On this Day: Tuesday 17th April

Elizabeth Cadbury (1858 -1951), n.d. [Birmingham Portraits Collection]

The Cadbury name is one we all recognise; they are famous across the world as successful business owners and makers of delicious chocolate and confectionery. However the family members behind this colossus of a name may still be somewhat of a mystery to some. For this reason, and for my first blog post, I have decided to delve into the Cadbury family collection at the Library of Birmingham and view the family’s personal papers. I have chosen a letter written by Elizabeth Taylor Cadbury.

Elizabeth Cadbury (nee Taylor) was born on 24^th June 1858 to a Quaker company director and stockbroker named John Taylor, her mother was Mary Jane Cash, she was one of ten children. Elizabeth seems to have enjoyed being part of a large family as she married George Cadbury, the son of John Cadbury, who already had 5 children from a previous marriage. They married in 1888, and went on to have 6 children of their own.

George and Elizabeth Cadbury with 2 of their children, Laurence (on George’s lap) and Norman (on Elizabeth’s lap) and George’s 5 children from his first marriage to Mary Tylor: George junior, Edward  (standing at the back), Isobel and Eleanor (sitting), and Henry (on the floor in front), 1890 [MS 466]

The letters that I have looked through reflect a large family, full of love and devotion to each other. They seem to enjoy visiting and spending time with each other. The letter that I have chosen discusses visits from family and friends, and an enjoyable Easter spent surrounded by good company in the family home, The Manor House in Selly Oak. In this letter dated Tuesday 17^th April 1934 Elizabeth writes of family members fondly and paints a vivid picture of a few days full of love and adventure.

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Heritage Research Area familiarisation session

Following on from the great success of our previous three events, Archives & Collections are now offering another chance to get to know the sources available in our Heritage Research Area. Would you like to learn how the Heritage Research Area on level 4 could benefit your genealogical research?

At this free event, staff will guide you through our resources such as maps, electoral and parish registers as well as digital resources on Ancestry Institution and software for reading local newspapers.

Spaces are limited to 12 people per session. Please email archives.heritage@birmingham.gov.uk or speak with a member of staff on level 4 to make a reservation.

Wednesday 25 April 2018

11 am – 1 pm

Please note this session is not aimed at answering specific genealogical enquiries.

Attending Historic England’s Salvage and Disaster Recovery course

It feels that hardly a month goes by that we don’t hear or read a story in the news about natural disasters such as floods and man-made disasters such as war, terrorism and arson. Rarely reported is how these ‘disasters’ affect cultural institutions and how valuable cultural heritage is damaged or destroyed. Recent events such as the flooding in Paris in 2016 where the Louvre had to move their collections to safety and the Glasgow school of Art fire in 2014 and it subsequent restoration (to be completed in 2019) mean that disasters like these, although unlikely to happen, are never far from my mind as a conservator.

Since joining the Archives and Collections team in May 2016, a major part of my job is planning and implementing ‘The Emergency and Collections Salvage plan’. The purpose of plans such as these is to be able to respond effectively to emergency situations such as fire and flood and ensure business continuity. Having successfully written a plan, purchased salvage equipment and members of staff receiving training from Harwell in 2017 on salvage techniques, I felt it was important to gain a deeper understanding of how a disaster situation might unfold and to be able to get hands-on experience of salvaging objects from an incident and using salvage equipment.

Some of our salvage equipment!

Whilst writing the plan, I heard about English Heritage’s Salvage and Disaster Recovery 3 day course with West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS). After being on the waiting list for just over a year, I finally got the chance to attend with the Facilities Manager in February 2018.

100th Anniversary of the RAF

Royal Air Force Birmingham wireless telegrapher appeal, a recruitment appeal for ‘Young Men, 17 1/2 years and upwards’(MS 2966/3/1).

The 1^st of April 2018 marks the 100^th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force (RAF), when the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps merged to become the first independent airforce in the world, following the passing of the Air Force (Constitution Act) 1917.  In this week’s blog post, I thought I’d take a look at some of the varied sources we hold here in Archives & Collections at the Library of Birmingham, relating to the RAF.

To start with, some of the earliest material I found comes from a collection called ‘Circulars relating to recruitment, fund raising and coal rationing from the First World War, 1917-1919’ (MS2966).  These circulars were sent from various sources to the Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham for the purpose of supporting the war effort.  It is likely that they were displayed in a number of Birmingham’s Catholic churches. You can see some examples of these in the image at the top of this blog post and below.

Birmingham Royal Air Force recruitment appeal to the men of Birmingham to keep up the bombing campaign against Germany by volunteering at the RAF Reception Depot, Paradise Street, 1918 (MS 2966/3/2)

Humphrey Repton (1752 – 1818)

Detail from the title page of ‘The Landscape Gardening and Landscape Architecture of the late Humphrey Repton, Esq.’ by J.L.C. Loudon, 1840, [Ref JL22]

24 March, 2018 marks the bicentenary of the death of Humphrey Repton, the first person to use the title of ‘Landscape Gardener.’

