This autumn the Midlands Arts Centre (MAC) has been celebrating its 60th anniversary with a programme of theatre, exhibitions, live events and creative courses. Founded as the Midlands Arts Centre for Young People in 1962, it was the brainchild of John English and his wife Mollie Randle.
Born in Dudley in 1911 into a family with a keen interest in theatre and the arts, English participated in amateur theatre productions from a young age. Educated at Dudley Grammar School and Bishop Vesey’s, Sutton Coldfield, from 1929 he was employed as an industrial chemist by the glass makers, Chance Brothers, Smethwick, until he took early retirement in 1948, at the age of 40, in order to dedicate more time to his life-long passion of theatre.
The Midlands Arts Centre seen from across the lake in Cannon Hill Park
During the 1920s and 1930s, he was involved in the amateur theatre group, the Highbury Players, which took its name from his family’s home where the group originally met. By the mid-1930s it had become apparent that a dedicated theatre space was required to progress the work of the Players and so between 1935-1942, English and the other members set about fundraising and constructing what became the Highbury Little Theatre.
Mollie Randle, a former student at King Edwards High School, also had a love of theatre and the arts as a child, and after leaving school became involved in amateur dramatics in her free time while working in an accountancy firm and as a civil servant. It was as a member of the Highbury Players, where she helped to establish the Highbury Little Theatre, that she met her future husband, John.
It’s 150 years since Ralph Vaughan Williams was born, on 12 October 1872. He wasn’t from Birmingham, but from Down Ampney, Gloucestershire. He did, however, have links with Birmingham, and he had relatives in both the Wedgwood and Darwin families, so a tenuous link to the Lunar Society!
In the 1940s he became involved with the Clarion Singers in Birmingham, whose conductor was Katherine Thomson, an active member of the Workers’ Music Association. Born Katherine Fraser Stewart in Cambridge, she moved to Birmingham with her husband George Thomson when he was appointed as professor of Greek at University of Birmingham in 1936. The Clarion singers performed Vaughan Williams’ ‘Sir John in Love’, at the Birmingham and Midland Institute in 1949. This was an opera, written in 1928, in four acts, based on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, with John Falstaff the main character.
Both Vaughan Williams and Katherine Thomson were interested in folk music. The Clarion Singers had been founded in 1939 by Colin Bradsworth, newly returned from the Spanish Civil War, as a Workers’ Choir to bring good music to ordinary people. They performed a concert to mark the centenary of Vaughan William’s birth in 1972. They continue to perform today and have recently held a concert to mark their 80th birthday. This was actually in 2020, but was postponed, for obvious reasons. The concert included two pieces by Vaughan Williams which the Clarion Singers selected as representing ‘the fight for justice and aspirations of a better world’ (MS 1705/3/12).
The records of the Clarion Singers are well worth investigating. They include logbooks, minutes, song lists, posters, photographs, correspondence etc. See Ref. No. MS 1705 on our online catalogue.
The recent Birmingham Commonwealth Games were an undoubted highlight of 2022, drawing huge numbers of visitors from across the world. The library became an operational hub for the City Council Games Team and a training venue for volunteers and other staff. Further to this, Archives and Collections recently received an archive documenting an associated project, as well two collections containing born-digital records, one relating to the Games, the other to the library itself.
In October 2020 the Birmingham-based Asian cultural organisation SAMPAD announced the awarding of a major grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund to curate two major photographic exhibitions alongside an extensive community engagement programme to coincide with the 2022 Games. From City of Empire to City of Diversity: A Visual Journey drew extensively on the photographic archive of the Dyche Studio. The project gathered an extensive digital archive documenting various aspects of the exhibition and outreach programme.
The archive was recently transferred via a series of OneDrive transfers. Some of the digital photos were taken by professional photographers. Using applications like EXIF Tool I pulled out useful technical and structural metadata that can help us identify the rights information, date/time taken, and other technical information. However, many others were captured on a variety of mobile devices. File naming conventions vary, in some cases EXIF camera metadata has been stripped out and important contextual information lost, particularly where images may have been re-copied or converted from another format. Challenges aside, as a legacy record of project outputs the archive is extremely valuable, particularly the recorded memories of workshop attendees who had migrated here and contributed so much to the city during the decades after the Second World War.
