Dictionary of Birmingham. (continued 10)

St. Matthias's, Wheeler Street, commenced May 30th, 1855, was consecrated June 4, 1856. Over £1,000 was spent on renovations in 1879. The seats (1,150) are all free. The yearly value of the living is £300, and it is in the gift of trustees. The vicar is the Rev. J.H. Haslam, M.A.

St. Michael's, in the Cemetery, Warstone Lane, was opened Jan. 15, 1854, the living (nominal value, £50) being in the gift of the directors. Will accommodate 400—180 seats being free.

St. Michael's, Northfield.—Of the original date of erection there is no trace, but it cannot be later than the eleventh century, and Mr. Allen Everett thought the chancel was built about 1189. The five old bells were recast in 1730, by Joseph Smith of Edgbaston, and made into six. The present building was erected in 1856-7, and has seating for 800, all free. The living, valued at £740, is held by the Rev. R. Wylde, M.A., and connected with it is the chapel-of-ease at Bartley Green.

St. Michael's, Soho, Handsworth, was opened in 1861. It has 1,000 sittings, one-half of which are free. The living is valued at £370, is in the gift of the Rector of Handsworth, and is now held by the Rev. F.A. Macdona.

St. Nicolas, Lower Tower Street—The foundation stone was laid Sept. 15, 1867; the church was consecrated July 12, 1868, and it has seats for 576 persons, the whole being free. The Bishop is the patron of the living, value £300, and the Vicar is the Rev. W.H. Connor, M.A.

St. Nicholas, King's Norton.—This church is another of the ancient ones, the register dating from 1547. It was partially re-erected in 1857, and more completely so in 1872, morn than £5,000 being expended upon it. The Dean and Chapter of Worcester are the patrons of the living (nett value £250), and the Vicar is the Rev. D.H.C. Preedy. There are 700 sittings, 300 of which are free.

St. Oswald's, situated opposite Small Heath Park, is an iron structure, lined with wood. It will seat about 400, cost £600, and was opened Aug. 10, 1882, being for the present in charge of the clergyman attached to St. Andrew's.

St. Patrick's, Highgate Street.—Erected in 1873, at a cost of £2,300, as a "School-chapel" attached to St. Alban's, and ministered unto by the Revds. J.S. and T.B. Pollock. 800 seats, all free.

St. Paul's, in St. Paul's Square.—The first stone was laid May 22, 1777, and the church was consecrated June 2, 1779, but remained without its spire until 1823, and was minus a clock for a long time after that. The east window in this church has been classed as the A1 of modern painted windows. The subject, the "Conversion of St. Paul," was designed by Benjamin West, and executed by Francis Eggington, in 1789-90. In May, 1876, the old discoloured varnish was removed, and the protecting transparent window re-glazed, so that the full beauty and finish of this exquisite work can be seen now as in its original state. Of the 1,400 sittings 900 are free. The living is worth £300, in the gift of trustees, and is held by the Rev. R.B. Burges, M.A., Vicar.

St. Paul's, Lozells.—The first stone was laid July 10, 1879, and the building consecrated September 11, 1880. The total cost was £8,700, the number of sittings being 800, of which one half are free. Patrons, Trustees. Vicar, Rev. E.D. Roberts, M.A.

St. Paul's, Moseley Road, Balsall Heath.—Foundation stone laid May 17, 1852, the building being opened that day twelvemonth. Cost £5,500 and has sittings for 1,300, of which number 465 are free. The Vicar of King's Norton is the patron of the living (value £300), and it is held by the Rev. W.B. Benison, M.A.

St. Peter's, Dale End, was begun in 1825, and consecrated Aug. 10, 1827, having cost £19,000. Considerable damage to the church was caused by fire, Jan. 24,1831. There are 1,500 sittings, all free. The living is valued at £260, is in the gift of the Bishop, and is held by the Rev. R. Dell, M.A., Vicar.

St. Philip's.—The parish of St. Philip's was created by special Act, 7 Anne, c. 34 (1708), and it being the first division of St. Martin's the new parish was bound to pay the Rector of St. Martin's £15 per year and £7 to the Clerk thereof, besides other liabilities. The site for the church (long called the "New Church") and churchyard, as near as possible four acres, was given by Mrs. Phillips, which accounts for the Saint's name chosen. George I. gave £600 towards the building fund, on the application of Sir Richard Gough, whose crest of a boar's head was put over the church, and there is now, in the form of a vane, as an acknowledgment of his kindness. Other subscriptions came in freely, and the £5,000, first estimated cost, was soon raised. [See "St. Martins"]. The building was commenced in 1711, and consecrated on October 4th, 1715. but the church was not completed until 1719. The church was re-pewed in 1850, great part restored in 1859-60, and considerably enlarged in 1883-84. The height of the tower is 140ft., and there are ten bells, six of them dating from the year 1719 and the others from 1761. There is accommodation for 2,000 persons, 600 of the seats being free. The nett value of the living is £868, the Bishop being patron. The present Rector, the Rev. H.B. Bowlby, M.A., Hon. Canon of Worcester, and Surrogate, has been with us since 1875,

St. Saviour's, Saltley, was consecrated July 23, 1850. The cost of building was £6,000; there are 810 seats, 560 being free; the living is vnlued at £240, and is in the gift of Lord Norton; the present Vicar is the Rev. F. Williams, B.A.

St. Saviour's, Villa Strest, Hockley.—Corner-stone laid April 9, 1872; consecrated May 1, 1874. Cost £5,500, and has seats for 600, all free. The living (value £250) is in the gift of trustees, and is now held by the Rev. M. Parker, Vicar.

St. Silæs's Church Street, Lozells, was consecrated January 10, 1854, the first stone having been laid June 2, 1852. It has since been enlarged, and has now 1,100 sittings, 430 being free. The living (value £450) is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of trustees, and is held by the Rev. G. C. Baskerville, M.A. The Mission Room in Burbury Street is served from St. Silas's.

St. Stephen's, Newtown Row, was consecrated July 23, 1844. The building cost £3,200; there are 1,150 sittings, of which 750 are free; the living is valued at £250, is in the gift of the Bishop and the Crown alternately, and is now held by the Rev. P. Reynolds, Vicar, who also provides for the Mission Room in Theodore Street.

St. Stephen's, Selly Hill, was consecrated August 18, 1871, the first stone having been laid March 30, 1870. The patrons are the Bishop and trustees; the living is valued at £200; it is a perpetual curacy, and the incumbent is the Rev. R. Stokes M.A. Of the 300 sittings 100 are free.

St. Thomas's, Holloway Head.—First stone laid Oct. 2, 1826; consecrated Oct. 22, 1829, having cost £14,220. This is the largest church in Birmingham, there being 2,600 sittings, of which 1,500 are free. In the Chartist riots of 1839, the people tore up the railings round the churchyard to use as pikes. The living (value £550) is in the gift of trustees, and is held by the Rev. T. Halstead, Rector and Surrogate.

St. Thomas-in-the-Moors, Cox Street, Balsall Heath.—The church was commenced to be built, at the expense of the late William Sands Cox, Esq., in the year 1868, but on account of some quibble, legal or ecclesiastical, the building was stopped when three parts finished. By his will Mr. Cox directed it to be completed, and left a small endowment. This was added to by friends, and the consecration ceremony took place Aug. 14, 1883. The church will accommodate about 600 persons.

St. Thomas the Martyr.—Of this church, otherwise called the "Free Chapel," which was richly endowed in 1350 (See "Memorials of Old Birmingham" by Toulmin Smith), and to which the Commissioners of Henry VIII., in 1545, said the inhabitants did "muche resorte," there is not one stone left, and its very site is not known.

Stirchley Street School-Church was erected in 1863, at a cost of £1,200, and is used on Sunday and occasional weekday evenings.

Places Of Worship.—Dissenters'.—A hundred years ago the places of worship in Birmingham and its neighbourhood, other than the parish churches, could have been counted on one's fingers, and even so late as 1841 not more than four dozen were found by the census enumerators in a radius of some miles from the Bull Ring. At the present time conventicles and tabernacles, Bethels and Bethesdas, Mission Halls and Meeting Rooms, are so numerous that there is hardly a street away from the centre of the town but has one or more such buildings. To give the history of half the meeting-places of the hundred-and-one different denominational bodies among us would fill a book, but notes of the principal Dissenting places of worship are annexed.

Antinomians.—In 1810 the members of this sect had a chapel in Bartholomew Street, which was swept away by the L. and N.W. Railway Co., when extending their line to New Street.