Matthew Boulton wrote ‘Landskip Gardener’ on the docket of a letter from Repton dated 21 September 1789 [Ref. no. MS 3782/12/34/17/1].

Portrait of Repton in ‘The Landscape Gardening and Landscape Architecture of the late Humphrey Repton, Esq.’ by J.L.C. Loudon, 1840, [Ref JL22]

Repton had visited Boulton’s estate at Soho, Birmingham, and seen how the steam engine of the Soho Manufactory was being employed to raise water to flood areas to create pools and to water trees in Boulton’s gardens. He asks Boulton for information on the quantity of water which could be delivered by a steam engine at any given height from 10 to 20 yards, and the probable expense of erecting such a machine:

This sort of general idea is very necessary for me to be acquainted with as Great Men are very apt to ask what it will cost?

There are a couple of other letters from Repton to Matthew Robinson Boulton in 1795. On 6 December 1795, he wrote from his home at Hare Street by Romford, explaining that he had been absent from home for some weeks so had not been available to receive the copying press which had obviously been reserved for him:

Simple Directions in Needle-work and Cutting Out

Browsing our Early and Fine Printing Collections is always interesting, especially when something which goes beyond the simplicity of the basic page turns up—such is the focus of this blog. The volume in question is snappily entitled: Simple Directions in Needle-work and Cutting Out; Intended for the Use of the National Female Schools of Ireland, to which are Added Specimens of Work, Executed by the Pupils of The Female National Model School [G 746.4] (1858).  The text was published in 1858, in Dublin by Alex Thom & Sons, through the direction of the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland.

Introduction from ‘Simple directions in needlework and cutting out’ [Ref G746.4] (1858)

The Model Schools were formed to aid in the education and thus employment of the impoverished in Ireland. This volume concerning needle work helped to teach female students by not only giving text based direction, but also through the pasted-in physical examples of the work expected to be produced.

Instructions for folding down a hem and hemming paper from ‘Simple directions in needlework and cutting out’ [Ref G746.4] (1858)

The book details the order in which the lessons should progress, beginning with hemming, sewing and stitching; advancing on to darning, marking, knitting, platting, and overcasting.

Handmade buttons from ‘Simple directions in needlework and cutting out’ [Ref G746.4] (1858)

The volume also details how to work with various fabrics and yard goods such as lace and muslin, through to decorative thread-work. It also covers instructions on how to cut-out patterns for different types of garment. At the rear of the volume are the examples of the work—it is these examples which make the volume so attractive.

Embroidery from ‘Simple directions in needlework and cutting out’ [Ref G746.4] (1858)

I admit to being very taken by this tiny little shirt (it only measures about 150mm in length.)  If my sewing skills were up to the task, I’d have a go. Sadly though, even having read through the volume, I’m pretty sure my skills remain at the sewing handkerchiefs level.

Shirt pattern from ‘Simple directions in needlework and cutting out’ [Ref G746.4] (1858)

The volume can be seen by appointment within the Wolfson Centre for Archival Research by emailing the address at the bottom of this page.

Rachel Clare, Senior Archives Assistant

A visit to Ireland by William Adlington Cadbury

Map of Ireland, 1900s, annotated with areas visited by William Adlington Cadbury [Ref. MS 466/G/6/1/1]

On Saturday 17 March 2018 the Friends of Birmingham Archives and Heritage are holding their AGM at the Library of Birmingham, Heritage Learning Space, 4^th floor, at 12 o’clock.

The meeting will be followed by a talk by Jim Ranahan at 1pm titled “What’s the fuss about? Understanding Birmingham’s Irish Community”.

With this in mind, and since it will also be St Patrick’s Day, a blog with an Irish theme follows:

A visit to Ireland by William Adlington Cadbury

William Adlington Cadbury (1867-1957) was the second son of Richard Cadbury and elder brother of George (founder of Bournville). He started work at Cadbury’s in 1887 and the ‘Cadbury’ name logo is based on his signature. He was Lord Mayor of Birmingham 1919-1921, and afterwards established his Charitable Trust to assist the causes in which he was interested. These included the building of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (first one!) to unite many of the medical facilities from smaller hospitals in the city. He was also extremely generous to both the Birmingham Reference Library, to which a very fine set of historical atlases were donated by him, and to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. His Trust also gave grants to causes in West Africa and Ireland, two places he visited often.

His archives, deposited in Archives and Collections at the Library of Birmingham, include an account of a three week holiday he made, with friends, to Galway and Mayo in 1893.

[Ref. no. MS466G/6/1/2]

Towards the end of May last, three friends, say X,Y,Z, decided to follow the distinguished example of the Marquis of Salisbury and perform what will soon be becoming positively fashionable, namely an Irish pilgrimage…………..X and Z are ornithologists, Y is merely an Englishman out for a holiday.

Their visit began on Athlone Station, then after a brief visit to Galway, they went to Roundstone, where they stayed three days.

The little town of Roundstone looked very well just sheltered from the Atlantic by a low headland on which stands the monastery, the church and barracks, coastguard and schoolhouse and in fact the whole length of the one street is perfectly white and the quiet bay deserted………