The Gangs of Digbeth

The Green Man – our meeting point in the Custard Factory

The theme of the fourth annual FOBAH walk, which took place on Sunday 12^th May, was Gangs of Digbeth. Meeting at the Custard Factory on Gibb Street, our lead on that rather damp afternoon was Chris Upton who proved to be a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide. With a good mix of age and experience in the group, we set off to explore the history of the area.

Artwork on display under the viaduct

Our walking tour began by heading towards the Great Western Railway and the viaducts that loom large over the Bird’s factory. Although now home to recording studios, the fantastic artwork on display on walls and bridges hints at the gang culture and was an appropriate backdrop for our afternoon.

There were a number of gangs active in this area, the Allison Street Gang, Milk Street Gang and Barn Street Gang to name a few. Some names were recognisable, having passed these streets minutes before whilst walking from St. Martin’s.

Walking along Floodgate Street and River Street, a picture of the humanitarian efforts in the area was emerging. Joel Cadbury established the Birmingham Medical Mission in the 1870s, dispensing medicine and free food, and Floodgate Street School was opened in 1891. Many gang members were recruited through factories and having a school and medical mission would have given youngsters the opportunity to escape this life.

Birmingham Medical Mission on the corner of River Street and Floodgate Street

Our guide then took us up onto Fazeley Street, past the now empty Typhoo factory, and the offices of Fellows, Morton and Clayton, Canal Carriers. Next to their main offices stands a building made of Oldbury brick that once housed canal workers, then became a sweet factory, and later a boxing club. Boxing clubs were popular as they provided an outlet for gang members to vent their anger.

The first floor of these former canal houses was used as a boxing club

Guest blogger: Fight for the Right: the Birmingham Suffragettes

Film scene – the arrest of Hilda Burkitt

Fight for the Right: the Birmingham Suffragettes is a history project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Two groups of students from Kings Norton Girls’ School and Waverley School have looked at archive material about the different ways of campaigning and protesting by women who wanted to gain the vote. They then used that material as inspiration for a short film which focuses on the activities of the suffragettes and their more peaceful counterparts, the suffragists. While a few of the young people involved had some previous knowledge of the suffragettes, very little was known about activities that took place in Birmingham: Fight for the Right aims to change that. Although primarily a history project, these two diverse communities of young women have also explored voting, politics and women’s rights today.

Celebrating Tulips!

The Tulip Festival, Cannon Hill Park, 11 May 1968 [Recreation & Parks / Box 4]

To celebrate the arrival of the spring sunshine I thought I would post this uplifting photograph of the Tulip Festival that was held in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham. As far as I know the festival was extravagant and successful in the 1960s, reportedly drawing crowds of over 20,000 people. However, the celebrations disappeared in the late 1970s to be replaced with other events.

The festival included stunning floral displays, people in Dutch costume, fair ground attractions, a road train, performances. People may remember the windmill in Cannon Hill Park which was built in the 1950s. There was a windmill which was actually a mock mill, it was created with the co-operation with the Dutch and survived until the 1990s. 

There is not a wealth of information about this festival generally available, although Archives and Heritage hold some really interesting material in numerous collections. For example, relating to the strategic organisation and success of the event, in the Council Minute Books. We also hold newspaper coverage, photographs and we have a DVD converted from a cine-film of festivities in 1962.

One of my favourite quotes I have read relating to the festival is ‘It was a little bit of Holland in the centre of Birmingham’.

Amanda Edwards
Digitisation & Outreach

Hair Raising Taxes

Engraving by unidentified artist from portrait of William Withering [Birmingham Portraits collection, Ref: MS 4340]

Birmingham Archives’ Searchroom may be closed until we relocate to the Library of Birmingham but that does not mean that you cannot find Birmingham records to further your family or local history research.  One potentially useful collection is Warwick Archive’s Occupational and Quarter Sessions Records (1662-1869) which have been digitised and are available on the Ancestry website. This is available free of charge on computers in all Birmingham libraries.