Baptists.—Prior to 1737, the "Particular Baptists" do not appear to have had any place of worship of their own in this town, what few of them there were travelling backwards and forwards every Sunday to Bromsgrove. The first home they acquired here was a little room in a small yard at the back of 38, High Street (now covered by the Market Hall), which was opened Aug. 24, 1737. In March of the following year a friend left the Particulars a sum of money towards erecting a meeting-house of their own, and this being added to a few subscriptions from the Coventry Particulars, led to the purchase of a little bit of the Cherry Orchard, for which £13 was paid. Hereon a small chapel was put up, with some cottages in front, the rent of which helped to pay chapel expenses, and these cottages formed part of Cannon Street; the land at the back being reserved for a graveyard. The opening of the new chapel gave occasion for attack; and the minister of the New Meeting, Mr. Bowen, an advocate of religious freedom, charged the Baptists (particular though they were) with reviving old Calvinistic doctrines and spreading Antinomianism and other errors in Birmingham; with the guileless innocence peculiar to polemical scribes, past and present. Mr. Dissenting minister Bowen tried to do his friends in the Bull Ring a good turn by issuing his papers as from "A Consistent Churchman." In 1763 the chapel was enlarged, and at the same time a little more land was added to the graveyard. In 1780 a further enlargement became necessary, which sufficed until 1805, when the original buildings, including the cottages next the street, were taken down to make way for the chapel so long known by the present inhabitants. During the period of demolition and re-erection the Cannon Street congregation were accommodated at Carr's Lane, Mr. T. Morgan and Mr. John Angell James each occupying the pulpit alternately. The new chapel was opened July 16, 1806, and provided seats for 900, a large pew in the gallery above the clock being allotted to the "string band," which was not replaced by an organ until 1859. In August, 1876, the Corporation purchased the site of the chapel, the graveyard, and the adjoining houses, in all about 1,000 square yards in extent, for the sum of £26,500, the last Sunday service being held on October 5, 1879. The remains of departed ministers and past members of the congregation interred in the burial-yard and under the chapel were carefully removed, mostly to Witton Cemetery. The exact number of interments that had taken place in Cannon Street has never been stated, but they were considerably over 200; in one vault alone more than forty lead coffins being found. The site is now covered by the Central Arcade. Almost as old as Cannon Street Chapel was the one in Freeman Street, taken down in 1856, and the next in date was "Old Salem," built in 1791, but demolished when the Great Western Railway was made. In 1785 a few members left Cannon Street to form a church in Needless Alley, but soon removed to Bond Street, under Mr. E. Edmonds, father of the well-known George Edmonds.—In the year 1870 fifty-two members were "dismissed" to constitute a congregation at Newhall Street Chapel, under the Rev. A. O'Neill.—In the same way a few began the church in Graham Street in 1828.—On Emancipation Day (Aug. 1, 1838), the first stone was laid of Heneage Street Chapel, which was opened June 10, 1841.—In 1845 a chapel was erected at Shirley; and on Oct. 24, 1849, the Circus in Bradford Street was opened as a Baptist Chapel. Salem Chapel, Frederick Street, was opened Sept. 14, 1851.—Wycliffe Church, Bristol Road, was commenced Nov. 8, 1859, and opened June 26, 1861.—Lombard Street Chapel was started Nov. 25, 1864.—Christ Church, Aston, was opened April 19, 1865.—The Chapel in Balsall Heath Road was opened in March, 1872; that in Victoria Street, Small Heath, June 24, 1873; and in Great Francis Street, May 27, 1877. When the Cannon Street Chapel was demolished, the trustees purchased Graham Street Chapel and schools for the sum of £14,200, other portions of the money given by the Corporation being allotted towards the erection of new chapels elsewhere. The Graham Street congregation divided, one portion erecting for themselves the Church of the Redeemer, in Hagley Road, (opened May 24, 1882), while those living on the Handsworth side built a church in Hamstead Road (opened March 1, 1883), each building costing over £10,000. The first stone of the Stratford Road Church (the site of which, valued at £1,200, was given by Mr. W. Middlemore) was laid on the 8th of June, 1878, and the building, which cost £7,600, was opened June 3, 1879. Mr. Middlemore also gave the site (value £2,200) for the Hagley Road Church, £6,000 of the Cannon Street money going to it, and £3,500 to the Stratford Road Church.—The Baptists have also chapels in Guildford Street, Hope Street, Lodge Road, Longmore Street, Great King Street, Spring Hill, Warwick Street, Yates Street, as well as at Erdington, Harborne, King's Heath, Selly Oak, Quinton, &c.

Catholic Apostolic Church, Summer Hill Terrace.—This edifice, erected in 1877, cost about £10,000, and has seats for 400.

Christian Brethren.—Their head meeting-house is at the Central Hall, Great Charles Street, other meetings being held in Bearwood Road, Birchfield Road, Green Lanes, King Street, (Balsall Heath), New John Street, Wenman Street, (opened in June, 1870), and at Aston and Erdington.

Christadelphians meet at the Temperance Hall, Temple Street.

Church of the Saviour, Edward Street.—Built for George Dawson on his leaving the Baptists, the first turf being turned on the site July 14, 1846, and the opening taking place Aug. 8, 1847.

Congregational.—How the Independents sprang from the Presbyterians, and the Congregationalists from them, is hardly matter of local history, though Carr's Line Chapel has sheltered them all in rotation. The first building was put up in 1747-48, and, with occasional repairs lasted full fifty years, being rebuilt in 1802, when the congregation numbered nearly 900. Soon after the advent of the Rev. John Angell James, it became necessary to provide accommodation for at least 2,000, and in 1819 the chapel was again rebuilt in the form so well known to the present generation. The rapidity with which this was accomplished was so startling that the record inscribed on the last late affixed to the roof is worth quoting, as well on account of its being somewhat of a novel innovation upon the usual custom of foundation-stone memorial stone, and first-stone laying and fixing:—

"Memoranda. On the 30th day of July, 1819, the first stone of this building was laid by the Rev. John Angell James, the minister. On the 30th day of October, in the same year, this the last slate was laid by Henry Leneve Holland, the builder, in the presence of Stedman Thomas Whitwell, the Architect.—Laus Deo."

In 1875-76 the chapel was enlarged, refronted, and in many ways strengthened and improved, at a cost of nearly £5,000, and it now has seats for 2,250 persons.—Ebenezer Chapel, Steelhouse Lane, which will seat 1,200, was opened Dec. 9, 1818. Its first pastor, the Rev. Jehoida Brewer, was the first to be buried there.—The first stone of Highbury Chapel, which seats 1,300, was laid May 1, 1844, and it was opened by Dr. Raffles in the following October.—Palmer Street Chapel was erected in 1845.—The first stone of the Congregational Church in Francis Road was laid Sept. 11, 1855, the opening taking place Oct. 8, 1856.—The first stone of the Moseley Road building was laid July 30, 1861, and of that in the Lozells, March 17, 1862.—The chapel at Small Heath was commenced Sept. 19, 1867, and opened June 21, 1868; that at Saltley was began June 30, 1868, and opened Jan. 26, 1869.—The chapel in Park Road, Aston, was began Oct. 7, 1873; the church on Soho Hill, which cost £15,000, was commenced April 9, 1878, and opened July 16, 1879.—The memorial-stones of the church at Sutton Coldfield, which cost £5,500, and will seat 640, were laid July 14, 1879, the opening taking place April 5, 1880; the Westminster Road (Birchfield) Church was commenced Oct. 21, 1878, was opened Sept. 23, 1879, cost £5,500, and will seat 900; both of these buildings have spires 100ft. high.—The foundation-stone of a chapel at Solihull, to accommodate 420, was laid May 23, 1883.—Besides the above, there is the Tabernacle Chapel, Parade, chapels in Bordesley Street, Gooch Street, and St. Andrew's Road, and others at Acock's Green, Erdington, Handsworth, Olton, Yardley, &c.

Disciples of Christ erected a chapel in Charles Henry Street in 1864; in Geach Street in 1865; in Great Francis Street in 1873.

Free Christian Church, Fazeley Street—Schoolrooms were opened here in 1865 by the Birmingham Free Christian Society, which were enlarged in 1868 at a cost of about £800. Funds to build a church were gathered in succeeding years and the present edifice was opened April 1, 1877, the cost being £1,300.

Jews.—The Hebrew Synagogue in Blucher Street was erected in 1856, at a cost of £10,000.

Methodists.—The Primitive Methodists for some time after their first appearance here held, their meetings in the open air or in hired rooms, the first chapel they used being that in Bordesley Street (opened March 16, 1823, by the Wesleyans) which they entered upon in 1826. Other chapels they had at various times in Allison Street, Balloon Street, Inge Street, &c. Gooch Street Chapel was erected by them at a cost of over £2,000 (the first stone being laid August 23, 1852) and is now their principal place of worship, their services being also conducted in Chapels and Mission Rooms in Aston New Town, Garrison Lane, Long Acre, Lord Street, Morville Street, Wells Street, Whitmore Street, The Cape, Selly Oak, Perry Barr, Sparkbrook, and Stirchley Street.—The Methodist New Connexion have chapels in Heath Street, Kyrwick's Lane, Ladywood Lane, Moseley Street, and Unett Street—The first stone of a chapel for the Methodist New Congregational body was placed July 13, 1873, in Icknield Street West.—The Methodist Reformers commenced to build a chapel in Bishop Street, November 15, 1852.—The Methodist Free Church has places of worship in Bath Street, Cuckoo Road, Muntz Street, Rocky Lane, and at Washwood Heath.

New Church.—The denomination of professing Christians, who style themselves the "New Church," sometimes known as "The New Jerusalem Church," and more commonly as "Swedenborgians," as early as 1774 had a meeting room in Great Charles Street, from whence they removed to a larger one in Temple Row. Here they remained until 1791, when they took possession of Zion Chapel, Newhall Street, the ceremony of consecration taking place on the 19 of June. This event was of more than usual interest, inasmuch as this edifice was the first ever erected in the world for New Church worship. The rioters of 1791, who professed to support the National Church by demolishing the Dissenting places of worship, paid Zion Chapel a visit and threatened to burn it, but the eloquence of the minister, the Rev. J. Proud, aided by a judicious distribution of what cash he had in his pocket, prevailed over their burning desires, and they carried their torches elsewhere. On the 10th of March, 1793, however, another incendiary attempt was made to suppress the New Church, but the fire was put out before much damage was done. What fire and popular enmity could not do, however, was accomplished by a financial crisis, and the congregation had to leave their Zion, and put up with a less pretentious place of worship opposite the Wharf in Newhall Street. Here they remained till 1830, when they removed to Summer Lane, where a commodious church, large schools, and minister's house had been erected for them. In 1875 the congregation removed to their present location in Wretham Road, where a handsome church has been built, at a cost of nearly £8,000, to accommodate 500 persons, with schools in the rear for as many children. The old chapel in Summer Lane has been turned into a Clubhouse, and the schools attached to it made over to the School Board. The New Church's new church, like many other modern-built places for Dissenting worship, has tower and spire, the height being 116ft.