Towards the end of September, we received a collection of largely digital photos taken by the Host City Volunteers recruited to greet and direct visitors during the recent Games, plus some digital film footage and training presentation slides. Most of the photos were captured on mobile devices, providing a street record of volunteers engaging with visitors across Birmingham. Others show volunteer recruitment and training sessions held at various venues.
Host City Volunteer Coordinators outside the Library of Birmingham, July/August 2022 [BCC Additional Acc. 2022/069]
The photos were deposited by a manager of the City Council Commonwealth Games Team towards the end of September. Similar issues to MS 5040 were identified – for example incomplete metadata and robustness of file formats. Some images comprise screengrabs from social media feeds. Duplicate images were also flagged and removed from the deposit post-transfer.
Metadata files were created detailing street location and subject matter of each image. The photos have been ingested into our Preservica digital repository system, where preservation monitoring can be undertaken more effectively – one file has been corrupted and cannot be rendered in the system, for example, whilst in other cases the characterisation process revealed various cases where file extensions do not match the technical characteristics of the images itself! For now, we can retain a duplicate copy of the archive outside Preservica, analyse the problematic files in more detail, and hopefully re-ingest content again later. The photographs capture the sense of energy and colour that was palpable here during those weeks, highlighting Centenary Square (where the Games Megastore was situated) as a focal area for volunteer activity.
In terms of the history of the Centenary Square site, a large collection of digital photographs and paper records came to us last year showing the construction of the Library of Birmingham a decade ago. The material will be added to the City Council archive and presents a detailed month-by-month visual record of construction works at ground level (taken by Perspective-I) and from above (by Commission Air) over the period 2010-2013.
Perspective-I photo ofLibrary of Birmingham construction works, 5 January 2011 [BCCBCC/1/HF/D/1/3/8/1 Acc. 2021/019]
The images were taken using high-spec equipment – image metadata remains intact, image folders and storage devices clearly labelled, and image rights transferred to the Council as part of the contract. I have very recently got round to moving the images into Preservica. Although there have been no major technical issues, progress has been slow due to the large volume of material, amounting to around 30 gigabytes of data stored on 40 portable storage devices!
All these collections present their own innate challenges in terms of management and preservation, yet in all have intrinsic value in terms of documenting of recent heritage projects and events as well as the modern history of the city, making a persuasive case for the need to develop workflows and systems which ensure these resources survive and remain accessible for future generations.
Theatre in Birmingham has a rich history, with permanent theatre venues being founded from the 1740s onwards. Early theatre performances in Birmingham were often held by travelling theatre groups, or “strolling players” as they were more commonly known. These types of public performances were often held in barns or inns, attracting the attention of the locals. It is suggested that early performances consisted of renditions of plays such as “Robin Hood”, which were not looked kindly upon by the government as they were believed to promote lawlessness amongst the general public.
As established theatre venues were beginning to be constructed in the mid-18th century, travelling theatre groups continued to perform in public venues. This was later made illegal, making these venues liable to prosecution by more established theatres, in the fear that these types of accessible performances would outsell their own.
The earliest recorded theatre in Birmingham is believed to be Moor Street Theatre, which began by hosting the performances of travelling theatre groups. The theatre was located along Moor Street, just north of the Bullring Shopping Centre. The performances held at Moor Street Theatre include the likes of William Congreves popular restoration comedy, “Love for Love”‘” amongst other major titles. Moor Street Theatre was later forced to close in 1763, on account of not being able to compete with more successful theatres in the West Midlands.
The theatre playbill collection here at Birmingham Archive & Collections includes theatres built from the later 18th to the 20th century. The collection covers prolific Birmingham theatres from the closing of Moor Street Theatre to the modern day, with some recognisable theatres still in existence today.
