, should be able to grow their own corn, or even know how to turn it into bread when grown, and that Utopian scheme was a failure. More wise in their generation were the men of Birmingham: they went not for country estates, nor for apple orchards or turnip fields. The wise sagaciousuess of their leaders, and the Brums always play well at "follow my leading," made them go in for the vote, the full vote, and nothing but the vote. ”

“ The misery and starvation existing in Ireland where small farms had been divided and subdivided until the poor families could no longer derive a sustenance from their several moieties, was altogether overlooked, and "friends of the people" advocated the wholesale settlement of the unemployed English on somewhat similar small plots. Feargus O'Connor, the Chartist leader, started his National Land Society, and thousands paid in their weekly mites in hopes of becoming "lords of the soil;" estates here and there were purchased, allotments made, cottages built, and many new homes created. ”

“ Land and Building Societies.—Though frequently considered to be quite a modern invention, the plan of a number uniting to purchase lands and houses for after distribution, is a system almost as old as the hills. The earliest record we have of a local Building Society dates from 1781, though no documents are at hand to show its methods of working. On Jan. 17, 1837, the books were opened for the formation of a Freehold Land and Building Society here, but its usefulness was very limited, and its existence short. ”

“ First a law must be got to make a street, another to light it, a third to pave it, and then one to keep it clean. It is a narrow street, and an Act must be obtained to widen it; when widened some wiseacre thinks a market should be held in it, and a law is got for that, and for gathering tolls; after a bit, another is required to remove the market, and then the street must be "improved," and somebody receives more pounds per yard than he gave pence for the bit of ground wanted to round off the corners ”

“ Possibly, the figures show more prominently from the action of the wise rules that enforce the gathering of the insane into public institutions, instead of leaving the unfortunates to the care (or carelessness) of their relatives as in past days, when the wards of the poorhouses were the only receptacles for those who had no relatives to shelter them. The erection of the Borough Asylum, at Winson Green, was commenced in 1846, and it was finished in 1851. The house and grounds covered an area of about twenty acres, the building being arranged to accommodate 330 patients. ”

“ The Asylum provides a home for about 50, but it is in contemplation to considerably enlarge it. At the end of 1882 there were 29 males and 21 females, 47 being the average number of inmates during the year, the cost per head being £11 13s. 6d. Of the limited number of inmates in the institution 10 fewer than thirteen came from Birmingham, and altogether as many as thirty-five candidates had been elected from Birmingham. The income from all sources, exclusive of contributions to the building fund, a mounted to £2,033 3s. ”

“ Many estates have been divided since then, thousands of acres in the outskirts being covered with houses where erst were green fields, and in a certain measure Birmingham owes much of its extension to the admirable working of the several Societies. As this town led the van in the formation of the present style of Land and Building Societies, it is well to note here their present general status. In 1850 there were 75 Societies in the kingdom, with about 25,000 members, holding among them 35,000 shares, with paid-up subscriptions amounting to £164,000. ”

“ The purchasers were principally members of an Investment and Permanent Benefit Building Society, started January 4, 1847, in connection with the local branch of Oddfellows, of which Mr. Smith was a chief official. Franchise Street, which is supposed to be the only street of its name in England, was the result of this division of land, and as every purchaser pleased himself in the matter of architecture, the style of building may be called that of "the free and easy." ”

“ There were 150 of the English societies whose accounts showed deficiencies amounting to £27,850; two Scotch societies minus £862, but no Irish short. It is a pity to have to record that there have been failures in Birmingham, foremost among them being that of the Victoria Land and Building Society, which came to grief in 1870, with liabilities amounting to £31,550. The assets, including £5,627 given by the directors and trustees, and £886 contributed by other persons, realised £27,972. ”

“ In a little time the nucleus of the new Reference gathering was also in hand, and for three years the institution sojourned with the Council. The new buildings were opened June 1st, 1882, and the date should be recorded as a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving. The Reference department was opened to readers on the 26th of the same month. In place of the hired rooms so long used as a library in Constitution Hill, there has been erected in the near neighbourhood a neat two-storey building which will accommodate some 2,000 readers per day, and the shelves are supplied with about 7,000 volumes. ”

“ The library needs extension, but the shortness of the lease (thirty year's only) and the high value of the adjoining land prevents any step being taken in that direction at present. The Birmingham Law Society's Library was founded in February, 1831, by Mr. Arthur Ryland, and has now nearly 6,000 volumes of law works, law reports (English, Scotch, and Irish) , local and personal Acts, &c., &c. The present home in Wellington Passage was opened Augustnb2, 1876, being far more commodious than the old abode in Waterloo-street, the "library" itself being a room 35ft. ”

“ What the dividend will be is a matter for the future, and may not even be guessed at at present. The chief local societies, and their present status, areas follows:—
The Birmingham Freehold Land Society was started in 1848, and the aggregate receipts up to the end of 1882 amounted to £680,132 12s. 7d. The year's receipts were £20,978 16s. 5d., of which £11,479 represented payments made by members who had been alloted land on the estates divided by the Society, there being, after payment of all expenses, a balance of £11,779 12s. ”

“ St Philip's Building Society was began in January, 1850, since when (up to January, l883) £116,674 had been advanced on mortgages, and £28,921 repaid to depositing members. The society had then 326 members, holding among them 1,0941⁄4 shares. The year's receipts were £13,136, and £7,815 had been advanced in same period. The reserve fund was £3,642; the assets £65,940, of which £54,531 was on mortgages, £7,987 deferred premiums, and £2,757 properties in hand.
Several societies have not favoured us with their reports. ”