Presbyterians.—It took a long time for all the nice distinctive differences of dissenting belief to manifest themselves before the public got used to Unitarianism, Congregationalism, and all the other isms into which Nonconformity has divided itself. When Birmingham was as a city of refuge for the many clergymen who would not accept the Act of Uniformity, it was deemed right to issue unto them licenses for preaching, and before the first Baptist chapel, or the New Meeting, or the Old Meeting, or the old Old Meeting (erected in 1689), were built, we find (1672) that one Samuel Willis, styling himself a minister of the Presbyterian persuasion, applied for preaching licenses for the school-house, and for the houses of John Wall, and Joseph Robinson, and Samuel Taylor, and Samuel Dooley, and John Hunt, all the same being in Birmingham; and William Fincher, another "minister of the Presbyterian persuasion," asked for licenses to preach in the house of Richard Yarnald, in Birmingham, his own house, and in the houses of Thomas Gisboon, William Wheeley, John Pemberton, and Richard Careless, in Birmingham, and in the house of Mrs. Yarrington, on Bowdswell Heath. In Bradford's map (1751) Carr's Lane chapel is put as a "Presbiterian chapel," the New Meeting Street building close by being called "Presbiterian Meeting." It was of this "Presbiterian Chapel" in Carr's Lane that Hutton wrote when he said it was the road to heaven, but that its surroundings indicated a very different route. Perhaps it was due to these surroundings that the attendants at Carr's Lane came by degrees to be called Independents and the New Meeting Street folks Unitarians, for both after a time ceased to be known as Presbyterians. The Scotch Church, or, as it is sometimes styled, the Presbyterian Church of England, is not a large body in Birmingham, having but three places of worship. The first Presbytery held in this town was on July 6, 1847; the foundation-stone of the Church in Broad Street was laid July 24, 1848; the Church at Camp Hill was opened June 3, 1869; and the one in New John Street West was began July 4, 1856, and opened June 19, 1857.

Salvation Army.—The invasion of Birmingham by the soldiers of the Salvation Army was accomplished in the autumn of 1882, the General (Mr. Booth) putting in an appearance March 18, 1883. They have several rendezvous in the town, one of the principal being in Farm Street, from whence the "soldiers" frequently sally out, with drums beating and colours flying, much to their own glorification and other people's annoyance.

Unitarians.—The building known for generations as the Old Meeting, is believed to have been the first Dissenting place of worship erected in Birmingham; and, as its first register dates from 1689, the chapel most likely was built in the previous year. It was doubtless but a small building, as in about ten years (1699) a "Lower Meeting House" was founded in Meeting House Yard, nearly opposite Rea Street. The premises occupied here were gutted in the riots of 1715, and the owner promised the mob that it should no more be used as a chapel, but when calmer he repented and services were held until the New Meeting House in Moor Street was opened. The rioters in 1715 partly destroyed the old Meeting and those of 1791 did so completely, as well as the New Meeting, which (began in 1730) was opened in 1732. For a time the congregations united and met at the Amphitheatre in Livery Street, the members of Old Meeting taking possession of their re-erected chapel, October 4, 1795. New Meeting being re-opened April 22, 1802. The last-named building remained in the possession of the Unitarians until 1861, when it was sold to the Roman Catholics. The last services in Old Meeting took place March 19, 1882, the chapel and graveyard, comprising an area of 2,760 square yards, being sold to the L. & N. W. R. Co., for the purpose of enlarging the Central Station. The price paid by the Railway Company was £32,250, of which £2,000 was for the minister and £250 towards the expense of removing to private vaults the remains of a few persons whose friends wished that course. A portion of Witton Cemetery was laid out for the reception of the remainder, where graves and vaults have been made in relative positions to those in the old graveyard, the tombstones being similarly placed. A new church has been erected in Bristol Street for the congregation, with Sunday Schools, &c., £7,000 being the sum given for the site.—In 1839, Hurst Street Chapel was built for the Unitarian Domestic Mission. May 1, same year, the first stone was laid of the Newhall Hill Chapel, which was opened July 10, 1840.—The Church of the Messiah, Broad Street, was commenced Aug. 12, 1860, and opened Jan. 1, 1862. This church, which cost £10,000 and will seat nearly 1,000 is built over a canal, one of the strangest sites ever chosen for a place of worship. In connection with this church, there is a chapel in Lawrence Street.

Welsh Chapels.—The Welsh Calvinistic Methodists meet in the little chapel, bottom of Hockley Hill, and also in Granville Street, near Bath Row.—The Welsh Congregationalists (Independents) assemble at Wheeler Street Chapel, opened May 1, 1839.

Wesleyans.—The first Wesleyan Chapel in Birmingham was opened by John Wesley, March 21, 1764, the building having been previously a theatre. Cherry Street Chapel, opened July 7, 1782, was rebuilt in 1823.— Bradford Street Chapel was opened in 1786, Belmont Row in 1789, and Bath Street in 1839.—In 1825, a chapel was built in Martin Street, which was converted into a school on the opening (Nov. 10, 1864) of the present edifice, which cost £6,200.—Newtown Row Chapel was built in 1837 and Great Hampton Street and Unett Street Chapels in 1838, the latter being enlarged in 1844.—Branston Street Chapel was opened April 18, and Moseley Road, May 1, 1853.—The Bristol Road Chapel was opened January 18, 1854, and that in King Edward's Road, January 18, 1859.—The first stones were laid for the chapels in Villa Street April 21, 1864, Handsworth Oct. 21, 1872, Selley Oak Oct. 2, 1876, Peel Street, August 30, 1877, Cuckoo Road, June 10, 1878, Nechells Park Road Oct. 25, 1880, Mansfield Road Feb. 19, 1883. Besides the above there are chapels in Coventry Road, Inge Street, Knutsford Street, Lichfield Road, Lord Street, New John Street, Monument Road, and Warwick Road, as well as mission rooms in several parts of the town and suburbs. Acock's Green, Erdington. Harborne, King's Heath, Northfield, Quinton, &c. have also Wesleyan Chapels.—The Wesleyan Reformers meet in Floodgate Street, and in Upper Trinity Street.

Miscellaneous.—Lady Huntingdon's followers opened a chapel in King Street in 1785, and another in Peck Lane in 1842 (both sites being cleared in 1851), and a third in Gooch Street, Oct. 26th, 1851.—The believers in Joannah Southcote also had chosen spots wherein to pray for their leader, while the imposture lasted.—The celebrated Edward Irving opened Mount Zion Chapel, March 24th, 1824. "God's Free Church," in Hope Street, was "established" June 4th. 1854.—Zoar Chapel was the name given to a meeting-room in Cambridge Street, where a few undenominational Christians met between 1830 and 1840. It was afterwards used as a schoolroom in connection with Winfield's factory.—Wrottesley Street Chapel was originally built as a Jewish Synagogue, at a cost of about 2,000. After they left it was used for a variety of purposes, until acquired by William Murphy, the Anti-Catholic lecturer. It was sold by his executors, Aug. 2nd, 1877, and realised £645, less than the cost of the bricks and mortar, though the lease had 73 years to run.

Places of Worship.—Roman Catholics.—From the days of Queen Mary, down to the last years of James II.'s reign, there does not appear to have been any regular meeting-place for the Catholic Inhabitants of Birmingham. In 1687, a church (dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen and St. Francis) was built somewhere near the site of the present St. Bartholomew's but it was destroyed in the following year, and the very foundation-stones torn up and appropriated by Protestant plunderers. [See "Masshouse Lane."]

It was a hundred years before the next church, St. Peter's, near Broad Street, was erected, and the Catholic community has increased but slowly until the last thirty years or so. In 1848 there were only seven priests in Birmingham, and but seventy in the whole diocese. There are now twenty-nine in this town, and about 200 in the district, the number of churches having increased, in the same period, from 70 to 123, with 150 schools and 17,000 scholars. The following are local places of worship:—

Cathedral of St. Chad,—A chapel dedicated to St. Chad (who was about the only saint the kingdom of Mercia could boast of), was opened in Bath Street, Dec. 17, 1809. When His Holiness the Pope blessed his Catholic children hereabouts with a Bishop the insignificant chapel gave place to a Cathedral, which, built after the designs of Pugin, cost no less than £60,000. The consecration was performed (July 14, 1838) by the Right Rev. Doctor (afterwards Cardinal) Wiseman, the district bishop, in the presence of a large number of English noblemen and foreign ecclesiastical dignitaries, and with all the imposing ceremonies customary to Catholic celebrations of this nature. The adjoining houses detract much from the outside appearance of this reproduction of medieval architecture, but the magnificence of the interior decorations, the elaborate carvings, and the costly accessories appertaining to the services of the Romish Church more than compensate therefor. Pugin's plans have not even yet been fully carried out, the second spire, that on the north tower (150ft. high), being added in 1856, the largest he designed still waiting completion. Five of a peal of eight bells were hung in 1848, and the remainder in 1877, the peculiar and locally-rare ceremony of "blessing the bells" being performed by Bishop Ullathorne, March 22nd, 1877.

Oratory, Hagley Road—Founded by the Fathers of the Order of St. Philip Neri, otherwise called Oratorians. The Father Superior is the Rev. Dr.J. H. Newman (born in 1801), once a clergyman of the Church of England, the author of the celebrated "Tract XC.," now His Eminence Cardinal Newman.