Birmingham Theatre Royal playbill, 1912
Here is a list of the theatres included in the playbills collection, including the dates covered within the materials:
– Bordesley Palace Theatre, built in 1899. Dates covered: 1902-1928
– Birmingham Hippodrome, built in 1895. Dates covered: 1900-14
– Birmingham Prince of Wales, built in 1856. Dates covered: 1862-1937
– Birmingham Coliseum/ Gaiety Theatre, built in 1846. Dates covered: 1900-1940
– Alexandra Theatre, built in 1901. Dates covered: 1907-61
– Birmingham Grand Theatre, built in 1883. Dates covered: 1907-31
– Birmingham Theatre Royal, built in 1774. Dates cover: 1774-1955
– Birmingham Repertory Theatre, built in 1813. Dates covered: 1917-58
This image to the left is taken from the Birmingham Theatre Royal poster collection, entitled ‘The Theatre Royal, LTD’. This particular poster is taken from a performance in 1912. These posters range between the years 1774 and 1955. The poster advertises the dramatization of the novel ‘Ben-Hur’ on the stage of the Theatre Royal. The poster provides in depth information as to the nature of the performance, including a ‘synopsis of scenery’ and list of the characters and designated performers. The use of bold red ink makes the Theatre Royal posters distinctly recognisable amongst other black and white theatre posters of the period.
Birmingham Theatre Royal playbill, 1840
This second image is taken from an earlier poster from the Birmingham Theatre Royal posters, this one dating around 70 years prior to the poster above. In this earlier poster, multiple shows are organised alongside each other. I find this one of particular interest in its specification of the music occurring in each act, which provides a very specified view of the performance taking place. Popular music from the performance is given further advertisement, such as the song “‘Tis’ really very strange” and “I love her, how I love her”. The information to the bottom of the page gives an indication as to the prices of attending the theatre in the 19th century.
I believe that these materials are invaluable in the research and understanding of the popularity of theatre in Birmingham. It is useful to mention that there may be potential gaps in the collection during the dates which cover both World War 1 and World War 2. Some theatres within the collection suffered significant damage as a result of the wars.
The Birmingham Theatre playbills/poster collection is available to view upon request with Birmingham Archives and Collections. These materials can be viewed by appointment in the Wolfson Centre for Archival Research on the fourth floor of the Library of Birmingham. Appointments can be made through our online booking page.
If you wish to browse the online catalogue, you can do so by following this link.
At this time of year, we are encouraged to step back from our busy lives and take a moment to remember those who have gone before, those who gave their lives so we could have the lives we have today. Many of their stories have been lost to history, remembered only by a few. For this blog post, I have chosen to focus on a project undertaken by Shades of Black Community Project which aimed to encourage the local community to remember.
Shades of Black was begun in the aftermath of the Handsworth Riots, by Mrs McGhie-Belgrave MBE and four other women, with the aim of enhancing the life skills of the community and encouraging rebuilding and reconciliation. In 2007 the group succeeded in obtaining National Lottery Heritage Funding for the ‘Commonwealth World War I and World War II Veterans Research Project’ (MS 2855).
List of shrapnel found in gardens in Handsworth and Stechford[Ref. MS 2855 Addnl(Acc: 2010/067) Box 1]
Participants involved in the project included teachers and children from local schools in the area including Stechford, Wilkes Green, Wattville and Foundry Primary Schools, as well as secondary school pupils from Handsworth Wood Girls School, and local community volunteers and local historians.
Back in 2018 I wrote a blog post recounting my first experiences with cataloguing three ecclesiastical parish collections. Since then, I have worked on creating and completing hierarchically structured catalogues on our catalogue database for 27 more parish collections which previously only had paper lists in our searchroom. This process has taken a long time and to begin with I wasn’t sure what information to put where as each database entry contains a number of different mandatory fields for specific types of information. So since typing up all these paper catalogues and inputting them into a catalogue structure on the database, I’ve discovered I need to do a bit of tidying up. You can see an example of this in the blog above and in the image below.
