Thomas Thalric Harman

“ Manor House.—How few of the thousands who pass Smithfield every day know that they are treading upon ground where once the Barons of Birmingham kept house in feudal grandeur. Whether the ancient Castle, destroyed in the time of Stephen, preoccupied the site of the Manor House (or, as it was of late years called the Moat House) , is more than antiquarians have yet found out, any more than they can tell us when the latter building was erected, or when it was demolished. ”

“ There is a curious miscellany of articles on exhibition at Aston Hall, which some may call a "Museum," and a few cases of birds, sundry stuffed animals, &c., but we must wait until the Art Gallery now in course of erection, is finished before the Midland Metropolis can boast of owning a real Museum. At various times, some rich examples of industrial art have been exhibited in the temporary Art Gallery adjoining the Midland Institute, and now, in one of the rooms of the Free Library, there are sufficient to form the nucleus of a good Museum. ”

“ Under "Musical Festivals" appear the names of all the leading artistes who have taken part in those world-known performances, the dates of their first appearances being only given, and in like manner in the notice of our "Theatres" and "Theatrical Celebrities" will be chronicled the advents of many celebrated "stars" who have trod our local boards. Considering the position he long held in the musical world, the introduction of Sir Michael Costa to Birmingham has sufficient interest to be here noted. ”

“ Pigs and sheep were sold in New Street up to the opening of Smithfield. Some five-and-twenty years back a movement was set on foot for the removal of the Cattle Market to the Old Vauxhall neighbourhood, but the cost frightened the people, and the project was shelved. The "town improvers " or to-day, who play with thousands of pounds as children used to do at chuck-farthing, are not so easily baulked, and the taxpayers will doubtless soon have to find the cash for a very much larger Cattle Market in some other part of the borough. ”

“ How to employ the hundreds of able-bodied men dependent on the rates was a continual puzzle to the Overseers, until someone, wise in his generation, hit upon the plan of paying the unfortunates to wheel sand from the bank then in front of Key Hill House up to the canal side, a distance of 11⁄2 miles, the payment being at the rate of one penny per barrow load. ”

“ Pianofortes were first known in England in 1767, but when first played in Birmingham is uncertain; the first time the instrument is named in a Festival programme was 1808, but the loan of a grand by Mr. Tomkinson, a London maker, in 1817, was an event thought deserving of a special vote of thanks.
Musical Notabilities of the highest calibre have been frequent visitors here, at the Festivals and at the Theatres, though the native-born sons of song who have attained high rank in the profession number but few. ”

“ Municipal Expenditure.—Fortunately the population of Birmingham is going ahead rapidly, and the more the children multiply the more "heads of families " we may naturally hope there will be noted down as rate- payers by the heads of the gather-the-tin office. The cost of governing our little town is not at all heavy, and when divided out at per head of the inhabitants it seems but a mere bagatelle. ”

“ At first an open space, as the market granted by the early Norman Kings grew in extent, the custom arose of setting up stalls, the right to do which was doubtless bought of the Lords of the Manor. These grew into permanent tenements, and stallages, "freeboards," shambles, and even houses (some with small gardens abutting on the unfenced churchyard) , gradually covered the whole ground, and it ultimately cost the town a large sum to clear it, the Commissioners, in 1806-7, paying nearly £25,000 for the purpose. ”

“ Financially, however, though at one time there were nearly 500 members, it was never successful, possibly through lack of assistance that might have been expected from the manufactuers and large employers, for, hide it as we may, with a few honourable exceptions, that class, fifty years ago, preferred strong men to wise ones, and rather set their backs against opening the doors of knowledge to their work-people, or their children. It was a dozen years before the Institution was able to remove to a home of its own in Newhall Street, but it rapidly got into a hopeless state of debt. ”

“ The Baptist Missionary Society was founded in October, 1792, and branch was started here a few months afterwards, the first fruits totting up to the very respectable amount of £70. A branch of the Wesleyan Missionary Society was formed here in 1814 for the Birmingham and Shrewsbury district, and the amounts gathered in 18S2 totalled £4,829 10s. 3d. To the Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews, the Birmingham Auxiliaries in 1883 sent £323. There are also Auxiliaries of the Church of England Zenana, of the South America, and of one or two other Missionary Societies. ”

“ J. H. Chamberlain, shortly before his death, said that he looked upon Birmingham, "perhaps with a foolish pride," as the Holy City, the Mecca of England; where life was fuller of possibilities of utility—happier, broader, wiser, and a thousand times better than it was in any other town in the United Kingdom.
Mechanical Engineer's.—The Institution of Mechanical Engineers was organised in this town, in October 1847, but its headquarters were removed to Loudon, in 1877. ”

“ Fish Market.—In April, 1851, the fishmongers' stalls were removed from Dale End, and the sale was confined to the Market Hall, but consequent on the increase of population, and therefore of consumption, a separate market, at corner of Bell Street, was opened in 1870, and that is now being enlarged.
Hide and Skin Market.—The sale of these not particularly sweet-smelling animal products was formerly carried on in the open at Smithfield, but a special market for them and for tallow was opened May 25, 1850; the same building being utilised as a wool market July 29, 1851. ”

“ A number of the performers appeared here for their first time, including Madame Caradori, Miss Paton, Miss Biacn, Henry Phillips (the veteran and popular singer of later days, but who was then only in his 25th year) , Signor Curioni (said to have borne a wonderful resemblance to Shakespeare in his figurehead and features) , Signer de Begins, Mr. John Baptiste Cramer, C. G. Kiesewetter (who (lied the following year) , Charles Augustus de Beriot (who married Madame Malibran-Garcia) , and quite a host of local instrumentalists who were long chief among our Birmingham musicians. ”