St. Anne's, Alcester Street.—In 1851, some buildings and premises originally used as a distillery were here taken on a lease by the Superior of the Oratory, and opened in the following year as a Mission-Church in connection with the Congregation of the Fathers in Hagley Road. In course of time the property was purchased, along with some adjacent land, for the sum of £4,500, and a new church has been erected, at a cost of £6,000. The foundation-stone was laid Sept. 10th, 1883, and the opening ceremony took place in July, 1884, the old chapel and buildings being turned into schools for about 1,500 children.

St. Catherine of Sienna, Horse Fair.—The first stone was laid Aug. 23, 1869, and the church was opened in July following.

St. Joseph's, Nechells, was built in 1850, in connection with the Roman Catholic Cemetery.

St. Mary's, Hunter's Lane, was opened July 28, 1847.

St. Mary's Retreat, Harborne, was founded by the Passionist Fathers, and opened Feb. 6, 1877.

St. Michael's, Moor Street, was formerly the Unitarian New Meeting, being purchased, remodelled, and consecrated in 1861.

St. Patrick's, Dudley Road, was erected in 1862.

St. Peter's, Broad Street, built in 1786, and enlarged in 1798, was the first Catholic place of worship erected here after the sack and demolition of the church and convent in Masshouse Lane. With a lively recollection of the treatment dealt out to their brethren in 1688, the founders of St. Peter's trusted as little as possible to the tender mercies of their fellow-townsmen, but protected themselves by so arranging their church that nothing but blank walls should face the streets, and with the exception of a doorway the walls remained unpierced for nearly seventy years. The church has lately been much enlarged, and the long-standing rebuke no more exists.

In addition to the above, there are the Convents of "The Sisters of the Holy Child," in Hagley Road; "Sisters of Notre Dame," in the Crescent; "Little Sisters of the Poor," at Harborne; "Our Lady of Mercy," at Handsworth; and others connected with St. Anne's and St. Chad's, besides churches at Erdington, &c.

Police.—Though the Court Leet provided for the appointment of constables, no regular body of police or watchmen appear to have existed even a hundred years ago. In February, 1786, the magistrates employed men to nightly patrol the streets, but it could not have been a permanent arrangement, as we read that the patrol was "resumed" in October, 1793, and later on, in March, 1801, the magistrates "solicited" the inhabitants' consent to a re-appointment of the night-watch. After a time the Commissioners of the Streets kept regular watchmen in their employ—the "Charleys" occasionally read of as finding sport for the "young bloods" of the time—but when serious work was required the Justices appear to have depended on their powers of swearing-in special constables. The introduction of a police force proper dates from the riotous time of 1839 [See "Chartism"], for immediately after those troublous days Lord John Russell introduced a Bill to the House of Commons granting special powers for enforcing a rate to maintain a police force here, under the command of a Commissioner to be appointed by the Government. The force thus sought to be raised, though paid for by the people of Birmingham, were to be available for the whole of the counties of Warwick, Worcester and Stafford.

Coercive measures were passed at that period even quicker than Government can manage to get them through now a-days, and notwithstanding Mr. Thos. Attwood's telling Little Lord John that he was "throwing a lighted torch into a magazine of gunpowder" and that if he passed that Bill he would never be allowed to pass another, the Act was pushed through on the 13th of August, there being a majority of thirteen in favour of his Lordship's policy of policeing the Brums into politeness. The dreaded police force was soon organised under Mr. Commissioner Burges (who was paid the small salary of £900 a year), and became not only tolerated but valued. It was not till some years after, and then in the teeth of much opposition, that the Corporation succeeded in getting into their own hands the power of providing our local guardians of the peace. Mr. Inspector Stephens was the first Chief Superintendent, and in March, 1860, his place was filled by the promotion of Mr. George Glossop. In April, 1876, the latter retired on an allowance of £400 a year, and Major Bond was chosen (June 2nd). The Major's term of office was short as he resigned in Dec. 1881. Mr. Farndale being appointed in his stead. In May, 1852, the force consisted of 327, men and officers included. Additions have been made from time to time, notably 50 in August, 1875, and so early in 1883, the total rank and file now being 550, equal to one officer for every 700 of population. February 8, 1876, the unpopular Public-house Inspectors were appointed, but two years' experience showed they were not wanted, and they were relegated to their more useful duties of looking after thieves and pickpockets, instead of poking their noses into private business. In 1868, £200 was expended in the purchase of guns, pistols, and swords for the police and officers at the Gaol. The Watch Committee, in May, 1877, improved the uniform by supplying the men with "spiked" helmets, doubtless to please the Major, who liked to see his men look smart, though the military appearance of the force has been greatly improved since by the said spikes being silvered and burnished.

Political Union.—See "Reform Leagues."

Polling Districts.—The sixteen wards of the borough are divided into 131 polling districts.

Polytechnic.—This was one of the many local literary, scientific, and educational institutions which have been replaced by our Midland Institute, Free Libraries, &c. It was founded in April, and opened in October, 1843, and at the close of its first year there were the names of very nearly 500 members on the books, the rates of subscription being 6s. per quarter for participation in all the benefits of the institution, including the lectures, library, classes, baths, &c. With the "People's Instruction Society," the "Athenic Institute," the "Carr's Lane Brotherly Society" (said to have been the first Mechanics' Institution in Britain), the Polytechnic, in its day, did good work.

Poor Law and Poor Rates.—Local history does not throw much light upon the system adopted by our early progenitors in their dealings with the poor, but if the merciless laws were strictly carried out, the wandering beggars, at all events must have had hard lives of it. By an act passed in the reign of Henry VIII., it was ordered that vagrants should be taken to a market town, or other convenient place and there to be tied to the tail of a cart, naked, and beaten with whips until the body should be bloody by reason of the punishment. Queen Elizabeth so far mitigated the punishment that the unfortunates were only to be stripped from the waist upwards to receive their whipping, men and women, maids and mothers, suffering alike in the open street or market-place, the practice being, after so using them, to conduct them to the boundary of the parish and pass them on to the next place for another dose, and it was not until 1791 that flogging of women was forbidden. The resident or native poor were possibly treated a little better, though they were made to work for their bread in every possible case. By the new Poor Act of 1783, which authorised the erection of a Workhouse, it was also provided that the "Guardians of the Poor" should form a Board consisting of 106 members, and the election of the first Board (July 15th, 1783), seems to have been almost as exciting as a modern election. In one sense of the word they were guardians indeed, for they seem to have tried their inventive faculties in all ways to find work for the inmates of the House, even to hiring them out, or setting them to make worsted and thread. The Guardians would also seem to have long had great freedom allowed them in the spending of the rates, as we read it was not an uncommon thing for one of them if he met a poor person badly off for clothes to give an order on the Workhouse for a fresh "rig out." In 1873 the Board was reduced to sixty in number (the first election taking place on the 4th of April), with the usual local result that a proper political balance was struck of 40 Liberals to 20 Conservatives. The Workhouse, Parish Offices, Children's Homes, &c., will be noted elsewhere. Poor law management in the borough is greatly complicated from the fact of its comprising two different parishes, and part of a third. The Parish of Birmingham works under a special local Act, while Edgbaston forms part of King's Norton Union, and the Aston portion of the town belongs to the Aston Union, necessitating three different rates and three sets of collectors, &c. If a poor man in Moseley Road needs assistance he must see the relieving officer at the Parish Offices in the centre of the town if he lives on one side of Highgite Lane he must find the relieving officer at King's Heith; but if he happens to be on the other side he will have to go to Gravelly Hill or Erdington. Not long ago to obtain a visit from the medical officer for his sick wife, a man had to go backwards and forwards more than twenty miles. The earliest record we have found of the cost of relieving the poor of the parish is of the date of 1673 in which year the sum of £309 was thus expended. In 1773 the amount was £6,378, but the pressure on the rates varied considerably about then, as in 1786 it required £11,132, while in 1796 the figures rose to £24,050. According to Hutton, out of about 8,000 houses only 3,000 were assessed to the poor rates in 1780, the inhabitants of the remaining number being too poor to pay them. Another note shows up the peculiar incidence of taxation of the time, as it is said that in 1790 there were nearly 2000 houses under £5 rental and 8,000 others under £10, none of them being assessed, such small tenancies being first rated in 1792. The rates then appear to have been levied at the uniform figure of 6d. in the £ on all houses above £6 yearly value, the ratepayers being called upon as the money was required—in and about 1798, the collector making his appearance sixteen or eighteen times in the course of the year. The Guardians were not so chary in the matter of out-relief as they are at present, for in 1795 there were at one period 2,427 families (representing over 6,000 persons, old and young) receiving out-relief. What this system (and bad trade) led to at the close of the long war is shown in the returns for 1816-17, when 36 poor rates were levied in the twelvemonth. By various Acts of Parliament, the Overseers have now to collect other rates, but the proportion required for the poor is thus shown:—

Year Rate in £. s.d. Amount collected £ Paid to Corporation £ Cost of In and Out Relief £ Other Parochial Expenditure £

1851 4 0 78,796 39,573 17,824 21,399

1861 3 8 85,986 36,443 34,685 14,878

1871 3 2 116,268 44,293 37,104 34,871

1881 4 8 193,458 107,520 42,880 48,058

The amounts paid over to the Corporation include the borough rate and the sums required by the School Board, the Free Libraries, and the District Drainage Board. In future years the poor-rate (so-called) will include, in addition to these, all other rates levyable by the Corporation. The poor-rates are levied half-yearly, and in 1848,1862, and 1868 they amounted to 5s. per year, the lowest during the last forty years being 3s. in 1860; 1870, 1871, and 1872 being the next lowest, 3s. 2d. per year. The number of persons receiving relief may be gathered from the following figures:—

Highest Lowest

Year. No. daily No. daily

1876 7,687 7,058

1877 8,240 7,377

1878 8,877 7,242

1879 14,651 8,829

1880 13,195 7,598

1881 11,064 7,188

1882 9,658 7,462

1883 8,347 7,630

Not long ago it was said that among the inmates of the Workhouse were several women of 10 to 45 who had spent all their lives there, not even knowing their way into the town.