Side by side EP 41 is the correct way to do this, EP 93 needs to be edited.
I am now ensuring that the catalogue structures are consistent with other catalogues already completed and that they comply with in-house and international cataloguing standards. I have learnt so much about how to describe items, how to create records, how to correct mistakes, and having the satisfaction of everything looking neat and uniform and thinking “I did that” is an awesome, brilliant feeling!
I am also working on physically renumbering the items in these collections with their updated reference numbers so they match the reference numbers on the catalogues I’ve inputted. In my 2018 blog post, I explained that these parish records have come from the parishes themselves, but they haven’t always come in at the same time which means that some collections contain many different accession numbers (this is the number allocated to each deposit when it first arrives in the archives). In addition, over time there have been several different systems of numbering used for the same collection so for instance EP 53 began as DRO 53, DRO 53A and MS 515. When cataloguing this can be quite a challenge to keep track of and when renumbering physical items, it becomes even more of a challenge, as sometimes the numbers from the paper catalogue which you have carefully inputted into the cataloguing software don’t match the reference on the actual item in front of you.
In the process of renumbering, I have been using the cataloguing database to ensure I am matching up the correct volume with the reference number and in some cases this has highlighted missing records which were omitted from the paper catalogue for whatever reason, or has even lead to the discovery of boxes that have yet to be listed at all! I will have to revisit any newly discovered boxes at a later point but often I can add additional volumes to the collection’s structure immediately and giving them their new numbers.
As you can see in the image below, we ensure that the original number is kept on the volume, and the new number added somewhere visible. The reason we do this is to ensure that records can be identified by both their original numbers and their new numbers. This means that if the last time a researcher requested a volume from a parish collection and used the old number, or a researcher prefers to use the old paper lists, items can still be identified and retrieved. In archival speak, it ensures that original metadata remains with the material.
New EP numbers visible along with the original DRO numbers
This work will ensure that in the not-too-distant-future the catalogues will be searchable on our online catalogue and the records themselves will be clearly renumbered and easily identified. In the meantime, if you have any questions about the ecclesiastical parish registers please contact us on archives.heritage@birmingham.gov.uk or search our online catalogue.
Helen Glenn, Senior Archives and Collections Assistant
The collection of material we hold from Metro-Cammell includes approximately 100 photographic albums, around 100,000 microfiche aperture card drawings, printed specifications, catalogues, a small amount of correspondence and indexes, minute books and rolling stock drawings of other business records from early merged and constituent firms.
Canton Kowloon, open goods wagon, 1909[Ref. MS 99/2/11]
Most of the material dates from 1845 to late 1960s, covering the company from its origins when Joseph Wright, a London stagecoach builder and owner, began to build railway carriages after moving to Saltley, Birmingham. The company changed names several times after his death, to eventually become well-known as the Metropolitan Cammell Carriage & Wagon Works Co. Ltd. Saltley, Birmingham. The Metro-Cammell name stopped being used in the 1990s.
Indexes and catalogues
The above is an example of the drawings listings – the drawings and photographs are organised by railway. Order numbers for the fiche are the noted in the ‘Lib. Ref.’ column.
A catalogue of the collection is not currently available online. The microfiche drawings and photographs are indexed by railway.
Drawing of 10 ½ ton coal wagon[Ref. MS 99 microfiche 488/67]
The records from the merged firms are box listed. This includes companies such as Leeds Forge Co. Ltd, Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Co., and Vickers Ltd., to name just a few. Please note that access to most of these records is restricted.
Please e-mail us at archives.heritage@birmingham.gov.uk if you are seeking specific records and we can advise. Include the name of the railway when asking about drawings or photographs.
Access to the open material is via an appointment in our Wolfson Centre for Archival Research. It is advisable to bring a flash drive with you if wish to take copies of the microfiche drawings. Please note that we are unable to provide a remote copying service.
The Iron Room 