The Quarter Sessions court had administrative functions in addition to their primary judicial role and over several hundred years these included gathering hearth taxes, maintaining juror’s and freeholders lists, keeping boat owner’s and printing press records and the slightly bizarre sounding Hair Powder Tax Certificates.

Hair Powder Certificate Register showing entry for William and Mrs Withering, 1796. [Warwickshire Record Office; Ref QS16. Available online on Ancestry.com: Warwickshire, England, Occupational and Quarter Session Records, 1662-1866]

This tax, introduced in 1795 was the brainchild of William Pitt, the younger, who was trying to find ways to fund the war against Napoleonic France and estimated that it would raise £210,000 per annum. This was never achieved because the imposition of a guinea charge for an annual certificate or license for each person who wished to powder their wigs hastened the end of the fashion for most people. The Hair Powder Tax records for 1795-6 list the householder, and other family members and servants all of whom required the guinea certificates. Thus the records can be used as a census substitute albeit only for the wealthiest classes and their servants. The illustration above shows the entry for William Withering,  (Lunar Society member) and his wife, Helena,  who were living at Old Square in 1796.

Japanese Prints by Hiroshige Found In The Archives

Mariko, 21st of ‘The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road’, by Andō Hiroshige

You always find surprises in the archives, particularly when sorting through boxes of unlisted material to bring some preliminary order to a collection. While working with archivist Fiona Tait, listing the contents of the papers of the Lloyd family of Birmingham, we came across a large number of rolled family pedigrees. Among these we found two small rolled pages bearing Japanese script that seemed very much out of place. Turning them over we were pleasantly surprised to find a pair of prints in a style that looked rather familiar to me. A bit of research on the celebrated Japanese artist Andō Hiroshige led me to the Hoeido edition of The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road.  Our mysterious prints were in fact the 21^st (Mariko) and 52^nd (Ishibe) parts of this sequence.

Ishibe, 52nd of ‘The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road’, by Ando Hiroshige

My ignorance of Japanese script prevents me from reading the markings on these pieces though I have worked out a theory as to how these prints came into the collection. During 1935 and 1936 John Henry Lloyd sailed aboard the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation (P&O) steamship Carthage on a tour of the coast of China and Japan. His diary for this period references a shopping trip while ashore in Japan at the end of his holiday. It may be that this note corresponds to the purchase of the prints. Whether this supposition is correct will likely be tested when the collection is catalogued following the move to the Library of Birmingham.

Kevin Roberts,
Archivist

NEW: Library of Birmingham Mobile App

Tap Your Way Into The Library With Dozens & Trails…

I’ve been working as part of a small team to create a different and novel way into the Library’s extensive collections and activities, by utilising the latest technology. I’m now happy to announce that it’s launched today! Dozens and Trails is the name of our app and it’s been developed for smartphones and iPads. As the name suggests, there are two distinct facets to this app:

Dozens are visual highlights of cherry-picked selections of 12 favourites, personal interests, or recommendations from Birmingham’s library staff and partners. From the extraordinary to the bizarre, we hope to offer a new perspective on old things and bring the unexpected to light. Designed to be browsable on-the-go, Dozens offer bite-size portions of Birmingham’s wonderful collections. Waiting to be discovered in the first 12 Dozens are The Attack of the Midges, Buffalo Bill on New Street, Coffins on Trains, Dicky Bird Land, Gimblets and Augers, the Mankiest Monster, Revolutionary Opera, Wanted posters, and the first TV licence issued in Birmingham. You will also discover how Outreach work is connected to pigeons, meet The REP‘s Drama Queens, and learn about the 1903 mystery of a revolver, a death, and a Handsworth librarian.

The Library Takes Its Collections To The Streets…

Trails similarly showcase 12 articles, but this time they are collected together in theme-based tours of illustrated sites mapped around the city. You can explore the city’s rich cultural history of innovators, benefactors and radical thinkers, on foot or at home. Trails show how the everyday urban landscape has stories embedded in its walls and spaces. Birmingham’s past is revealed in the first 3 Trails through key sites associated with Antislavery campaigners, the fight for The Right to Vote, and how and where you could live in Birmingham on Sixpence a Day. The app’s interactive maps will also help you find your way around these walking tours.