Population.—Hutton "calculated" that about the year 750 there would be 3,000 inhabitants residing in and close to Birmingham. Unless a very rapid thinning process was going on after that date he must have been a long way out of his reckoning, for the Domesday Book gives but 63 residents in 1085 for Birmingham, Aston, and Edgbaston. In 1555 we find that 37 baptisms, 15 weddings, and 27 deaths were registered at St. Martin's, the houses not being more than 700, nor the occupiers over 3,500 in number. In 1650, it is said, there were 15 streets, about 900 houses, and 5,472 inhabitants. If the writer who made that calculation was correct, the next 80 years must have been "days of progress" indeed, for in 1700 the town is said to have included 28 streets, about 100 courts and alleys, 2,504 houses, one church, one chapel, and two meeting-houses, with 15,032 inhabitants. In 1731 there were 55 streets, about 150 courts and alleys, 3,719 houses, two churches, one chapel, four Dissenting meeting-houses, and 23,286 inhabitants. The remaining figures, being taken from census returns and other reliable authorities, are more satisfactory.

Year. Inhabitants. Houses.

1741 24,660 4,114

1773 30,804 7,369

1778 48,252 8,042

1781 50,295 8,382

1791 73,653 12,681

1801 78,760 16,659

1811 85,755 19,096

1821 106,721 21,345

1831 142,251 29,397

1841 182,922 36,238

1851 232,841 48,894

1861 296,076 62,708

1871 343,787 77,409

1881 400,774 84,263

The inhabitants are thus divided as to sexes:

Year. Males. Females. Totals.

1861 143,996 152,080 296,076

1871 167,636 176,151 343,787

1881 194,540 206,234 400,774

The increase during the ten years in the several parts of the borough shows:

Birmingham parish. Edgbaston parish. Part of Aston in borough. Totals.

1881 246,352 22,778 131,644 400,774

1871 231,015 17,442 95,330 343,787

Increase 15,337 5,336 36,314 156,987

These figures, however, are not satisfactorily correct, as they simply give the totals for the borough, leaving out many persons who, though residing outside the boundaries are to all intents and purposes Birmingham people; and voluminous as census papers usually are, it is difficult from those of 1871 to arrive at the proper number, the districts not being subdivided sufficiently. Thus, in the following table Handsworth includes Soho and Perry Barr, Harborne parish includes Smethwick, Balsall Heath is simply the Local included district, while King's Norton Board is Moseley, Selly Oak, &c.

Places. Inhabitants.

Aston Parish 139,998

Aston Manor 33,948

Balsall Heath 13,615

Handsworth 16,042

Harborne Parish 22,263

Harborne Township 5,105

King's Norton Parish 21,845

Yardley Parish 5,360

For the census of 1881, the papers were somewhat differently arranged, and we are enabled to get a nearer approximation, as well as a better notion of the increase that has taken place in the number of inhabitants in our neighbourhood.

Place 1871 1881

Acock's Green 1,492 2,796

Aston Manor 33,948 53,844

Aston Parish 139,998 201,287

Aston Union 146,808 209,869

Balsall Heath 13,615 22,734

Birchfield 2,544 3,792

Castle Bromwich 689 723

Erdington 4,883 7,153

Handsworth 16,042 22,903

Harborne 5,105 6,433

King's Heath 1,982 2,984

King's Norton 21,845 34,178

King's Norton Union 96,143

Knowle 1,371 1,514

Moseley 2,374 4,224

Northfield 4,609 7,190

Olton 906

Perry Barr 1,683 2,314

Quinton 2,010 2,145

Saltley 6,419

Selly Oak 2,854 5,089

Smethwick 17,158 25,076

Solihull 3,739 5,301

Ward End 866

Water Orton 396

Witton 182 265

Yardley 5,360 9,741

The most remarkable increase of population in any of these districts is in the case of Aston Manor, where in fifty years the inhabitants have increased from less than one thousand to considerably more than fifty thousand. In 1831, there were 946: in 1841, the number was 2,847; in 1851 it was 6,429; in 1861 it reached 16,337; in 1871 it had doubled to 33,948; in 1881 there were 53,844. Included among the inhabitants of the borough in 1881 there were

Males. Females. Totals.

Foreigners 1,288 859 2,147

Irish 3,488 3,584 7,072

Scotch 912 755 1,667

Welsh 1,575 1,742 3,317

Colonial 428 477 905

Born at sea 29 21 50

Of the English-born subjects of Her Majesty here 271,845 were Warwickshire lads and lasses, 26,625 came out of Staffordshire, 21,504 from Worcestershire, 10,158 from Gloucestershire, 7,941 from London, 5,622 from Shropshire, and 4,256 from Lancashire, all the other counties being more or less represented. The following analysis of the occupations of the inhabitants of the borough is copied from the Daily Post, and is arranged under the groups adopted by the Registrar-General:—

Occupations of Persons. Males. Females. Total.

Persons engaged in general or local government 1,145 79 1,224

Army and navy 307 -- 307

Clerical profession and their subordinates 287 98 335

Legal ditto 445 -- 445

Medical ditto 336 496 832

Teachers 512 1,395 1,907

Literary and scientific 70 4 74

Engineers and surveyors 111 --- 111

Artists, art-workers musicians, &c. 729 398 1,127

Engaged in exhibitions, shows, games, &c. 102 17 119

Domestic service 1,444 13,875 15,319

Other service 176 4,058 4,234

Commercial occupations 6,172 422 6,594

Engaged in conveyance of men, goods, and messages 2,442 1,839 11,281

Engaged in agriculture 881 25 906

Engaged about animals 771 5 776

Workers and Dealers in Books, prints and maps 1,888 428 2,316

Machines and implements 11,189 3,385 14,574

Houses, furniture, and decorations 12,781 1,209 13,990

Carriages and harness 2,748 466 3,214

Ships and boats 67 --- 67

Chemicals and their compounds 507 250 757

Tobacco and pipes 200 851 551

Food and lodging 8,126 2,124 10,247

Textile fabrics 1,229 920 2,149

Dress 6,894 12,946 19,840

Various animal substances 1,481 744 2,175

Ditto vegetable substances 2,277 2,237 4,514

Ditto mineral substances 36,933 9,582 46,515

General or unspecified commodities 10,542 2,631 18,173

Refuse matters 246 18 264

Without specific occupations 45,691 116,892 162,583

Children under five years 28,911 29,133 58,044

Total 194,540 206,234 400,774

The comparative population of this and other large towns in England is thus given:—

Pop. Inc. 1881. Inc. 1871. Prcent of inc.

London 3,707,130 3,254,260 452,870 13.89

Liverpool 549,834 493,305 56,429 11.35

Birmingham 400,774 343,787 56,893 16.52

Manchester 364,445 351,189 13,256 3.70

Salford 194,077 124,801 69,276 55.64

Leeds 326,158 259,212 66,946 25.81

Sheffield 312,943 239,946 72,997 30.38

Bristol 217,185 182,552 24,633 13.47

Bradford 203,544 145,830 57,614 39.50

Nottingham 177,934 86,621 91,343 105.81

Hull 152,980 121,892 31,088 25.62

Newcastle 151,822 128,443 23,379 17.96

Portsmouth 136,671 113,569 23,102 20.35

Leicester 134,350 95,220 39,130 41.05

Oldham 119,658 82,629 37,029 45.11

Sunderland 118,927 98,242 20,685 90.40

Brighton 109,062 90,011 19,051 21.11

Norwich 86,437 80,386 6,051 7.50

W'lvrhmptn 76,850 68,291 8,569 12.46

Plymouth 75,700 68,758 4,942 7.10

Portugal House.—See "The Royal."

Post Offices.—Charles I. must be credited with founding the present Post Office system, as in 1635 he commanded that a running post or two should be settled "to run night and day between London and Edinburgh, to go thither and come back again in six days, and to take with them all such letters as shall be directed to any post town in or near that road." Other "running posts" were arranged to Exeter and Plymouth, and to Chester and Holyhead, &c., and gradually all the principal places in the country were linked on to the main routes by direct and cross posts. It has often been quoted as a token of the insignificance of Birmingham that letters used to be addressed "Birmingham, near Walsall;" but possibly the necessity of some writer having to send here by a cross-country route, viâ Walsall, will explain the matter. That our town was not one of the last to be provided with mails is proved by Robert Girdler, a resident of Edgbaston Street in 1652, being appointed the Government postmaster. Where the earlier post offices were situated is uncertain, but one was opened in New Street Oct. 11, 1783, and it is generally believed to have been the same that existed for so many years at the corner of Bennett's Hill. As late as 1820 there was no Bennett's Hill, for at that time the site opposite the Theatre was occupied (on the side nearest to Temple Street) by a rickyard, with accommodation for the mailcoaches and stabling for horses. Next to this yard was the residence of Mr. Gottwaltz, the postmaster, the entrance doorway being at first the only accommodation allowed to the public, and if more than four persons attended at one time the others had to stand in the street. When Bennett's Hill was laid out, the post office was slightly altered, so as to give a covered approach on that side to the letterbox and window, the mailcoaches being provided and horsed by the hotelkeepers to whom the conveyance of the mails was entrusted, the mail guards, or mail-postmen, remaining Government officials. The next office was opened Oct. 10, 1842, on premises very nearly opposite, and which at one period formed part of the new Royal Hotel. The site is now covered by the Colonnade, the present convenient, but not beautiful, Central Post Office, in Paradise Street, being opened Sep. 28, 1873. There are 65 town receiving offices (52 of which are Money Order Offices and Savings' Banks and 13 Telegraph Stations), and 103 pillar and wall letter-boxes. Of sub-offices in the surrounding districts there are 64, of which more than half are Money Order Offices or Telegraph Offices. For the conduct of the Central Office, Mr. S. Walliker, the postmaster, has a staff numbering nearly 300, of whom about 250 are letter carriers and sorters. The Central Postal Telegraph Office, in Cannon Street, is open day and night, and the Central Post Office, in Paradise Street, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. On Sunday the latter office is open only from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., but letters are dispatched by the night mails as on other days. The Head Parcels Post Office is in Hill Street, on the basement floor of the Central Post Office, from which there are four collections and deliveries daily.