“ Church, Theatre, and Ball was the order of the day for many succeeding Festivals, the Town Hall, which may be said to have been built almost purposely for these performances, not being ready until 1834. The Theatre was only utilised for one evening each Festival after until 1843, when three concerts were held therein, but since that date the Town Hall has been found sufficient. ”

“ The farmers of a hundred years ago used to assemble with their samples of grain round the Old Cross, or High Cross, standing nearly opposite the present Market Hall steps, and in times of scarcity, when bread was dear, they needed the protection of special constables. ”

“ This fearful "labour test" was continued for a long time, and when we reckon that each man would have to wheel his harrow backwards and forwards for nearly 20 miles to earn a shilling, moving more than a ton of sand in the process we cannot wonder at the place receiving such a woeful name as Mount Misery. ”

“ Hutton says that the old custom of "heriot" was practised here; which is not improbable, as instances have occurred in neighbourhood of Bromsgrove and other parts of the county within the past few years. This relic of feudalism, or barbarism, consists of the demanding for the lord of the manor the best movable article, live or dead, that any tenant happens to be possessed of at the time of his death. ”

“ As the only popular educational establishment open to the young men of the time, it did good work, many of its pupils having made their mark in the paths of literature, art, and science.
Medical Associations.—According to the "Medical Register" there are 35 physicians and 210 surgeons resident in the borough, and there are rather more than 300 chemists and druggists. According to a summary of the census tables, the medical profession "and their subordinates" number in Birmingham and Aston 940, of whom 376 are males and 564 females. In 1834, at Worcester, under the presidency of Dr. ”

“ So perfect was the clearance, that not even any of the foundations have been turned up during the alterations lately effected in Smithfield Market. In 1746, the "manorial rights" were purchased by Thomas Archer, of Umberslade, from whose descendants they were acquired by the Commissioners, in 1812, under an Act of Parliament obtained for the purpose, the price given for the Manor House, moat, and ground, being £5,672, in addition to £12,500, for "market tolls," &c.
Manufactures.—For a few notes respecting the manufactures carried on in Birmingham, see "Trades." ”

“ In the Industrial Department there were 4,334 students: the Archaeological Section numbered 226 members, and the mus cal Section 183. 108 students attended the Laws of Health classes, 220 the Ladies classes, and 36 the classes for preparation for matriculation. The benefits derived from the establishment of the Midland Institute, and the amount of useful, practical, and scientific knowledge disseminated by means of its classes among the intelligent working men of the town and the rising generation, is incalculable. ”

“ The first Festival performances were by purely local artistes, and on several occasions afterwards they formed the bulk of the performers, but as the fame of our Festivals increased so did the inflow of the foreign element until at one period not more than half-a-dozen local names could be found in any programme. ”

“ Moated Houses.—The Parsonage, as well as the Manor House (as noted elsewhere) , were each surrounded by its moat, and, possibly, no portion of the United Kingdom could show more family mansions, and country residences, protected in this manner, than the immediate district surrounding Birmingham. Many more-or-less-preserved specimens of these old-fashioned houses, with their water guards round them, are to be met with by the rambler, as at Astwood Bank, Erdington, Inkberrow, Yardley, Wyrley, &c. Perhaps, the two best are Maxtoke Castle, near Coleshill, and the New Hall, Sutton Coldfield. ”

“ This Festival is especially noteworthy as being the first conducted by Sir Michael Costa, also for the number of "principals" who had not previously taken part in the Festivals, for the extreme length of the evening programmes, each lasting till after midnight; and, lastly, from the fact, that out of a body of 130 instrumentalists, only eight or nine Birmingham musicians could be found to please the maestro's taste. ”

“ A new society was the result, and the first service in this town was held in Moor Street, in the open air, near to the Public Office, in the summer of 1824. The first "lovefeast" took place, March 6, 1825, and the first "camp meeting," a few months later. A circuit was formed, the first minister being the Rev. T. Nelson, and in 1826, a chapel was opened in Bordesley Street, others following in due course of time, as the Primitives increased in number. The Birmingham circuit contains about 800 members, with over 2,000 Sunday School scholars, and 250 teachers.—See "Places of Worship." ”

“ Peters's Chapel," off Broad Street, erected about 1786. It is believed that St. Bartholomew's Church covers the site of the short-lived "Mass House."
Masonic.—That the Freemasons are many among us is proved by the number of their Lodges, but the writer has no record throwing light on their past local history, though mention is found now and then in old newspapers of their taking part in the ceremonies attending the erection of more than one of our public buildings. Of their local acts of benevolence they sayeth naught, though, as is well-known, their charity is never found wanting. ”

“ Hutton gives it as 30 acres, and describes a third embankment. The present outer vallum was 330 yards long by 228 wide, and the interior camp 187 yards long by 165 wide. The ancient vallum and fosse have suffered much by the lapse of time, by the occupiers partially levelling the ground, and by the passing through it of the Worcester and Birmingham canal, to make the banks of which the southern extremity of the camp was completely destroyed. ”

“ Sarah Alice Vernon, married woman, aged 26, was first stabbed and then flung into the canal, at Spring Hill, by her paramour, John Ralph, a hawker of fancy baskets, early in the morning of May 31, 1879. He was hung August 26,
Caroline Brooks, a young woman of 20, was fatally stabbed on the night of June 28, 1879, while walking with her sweetheart, but the man who killed her escaped.
Alfred Wagstaffe, of Nechell's Green, kicked his wife for pawning his shirt, on October 25, 1879. She died a week after, and he was sent to penal servitude for ten years. ”