“ Young men starting in business may, under certain conditions, obtain help for that purpose from the "Dudley Trust."—See "Philanthropical Trusts."
Loans, Public.—England, with its National Debt of £776,000,000, is about the richest country in the. world, and if the amount of indebtedness is the sign of prosperity, Birmingham must be tolerably well off. Up to the end of 1882 our little loan account stood thus:—
Acts of Parliament passed in connection with this town to fill a law library of considerable size. ”

“ The manner in which the estates of the old Lords of the Manor, of the Guild of Holy Cross, and the possessions of the ancient Priory, have been divided and portioned out by descent, marriage, forfeiture, plunder, and purchase is interesting matter of history, but rather of a private than public nature. ”

“ There arc respectable offices in Birmingham where loans can be obtained at a fair and reasonable rate, but Punch's advice to those about to marry may well be given in the generality of cases, to anyone thinking of visiting a loan office. ”

“ In Scotland there were 15,386 members of building societies; the receipts were £413,609, the liabilities to holders of shares amounted to £679,990, to depositors and other creditors £268,511; the assets consisted of balance due on mortgage securities £987,987, and amount invested in other securities and cash £67,618. In Ireland there were 9,714 members of building societies; the receipts were £778,889, liabilities to the holders of shares £684,396, to depositors and others £432,356 ”

“ The reserve fund now amounted to £34, 119, which was nearly 71⁄2 per cent. on the whole capital employed.
The Birmingham Building Society, No. 1, was established in May, 1842, and re-established in 1853. It has now 1,580 members, subscribing for shares amounting to £634 920. The last report states that during the existence of the society over £500,000 has been advanced to members, and that the amount of "receipts and payments" have reached the sum of £1,883,444. Reserve fund is put at £5,000. ”

“ The space between the two staircases was boarded up, in order to keep the public off the works during the alterations, and the necessary gas supply-pipes, &c., were located outside these wooden partitions. The alterations were well advanced by Christmas, and everything bade fair for an early, and satisfactory completion of, the undertaking. The weather, however, was most severe, and now and then the moisture in the gas-pipes exposed to the air became frozen. This occurred on the afternoon of Saturday, January 11, 1879, and an employee of the gas office lit a gas jet to thaw one of the pipes. ”

“ His lordship's £113,707 "estimated" rental must be considerably reduced when the leaseholders have taken their share and left him only the ground rents. The other large ground landlords are the Trustees of the Grammar School, the Trustees of the Colmore, Gooch, Vyse, Inge, Digby, Gillot, Robins, and Mason estates, &c., Earl Howe, Lench's Trust, the Blue Coat School, &c. The Corporation of Birmingham is returned as owning 257 acres, in addition to 134 had from the Waterworks Co., but that does not include the additions male under the Improvement Scheme, &c. ”

“ Volumes of maps and plans, engravings of all sorts of antiquities, costumes, weapons, transactions of all the chief learned societies, and especially bibliography, or "books about books" had been collected with unceasing care, the shelves being loaded with costly and valuable works rarely found out of the great libraries of London, or Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, or Glasgow. Among the collections lost were many volumes relating to the early history of railways in England, originally collected by Mr. Charles Brewin, and supplemented by all the pamphlets and tracts procurable. ”

“ Michael, with his own autograph; volumes of rare, curious autographs of county interest; county poll books, newspapers and magazines; all the rare Civil War pamphlets relating to the Warwickshire incidents; ancient deeds, indulgences, charters, seals, rubbings of brasses long lost or worn away, medals, coins, hundreds in number; and rare and invaluable volumes, like the Duc de Nortombria's "Arcano de Mare," and two fine copies of Dugdale's Warwickshire; besides hundreds of books, engravings, caricatures, pamphlets and tracts. ”

“ To get a vote and thus help upset something or somebody was all that was thought of at the time, though now the case is rather different, few members of any of the many societies caring at present so much for the franchise as for the "proputty, proputty, proputty." Mr. James Taylor, jun., has been generally dubbed the "the father of the freehold land societies," and few men have done more than him in their establishment, but the honour of dividing the first estate in this neighbourhood, we believe, must be given to Mr. ”

“ Dawson a great and convincing proof that the greatest of all English authors had not lived fruitlessly, and that the widest human heart the world has known had not poured out its treasure in vain." So successful had the attempts of the collectors been that nearly 7,000 volumes had been brought together, many of them coming from the most distant parts of the globe. The collection included 336 editions of Shakspeare's complete works in English, 17 in French, 58 in German, 3 in Danish, 1 in Dutch, 1 in Bohemian, 3 in Italian, 4 in Polish, 2 in Russian, 1 in Spanish, 1 in Swedish ”

“ Lifeboats.—In 1864-65 a small committee, composed of Messrs. H. Fulford, G. Groves, J. Pearce, D. Moran, G. Williams, R. Foreshaw, and G. Lempiere, aided by the Mayor and Dr. Miller, raised about £500 as a contribution from Birmingham to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Two boats were credited to us in the Society's books, one called "Birmingham" (launched at Soho Pool, November 26, 1864) , and the other the "James Pearce." ”

“ The two companies hardly waited for the claim to be made, but met it in a most generous manner, paying over at once £20,000, of which £10,523 has been devoted to the buildings and fittings, nearly £500 paid for expenses and injury to statues, and the remaining £9,000 put to the book purchase fund. In the Reference Library there were quite 48,000 volumes in addition to about 4,000 of patent specifications. Every great department of human knowledge was represented by the best known works. ”

“ The next, upon an infant, is superior to the general run of this class of inscription. It was copied from a slab intended to be placed in Old Edgbaston Churchyard:
"Beneath this stone, in sweet repose,
Is laid a mother's dearest pride ”