Postal Notes.—In 1748 letters were conveyed from here by post on six days a week instead of three as previously. To help pay the extra expense it was enacted that any person sending letters by private hands should be liable to a fine of £5 for every letter.—In 1772 a letter sent by "express" post was charged at the rate of 3d. per mile, with a 6d. fee for each stage and 2s. 6d. for the sending off.—Mails for the Continent were made up fortnightly, and once a month for North America. —In 1780, when James Watt was at Truro and Boulton at Birmingham, it took thirteen days for the one to write to and get an answer from the other, and on one occasion a single letter was eleven days on the road. —A local "penny post" was commenced September 4, 1793, but there was only one delivery per day and the distance was confined to one mile from the office.—The postage on letters for London was reduced to 7d., December 1, 1796, but (and for many years after) if more than one piece of paper was used the cost was doubled.—In 1814 the postage of a letter from here to Warwick was 7d.—The system of "franking" letters was abolished in 1839. This was a peculiar privilege which noblemen, Members of Parliament, and high dignitaries possessed of free postage for all their correspondence, and very strange use they made of the privilege sometimes, one instance being the case of two maidservants going as laundresses to an Ambassador who were thus "franked" to their destination. This privilege cost the Post office about £100,000 a year. —The penny postage system of Rowland Hill came into operation January 10th, 1840.—In 1841-2 there were only two deliveries per day in the centre of the town, and but one outside the mile circle, an extra penny being charged on letters posted in town for delivery in the outer districts.—The collection of a million postage stamps for the Queen's Hospital closed Sep. 5, 1859.—Halfpenny stamps for newspapers were first used in 1870.—The telegraphs were taken to by the Post Office in 1876, the first soirée in celebration thereof being held at Bristol Street Board School, Jan. 29, 1877.—The Inland Parcels Post came into operation on August 1, 1883, the number of parcels passing through our local office being about 4,000 the first day, such trifles as beehives, umbrellas, shoes, scythes, baskets of strawberries, &c., &c, being among them. The number of valentines posted in Birmingham on Cupid's Day of 1844 was estimated at 125,000 (the majority for local delivery), being about 20,000 more than in the previous year.

Power.—That the letting of mill-power would be a great advantage to hundreds of the small masters whose infinitude of productions added so enormously to the aggregate of our local trade was soon "twigged" by the early owners of steam engines. The first engine to have extra shafting attached for this purpose was that made by Newcomen for a Mr. Twigg in Water Street (the premises are covered by Muntz's metal works now), who, in 1760, advertised that he had "power to let."

Presentations.—No local antiquarian has yet given us note of the first public presentation made by the inhabitants of this town, though to the men they have delighted to honour they have never been backward with such flattering and pleasing tokens of goodwill. Some presentations have been rather curious, such as gold-plated buttons and ornate shoe buckles to members of the Royal Family in hopes that the patronage of those individuals would lead to changes in the fashion of dress, and so influence local trade. The gift of a sword to Lord Nelson, considering that the said sword had been presented previously to a volunteer officer, was also of this nature. The Dissenters of the town gave £100 to the three troops of Light Horse who first arrived to quell the riots in 1791, and a similar sum was voted at a town's meeting; each officer being presented with a handsome sword. Trade should have been good at the time, for it is further recorded that each magistrate received a piece of plate valued at one hundred guineas.—Since that date there have been hundreds of presentations, of greater or lesser value, made to doctors and divines, soldiers and sailors, theatricals and concert-hall men, lawyers and prizefighters, with not a few to popular politicians and leading literary men &c. Lord Brougham (then plain Mr.) being the recipient at one time (July 7, 1812); James Day, of the Concert Hall, at another (0ct. 1,1878); the "Tipton Slasher" was thus honoured early in 1865, while the Hon. and Very Rev. Grantham Yorke, D.D., was "gifted" at the latter end of 1875. Among the presentations of later date have been those to Dr. Bell Fletcher, Mr. Gamgee, Mr. W.P. Goodall, and other medical gentlemen; to Canon O'Sullivan, the late Rev. J.C. Barratt, and other clergymen; to Mr. Edwin Smith, secretary of Midland Institute; to Mr. Schnadhorst of the Liberal Association; to Mr. Jesse Collings, for having upheld the right of free speech by turning out of the Town Hall those who differed with the speakers; and to John Bright in honour of his having represented the town in Parliament for twenty-five year.—On April 30, 1863, a handsome silver repoussé table was presented to the Princess of Wales on the occasion of her marriage, the cost, £1,500, being subscribed by inhabitants of the town.

Price Of Bread.—At various times during the present century the four-pound loaf has been sold here as follows:—At 4-1/2d. in 1852; at 7-1/2d. in 1845; at 9-1/2d. in June, 1857, and June, 1872; at l0d. in December, 1855, June, 1868, and December, 1872; at l0-1/2d. in February, 1854, December, 1855, December, 1867, and March, 1868, at 11d. in December, 1854, June, 1855, and June 1856; at ll-1/2d. in November, 1846, May and November, 1847, and May, 1848; at 1s. and onwards to 1s. 5-1/2d. in August, 1812, and again in July, 1816; and may God preserve the poor from such times again.—See "Hard Times."

Prices of Provisions, &c.—In 1174, wheat and barley sold at Warwick for 2-1/2d. per bushel, hogs at 1s. 6d. each, cows (salted down) at 2s. each, and salt at 1-4/5d. per bushel. In 1205 wheat was worth 12 pence per bushel, which was cheap, as there had been some years of famine previous thereto. In 1390 wheat was sold at 13d. per bushel, so high a price that historians say there was a "dearth of corn" at that period. From accounts preserved of the sums expended at sundry public feasts at Coventry (Anno 1452 to 1464) we find that 2s. 3d. was paid for 18 gallons of ale, 2s. 6d. for 9 geese, 5d. for 2 lambs, 5d. for a calf, l0d. for 9 chickens, 3d. for a shoulder of mutton, 1s. 3d. for 46 pigeons, 8d. for a strike of wheat and grinding it, &c. An Act of Parliament (24, Henry VIII.) was passed in 1513 that beef and pork should be sold at a half-penny per pound. In 1603 it was ordered that one quart of best ale, or two of small, should be sold for one penny. In 1682 the prices of provisions were, a fowl 1s., a chicken 5d., a rabbit 7d.; eggs three for 1d.; best fresh butter, 6d. per lb.; ditto salt butter, 3-1/2d.; mutton 1s. 4d. per stone of 8lb.; beef, 1s. 6d. per stone; lump sugar, 1s per lb.; candles, 3-1/2d. per lb.; coals, 6d. per sack of 4 bushels; ditto charcoal, 1s. 2d. best, 8d. the smallest. Wheat averaged 50s. per quarter, but the greatest part of the population lived almost entirely on rye, barley, oats, and peas. Cottages in the country were let at about 20s. per annum. In 1694 a pair of shoes cost 3s. 6d.; a pair of stockings, 1s. 4d.; two shirts, 5s. 4d.; leather breeches, 2s.; coat, waistcoat, and breeches, 16s.; a coffin, 5s.; a shroud and a grave for a poor man, 3s. l0d. In November, 1799, the quartern loaf was sold in London, at 1s. l0-1/2d. and in this town at 1s. 4d., the farmers coming here to market having to be protected by constables for months together.

Priory.—History gives us very little information respecting the Hospital or Priory of St. Thomas the Apostle [See "Old Square"] and still less as the Church or Chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr. The site of the Priory was most probably where the Old Square was laid out, though during the many alterations that have latterly been made not a single stone has been discovered to prove it so. A few bones were found during the months of Aug. and Sept., 1884, and it is said that many years back a quantity of similar remains were discovered while cellars were being made under some of the houses in Ball Street, and one late writer speaks of cellars or crypts, which were hastily built up again. From these few traces it is not unlikely that the Chapel existed somewhere between the Minories and Steelhouse Lane, monkish chants probably resounding where now the members of the Society of Friends sit in silent prayer. Ancient records tell us that in 1285 three persons (William of Birmingham, Thomas of Maidenhacche, and Ranulph of Rugby) gave 23 acres of land at Aston and Saltley (then spelt Saluteleye) for the "endowment" of the Hospital of St. Thomas the Apostle, but that rather goes to prove the previous existence of a religious edifice instead of dating its foundation. In 1310 the Lord of Birmingham gave an additional 22 acres, and many others added largely at the time, a full list of these donors being given in Toulmin Smith's "Memorials of old Birmingham." In 1350, 70 acres in Birmingham parish and 30 acres in Aston were added to the possessions of the Priory, which by 1547, when all were confiscated, must have become of great value. The principal portions of the Priory lands in Aston and Saltley went to enrich the Holte family, one (if not the chief) recipient being the brother-in-law of Sir Thomas Holte; but the grounds and land surrounding the Priory and Chapel appear to have been gradually sold to others, the Smallbroke family acquiring the chief part. The ruins of the old buildings doubtless formed a public stonequarry for the builders of the 17th century, as even Hutton can speak of but few relics being left in his time, and those he carefully made use of himself! From the mention in an old deed of an ancient well called the "Scitewell" (probably "Saints' Well"), the Priory grounds seem to have extended along Dale End to the Butts (Stafford Street), where the water was sufficiently abundant to require a bridge. It was originally intended to have a highly-respectable street in the neighbourhood named St. Thomas Street, after the name of the old Priory, a like proviso being made when John Street was laid out for building.