Content Will Be Refreshed And Will Grow…

From the city to the suburbs, staff and partners will continue to share their enthusiasm for all manner of subjects and their wide-ranging knowledge. Similar in style to a magazine, this will be on a regular basis, as additional Dozens and Trails are released on the app.

Download Our App For FREE…

Produced by Substrakt, the app is now available for Android, iPhone, and iPad. Visit dozensandtrails.com for direct links to downloads, or search for  Dozens and Trails in the App Store or Google Play.

Looking Forward To New Development…

We have already started work with Substrakt on planning Version 2.0, as we want to add even more features and improvements to the app. I would therefore really like to hear your ideas for what you’d like to see in the next version…

Brigitte Winsor,
Digital Content Editor

Trade catalogue collection

Trade catalogue covers – Ensign Lamps, 1934 (Ref: LS 10/E/312/1), Butterfields Limited – Levis 1926 Motor Cycles (Ref: LS 10/B/634/1) and The Burman Sheep Shearer trade pamphlet, dated 1917 (Ref: LS 10/B/569/1)

This blog post is concerned with the trade catalogue collection held in the Archives & Heritage section of Birmingham Central Library. The collection reflects the wide and varied industrial heritage of the city and surrounding periphery.

 We have trade catalogues, brochures, pamphlets and ephemera spanning from the 19^th – 21^st century; early local patents from 1722 – 1866; local trade business cards from the 18^th century and local company reports from the mid 20^th century.

Our huge collection typically consists of material from well known established local companies such as B.S.A, G.K.N, G.E.C, W.T Avery, Cadburys, Chance Brothers, Dunlop, Webley and Scott, Lucas Clapshaw & Cleeve Limited, Tonks (Birmingham) Limited, Ingall, Parsons, Clive & Co, Robert Mansell & Son, Bullpitt & Son (Swan Houseware), Belliss & Morcom, Benton & Stone, British Resisting Heat Glass Company, Burman and Sons, Huxley Barton & Sons, Levis Motorcycles, Dale Forty & Co. W.T French & Son Ltd, Eley Brothers, Thomas Fattorini, Fisher & Ludlow, Lee Longlands, Austin Motors, Barrows Stores Limited, Jones & Willis, Clement Heeley, Hockley Chemical Company. Ltd, Hoskins, James Neale & Sons, Charles Obsorne, Parker Winder & Achurch, Rudge Cycle Co. Limited, William Cooper & Son, Samuel Booth plus many more.

Edward Jones – Manufacturer Of The Patent Safety Lamps & Lantern, etc, Trade Card no. 591

The Birmingham Collection, our principal printed bookstock collection providing an account of the cultural and historic development of the city, contains texts on specific local businesses plus histories of particular trades associated with the area.

The trade catalogue collection is a valuable cultural asset and to protect it from damage or loss, holdings are served via a controlled environment in our archival searchroom which adheres to conditions of access found at archival record offices.

Early local patent from 1865 for Joseph Rock Cooper, Gun Manufacturer.

The trade catalogue collection still receives gifts and donations made chiefly by the public who contact us from far and wide across the globe, reinforcing Birmingham’s once proud status as ‘Workshop of the World’.

Staff are currently engaged in creating an online presence for the trade catalogue collection via our archival catalogue system, CalmView which can be located via the new Library of Birmingham website at and it is hoped some entries will be accessible in this format come the opening in September 2013.

Yates and Sons Silver Plate List of Prices trade catalogue, dated 1872

To accompany our trade catalogues , we retain local trade directories such as The Sketchley Birmingham Directory of 1767, which is one of the oldest surviving trade directories for the city. However, the Kelly’s trade directory series running from 1878 – 1974 is the most popular resource used by our service users. Other miscellaneous trade directories titles held in Archives & Heritage Service include: Pigot, Bisset, Grand National, Bailey Western And Midland, Holden’s  Triennial, Wrighton and Webb, Slater’s, Hulley’s, Morris and Co, Shadler’s, White’s, Post Office, Corporation, Harrison and Harrod and Co.

Thank you, Al Barrett.