Thomas Thalric Harman

“ Allday.—The "Stormy Petrel" of modern Birmingham was Joseph, or, as he was better known, Joey Allday, whose hand at one time, was against every man, and every man's hand against Joe. Born in 1798, Mr. Allday, on arriving at years of maturity, joined his brothers in the wire-drawing business, but though it is a painful sight to see (as Dr. Watts says) children of one family do very often disagree, even if they do not fall out and chide and fight ”

“ Dynamite making.—One of the most serious offences committed in Birmingham was discovered when Alfred Whitehead was arrested April 5, 1883, on the charge of manufacturing nitroglycerine, or dynamite, at 123, Ledsam Street. Whitehead was one of the Irish-American or American-Irish party of the Land Leaguers or Home Rulers, who entertain the idea that by committing horrible outrages in England. they will succeed in making Ireland "free from the galling yoke of Saxon tyranny" and every Irishman independent of everybody and everything everywhere. ”

“ 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 assistants 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 ”

“ Jesse Herbert, barrister, who had been exceedingly kind to him—Zwingli Sargent, solicitor, was sentenced to five years' penal servitude, April 28, 1885, for forgery and misappropriating money belonging to clients.
Fortunetelling is still far from being an uncommon offence, but "Methratton," the "Great Seer of England," alias John Hartwell, who, on March 28, 1883, was sentenced to nine mouths hard labour, must rank as being at the top of the peculiar profession. ”

“ Joseph Allday must credit be given for the exposure of numerous abuses existing in his day. He had but to get proper insight into anything going on wrong than he at once attacked it, tooth and nail, no matter who stood in the road, or who suffered from his blows. His efforts to put a stop to the cruelties connected with the old system of imprisonment and distraint for debt led to the abolition of the local Courts of Requests ”

“ Mr James has been called the first projector of railways, as there was none started previous to his laying out a line from here to Wolverhampton, which was given up in favour of the Canal Companies. The wharves in Newhall Street were constructed on the site of his proposed railway station. He afterwards projected and surveyed many other lines including Birmingham to Manchester through Derbyshire, the Birmingham and London, etc. West Bromwich owes no little of its prosperity to this gentleman, who opened many collieries in its neighbourhood. ”

“ 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, hut 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. ”

“ Ulwin.—Though nearly last in our list, Uhwin, or Alwyne, the son of Wigod, 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 Lcofric, III., Earl of Mercia. ”

“ 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 tor them, and not a few of our present leading men have to thank him for their first step in life. ”

“ Of prisoners sixteen years old and under there were 193 males and 21 females.
Noteworthy Men of the Past.—Though in the annals of Birmingham history the names of very many men of note in art, science, and literature, commerce and politics, are to be found, comparatively speaking there are few of real native origin. Most of our best men have come from other parts, as will be seen on looking over the notices which follow this. ”

“ Nonconformists.—The so-called Act of Uniformity of 1662 deprived nearly 2,000 of the clergy of their livings, and a few of them came to Birmingham as a place of refuge, ministering among the Dissenters, who then had no buildings for regular worship. There were many documents in the lost Staunton Collection relating to some of these clergymen, who, however, did not find altogether comfortable quarters even here, one George Long, M.D., who had fled from his persecutors in Staffordshire, finding no peace in Birmingham, removed to Ireland ”

“ He took an active part in the founding of the Birmingham School of Medicine, the forerunner of the Queen's College, and was elected one of the three first physicians to the Queen's Hospital, being its senior physician for sixteen years. When the Charter of Incorporation was granted, Dr. Davies was chosen by the Town Council as the first Coroner, which office he held until June 8th, 1875, when he resigned, having, as he wrote to the Council, on the 29th of May terminated his 36th year of office, and 76th year of his age. ”

“ 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 time 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. ”

“ Sturge was one of the few found willing to help them, though his peace-loving disposition failed to induce them lo 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 ”

“ Magnificent Directory" and "Poetic Survey " of Birmingham, presented to the public, January 1, 1800.
Bowly, E. O.—A native, self-taught artist, whose pictures now fetch rapidly-increasing sums, though for the best part of his long life dealers and the general run of art patrons, while acknowledging the excellence of the work, would not buy them. Mr. Bowly, however, lived sufficiently long to know that the few gentlemen who honoured him in his younger years, were well recompensed for their kind recognition of his talent, though it came too late to be of service to himself. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 principally through his exertions that the great monetary panic of 1837 was prevented from becoming almost a national collapse. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ He was a true artist in every sense of the word, an eloquent speaker, and one of the most sincere, thoughtful, and lovingly-earnest men that Birmingham has ever been blessed with.
Clegg.—Samuel Clegg was born at Manchester, March 2, 1781, but his early years were passed at the Soho Works, where he was assistant to Mr. Murdoch in the gradual introduction of lighting with gas. In 1807 Mr. Clegg first used lime as a purifier and in 1815 he patented the water meter. In addition to his many inventions connected with the manufacture and supply of gas. Mr. ”

“ Gillott having rudely pushed his way into the studio and turning the pictures about without the artist deigning to notice the intruder, tried to attract attention by asking the prices of three paintings. Turner carelessly answered "4,000 guineas," "£3,000," and "1,500 guineas." "I'll take the three," said Gilloit. Then Turner rose, with "Who the devil are you to intrude here against my orders? You must be a queer sort of a beggar, I fancy." "You're another queer beggar" was the reply. "I am Gillott, the penmaker. My banker tells me you are clever, and 1 have come to buy some pictures." ”

“ The men who carried it to London were quickly caught with the dynamite in their possession, and with Whitehead were brought to trial and each of them sentenced to penal servitude for life. The distribution of rewards in connection with the "dynamite outrages," so far as Birmingham people were concerned, was somewhat on a similar scale to that described by the old sailor, when he said "prize-money" was distributed through a ladder, all passing through going to the officers, while any sticking to the wood was divided among the men. Mr. ”

“ Though an ardent politician, it is from his Coronership that he will be remembered most, having held about 30,000 inquests in his long term of office, during the whole of which time, it has been said, he never took a holiday, appointed a deputy, or slept out of the borough. ”

“ 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 analysing foo I and drugs. ”

“ His discoveries in the manufacture of glass and steel, and his opening up of the Cleveland iron district, has given employment to thousands, and as one who knew him well said, "If he had cared more about money, and less about science, he could have been one of the richest commoners in England;" ”