Prisons.—Before the incorporation of the borough all offenders in the Manor of Aston were confined in Bordesley Prison, otherwise "Tarte's Hole" (from the name of one of the keepers), situate in High Street, Bordesley. It was classed in 1802 as one of the worst gaols in the kingdom. The prison was in the backyard of the keeper's house, and it comprised two dark, damp dungeons, twelve feet by seven feet, to which access was gained through a trapdoor, level with the yard, and down ten steps. The only light or air that could reach these cells (which sometimes were an inch deep in water) was through a single iron-grated aperture about a foot square. For petty offenders, runaway apprentices, and disobedient servants, there were two other rooms, opening into the yard, each about twelve feet square. Prisoners' allowance was 4d. per day and a rug to cover them at night on their straw. In 1809 the use of the underground rooms was put a stop to, and the churchwardens allowed the prisoners a shilling per day for sustenance. Those sentenced to the stocks or to be whipped received their punishments in the street opposite the prison, and, if committed for trial, were put in leg-irons until called for by "the runners." The place was used as a lock-up for some time after the incorporation, and the old irons were kept on show for years.—The old Debtors' Prison in 1802 was in Philip Street, in a little back courtyard, not fourteen feet square, and it consisted of one damp, dirty dungeon, ten feet by eleven feet, at the bottom of a descent of seven steps, with a sleeping-room, about same size, over it. In these rooms male and female alike were confined, at one time to the number of fifteen; each being allowed 3d. per day by their parishes, and a little straw on the floor at night for bedding, unless they chose to pay the keeper 2s. a week for a bed in his house. In 1809 the debtors were removed to the Old Court House [See "Court of Requests"], where the sleeping arrangements were of a better character. Howard, the "Prison Philanthropist," visited the Philip Street prison in 1782, when he found that the prisoners were not allowed to do any work, enforced idleness (as well as semi-starvation) being part of the punishment. He mentions the case of a shoemaker who was incarcerated for a debt of 15s., which the keeper of the prison had to pay through kindly allowing the man to finish some work he had begun before being locked up. In these enlightened days no man is imprisoned for owing money, but only because he does not pay it when told to do so.—See also "Dungeon" and "Gaols."

Privateering.—Most likely there was some truth in the statement that chains and shackles were made here for the slave-ships of former days, and from the following letter written to Matthew Boulton in October, 1778, there can be little doubt but that he at least had a share in some of the privateering exploits of the time, though living so far from a seaport:—"One of the vessels our little brig took last year was fitted out at New York, and in a cruise of thirteen weeks has taken thirteen prizes, twelve of which are carried safe in, and we have advice of 200 hogsheads of tobacco being shipped as part of the prizes, which if now here would fetch us £10,000," &c.

Progress of the Town.—The Borough Surveyor favours us yearly with statistics giving the number of new buildings erected, or for which plans have been approved, and to show how rapidly the town is progressing in extent, we give a few of the figures. The year 1854 is memorable in the building trade, as there were 2,219 new houses erected, the average for years after not being 1,000. In 1861 the number was but 952; in 1862, 1,350; in 1863, 1,694; in 1864, 1,419; in 1865, 1,056; in 1866, 1,411; in 1867, 1,408; in 1868, 1,548; in 1869, 1,709; in 1870, 1,324; in 1871, 1,076; in 1872, 1,265; in 1873, 993. The building report for the last ten years is thus tabulated:—

1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883

Houses and Shops 1611 3395 2903 2700 1205 1197 1301 1236 666 938

Churches 1 1 1 1 -- -- -- -- 2 2

Chapels 2 2 5 3 1 -- 1 1 -- 1

Schools 9 15 6 6 4 -- -- 2 6 1

Manufactories and Warehouses 76 80 107 86 64 102 64 91 64 73

Miscellaneous 42 48 43 90 96 101 71 84 62 97

Alterations 47 67 52 167 290 225 222 180 163 158

1788 3608 3117 3053 1660 1625 1659 1594 963 1235[1]

[1] [Transcriber's note: This is an error; the column adds up to 1270]

Under the heading of "Miscellaneous" are included such erections as libraries, public halls, clubs, arcades, slaughterhouses, cowsheds, and all other necessary and useful buildings appertaining to human hives, but which need not be particularised.

Probate.—The Probate Registry Office is at No. 15, Old Square.

Promenades—When Corporation Street is finished, and its pathways nicely shaded with green-leaved trees, it will doubtless be not only the chief business street of the town, but also the most popular promenade. At present the gay votaries of dress and fashion principally honour New Street, especially on Saturday mornings. Hagley Road, on Sunday evenings, is particularly affected by some as their favourite promenade.

Proof House.—The foundation stone of the Proof House, Banbury Street, was laid October 4th, 1813, the yearly number of gun, rifle, and pistol barrels proved at the establishment averages over half a million.—See "Trades"

Property.—The Birmingham Property Owners' and Ratepayers' Protection Association was formed in May, 1872. Out of 70,000 separate assessments the owners pay the rates in more than 50,000 cases.

Provident Dispensaries.—See "Dispensaries."

Provident Societies.—See "Friendly,benevolent, and Provident Institutions."

Provincialisms.—Like the inhabitants of most other parts of the country Birmingham people are not without their peculiarities of speech, not so strongly characterised perhaps as those of the good folks of Somersetshire, or even some of our neighbours in the Black Country, but still noticeable. For instance, few workmen will take a holiday; they prefer a "day's out" or "play." They will not let go or abandon anything, but they "loose" it. They do not tell you to remove, but "be off." They prefer to "pay at twice" in lieu of in two instalments. The use of the word "her" in place of "she" is very common, as well as the curious term "just now," for an indefinite time to come, as "Her'll do it just now," instead of "She will do it soon." In vulgar parlance this book is not your own or our own, but "yourn" or "ourn," or it may be "hisn" or "hern." In pronunciation as well, though perhaps not so markedly, our people are sometimes peculiar, as when they ask for a "stahmp" or put out their "tong," &c., stress being often laid also on the word "and," as well as upon syllables not requiring it, as dictionary, volunteers, &c.

Public Buildings.—The Guild Hall, in New Street, and the Roundabout House in High Street were at one time the only public buildings in the town, besides the Parish Church, the Lockups, and the Pinfold. The Market Cross, Public Office, Workhouse, &c., came after, and it is only of late years we have been able to boast of Town Hall, Market Hall, Parish Office, Council House and all the other establishments so necessary to the dignity of a town ranking as third largest in the Kingdom. The huge piles that have been erected during the last dozen years or so are of so varied a character that it becomes somewhat difficult to draw a line between those which are strictly of a private nature and the so-called "public" buildings; under which heading perhaps even Railway Stations, Banks, and Theatres might properly come. The following are some of the chief edifices not noted elsewhere:—

County Court.—The new County Court, at the corner of Corporation Street and Newton Street, was erected from the plans of Mr. J. Williams at a cost of about £20,000. It is built of Hollington Stone, in Italian style, though, like that other Government-built edifice, the new Post Office, it is of too heavy an appearance. The two entrances for the general public are in Newton Street, the Registrar's and principal Courts being on the first floor, though neither are near large enough for the business intended to be practised therein. The entrance to the Judge's rooms is in Corporation Street, under a portico with Doric columns.

Drill Hall—In 1880 a company was formed, with a capital of £5,000 in £20 shares, for the purpose of building a Drill Hall and suitable head-quarters for the local Volunteers. A site in Thorpe Street, containing 2,287 square yards, was taken on lease for 99 years at £100 rental, and very suitable premises have been erected, the frontage to the street (183 ft.) allowing the formation of a lofty drill hall, 180 ft. long by 85 ft. wide, at the rear of the usual and useful offices and rooms required. The latter comprise on the ground floor an orderly room and strong room, sergeant-major's office, armoury, clothing store, non-commissioned officers' room, privates' meeting room, sergeant-major's and staff-sergeant's quarters, and stables. On the first floor there are an officers' meeting room, a sergeants' meeting room, long galleries, &c.; the whole building being characteristically laid out for military purposes.

Fire Engine Stations.—The Central Fire Brigade Station, which is in telephonic communication with all the police stations, the theatres, various public buildings, and chief manufactories, is situated in the Upper Priory, between the Old Square and Steelhouse Lane, and is easily distinguishable by the large red lamp outside its gate. There are here kept ready for instant use three manual and one steam engine, the latter being capable of throwing 450 gallons of water per minute to a height of 120 feet, the other also being good specimens of their class. Each manual engine has on board its complement of hose, branches (the brass pipes through which the water leaves the hose), stand-pipes for connecting the hose with the water mains, &c., while at its side hang scaling-ladders, in sections which can readily be fitted together to reach a considerable height. The engine-house also contains a tender to the steam machine, a horse hose-cart, a hand hose-cart, and a number of portable hand-pumps. It is with these hand-pumps that the majority of the fires in Birmingham are extinguished, and one of them forms a portion of the load of every engine. Several canvas buckets, which flatten into an inconceivably small space, are also taken by means of which, either by carrying or by passing from hand to hand, the reservoirs of the pump can be kept filled, and a jet of water be made available where, perhaps, it would be difficult or impossible to bring hose. The hose kept at the station amounts to a total length of 2,487-1/2 yards, of which about 1,700 yards is always kept on the engines, hose-carts, tender, and fire-escapes ready for instant use. The remainder forms a reserve to allow for repairs, drying, &c. Between the engine-house and the street is a commodious house for the assistant-superintendent, with a very pleasant yard on the roof of the engine-house. Adjoining the engine-house on the other side, is the stable, where five splendid horses are kept. In the yard stand three fire-escapes, each fitted with a box containing hose, stand-pipes and branches, so that it may be utilised for extinguishing fires independent of the engines. The total strength of the brigade is twenty-five, including the superintendent (Mr. A.R. Tozer), the assistant superintendent (Mr. J. Tiviotdale), two engineers, and an assistant engineer. Eighteen of the brigade reside at the central station, the others being quartered at the seven divisional police stations and at the fire station in Bristol Street (opposite the Bell Inn), at each of which places are kept an escape, or an hose-cart, and one or two hand-pumps with the needful hose and appliances. The cost of the buildings in the Upper Priory, including the site (1,500 square yards at seven guineas per yard), was about £20,000, there being in addition to the offices and stables, a waiting-room (in which two men are on duty night and day), a drill ground 153 ft. long by 40 ft. wide, an engine-room large enough for six engines, good-sized recreation rooms, baths, &c. The residences are erected upon the "flat" system, and have a special interest in the fact that they constitute the first important introduction of that style of building in Birmingham. The advantages and the drawbacks, if any, of the system may here be seen and judged of by all who are interested in the matter. On the ground floor there are three residences, each having a living room, which may be used as a kitchen and two bed rooms adjoining. A semicircular open staircase gives access to the flats, and on the first floor there are four residences, one being formed over the firemen's waiting room and office. On this floor additional bed rooms are provided for men with families requiring them; and the second floor is a reproduction of the first. On the top of all there is a flat upon which are erected five wash-houses, the remainder of the space being used as a drying ground or play ground for children, the whole enclosed with iron palisades. In the basement there is a lock-up cellar for each of the residences.

Fish Market.—A rather plain-looking erection, of the open-shed style of architecture was put up at the corner of Bell Street in 1870. the foundation stone being laid July 14. It has since been enlarged, and is now much more ornamental as well as being useful. The estimated cost of the alterations is put at £16,000 including fittings. The original area was only 715 square yards, but to that has been added 909 square yards, and Bell Street (to which it will have a frontage of 240 feet), which will be widened to 16 yards, is to be covered with iron and glass roof, Lease Lane is also to be widened for access to the market.

Lincoln's Inn.—This is a huge block of offices erected in Corporation Street, opposite the County Court, in 1883. and which, like its London namesake, is intended for the accommodation of solicitors, accountants, and other professional gentlemen. There are a number of suites of offices surrounding an inner court (66ft. by 60ft.), with from two to eight rooms each, the street frontages in Corporation Street and Dalton Street being fitted as shops, while there is a large room under the court (48ft. by 42ft.) suitable for a sale room or other purpose. The outside appearance of the block is very striking, having a large entrance gateway with a circular bay window over it, surmounted by a lofty lower. The tower has four clock faces, pinnacles at the angles, and a steep slate roof and is 120 feet high. There are also two flanking towers, at the extreme ends of the front. These have canted bay windows below them, and their pediments are surmounted by figures representing Mercury and Athæne. The space on each side between the central and the flanking tower is divided into three bays, having ornamental dormers above them, and being divided by niches, which will serve to hold allegorical figures of the arts. The windows are ornamented by tracery, and the façade is enriched by a free use of carving. The architect is Mr. W.H. Ward, and the cost of the pile about £22,000.

Market Hall.—The foundation stone was laid Feb. 28, 1833, and it was opened for business Feb. 14, 1835. The building, which is constructed of freestone, from the designs of Mr. Edge, cost about £30,000, though considerable sums have since been spent on it. The large vaults constructed under the Hall in 1875 coat about £4,000. It contains an area of 39,411 square feet, being 365 feet long, 108 feet broad, and 60 feet high, and was originally planned to give stall-room for 600 dealers. The liquor shop, house, and vaults beneath, at corner of Bell Street, were let on lease by auction (Nov. 1833) for 100 years, for the sum of £5,400 and a 20s. yearly rental. In 1876 the Corporation gave £15,000 to resume possession, afterwards reletting the premises at £800 a year, with a further £100 for the vaults. The Street Commissioners, when retiring from office, placed in the centre of the Hall a fountain of very appropriate design (uncovered Dec. 24, 1851), and ornamented with bronze figures characteristic of Birmingham manufactures, but which has been removed to Highgate Park. A clock was put above the spot where the fountain stood, in April, 1852, which cost £60.—A Market Hall was erected in Prospect Row in 1837, but was very little used as such. A few years back it was partly turned into a depot for American meat, but is now simply used for warehouses.

Masonic Hall.—The first stone of this building, situated at the corner of New Street and Ethel Street, was laid Sept. 30, 1865, the ceremony of dedication taking place April 26th, 1870.

Municipal Buildings.—The advancement of the town in trade and prosperity, population, and wealth, made it necessary years ago for our local governors to look out for a central spot on which could be gathered the many offices and officers appertaining to the Corporation of a large town like Birmingham. They were fortunate in being able (in 1854) to secure so eligible a site, in such a central position, and with such commanding elevation, as the one at the corner of Ann Street and Congreve Street, though at first glance the acquisition would appear to have been a costly one. The price of the land and reversion thereto was £39,525, but during the years that elapsed before the ground was cleared ready for building (1872) the interest brought that sum up to nearly £70,000. The total area was 11,540 square yards, of which 4,455 square yards were thrown into the streets. Thus, though the original price was but 68s. 6d. per yard, by the time the buildings were erected the actual site cost over £9 per yard. The plans were approved Feb. 11, 1873, the contract for building being £84,120, but during the course of erection many important additions and alterations were made to the original plans, raising the cost to £144,743. Part of the ground was originally intended to be covered with Assize Courts, but have been devoted to the erection of a magnificent Art Gallery, &c., so that more than a quarter million sterling will ultimately have been spent on the spot. The foundation stone was laid by the then Mayor, Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, June 17, 1874, and the erection took about five years, the "hoarding" being removed July 18, 1879. The design of the Municipal Buildings is essentially classical, but not of any particular style, Mr. Yeoville Thomasson, the architect, having given free rein to his own conceptions of what was required in a modern erection of the nature of a local Parliament House. The south, or principal front (to Ann Street), has a length of 296 feet, the frontage to Congreve Street is 122 feet, and that to Eden Place is 153 feet. From the ground to the top of the main cornice the height is 65 feet; the pediment over the central entrance is 90 feet high; the stone cornice of the dome 114 feet; and the top of the finial 162 feet, the dome rising behind the central pediment from the main staircase. Looked at from a distance, the features of the building that at first strike the spectator are the carved groups of life-sized figures in the six pediments. The Ann Street and Congreve Street frontages have a pediment at each end, of semicircular shape, and the Eden Place frontage has one at the end where it joins the principal front. The pediment in the centre of the south front is triangular in shape, and contains a group of sculptured figures representing "Britannia rewarding the Birmingham manufacturers." In the other pediments the groups represent Manufacture, Commerce, Literature, Art, and Science. Under the central pediment, and within a semicircular arch over the central entrance, is a large and beautiful figure-subject in mosaic, executed by Messrs. Salviati and Co., of London. Besides the central entrance, which is reached through a portico supported by square and round columns, and is reserved for the use of the Town Council and state occasions, there are four entrances to the building, one at each end of the principal front, one in Eden Place, and the other within the gateway which runs through the Congreve Street wing into the courtyard at the back. By the last-mentioned staircase access is obtained by the general public to the Council Chamber. The building contains 94 rooms of various sizes, three of the largest devoted to occasions of ceremony, and the rest to the uses of the different departments of the Corporation work. The central of the three reception rooms is 30 feet square, and is divided from the other two by an open screen of marble columns, both rooms being 64ft. by 30ft. The Council Chamber is 39ft. wide and, including the gallery for spectators, is 48ft. long, the fittings and furniture being of the most substantial character as well as ornamental. In various parts of the building accommodation has been found for the Town Clerk, the Borough Treasurer, Surveyor, Analyst, Chief Constable, and every other department of Corporation work. The furnishing of the Council Chamber and the other parts of the Municipal Buildings amounted to £15,603, the laying in of the gas and water services being £2,418 additional.

Odd-Fellows' Hall.—Before the New Street Railway Station was erected there was an Odd-Fellows' Hall in King Street. The first stone of the present building in Upper Temple Street was laid early in 1849, the opening ceremony taking place Dec. 3 same year. The principal room or "hall" will accommodate about 1,000 persons, the remaining portion of the premises being let off in offices.

Parish Offices.—The meeting-place of the Board of Guardians and their necessary staff of officers has from the earliest days of Poor Law government been the most frequented of any of our public buildings. Formerly the headquarters were at the Workhouse in Lichfield Street, but when that institution was removed to Birmingham Heath, the large building at the corner of Suffolk Street and Paradise Street was built for the use of the parish officers, possession being taken thereof Feb. 26, 1853. Thirty years seems but a short period for the occupation of such a pile of offices, but as it has been necessary several times to enlarge the Workhouse, as well as to collect very much larger sums from the ratepayers, it is but in the natural order of things that the Overseers, Guardians, and all others connected with them should be allowed more elbow-room. A parish palace, almost rivalling our Municipal Buildings in magnificence of ornate architecture, has therefore been erected at the junction of Edmund Street and Newhall Street, where poor unfortunate people going to the Workhouse, and whose ultimate destination will possibly be a pauper's grave, may have the gratification of beholding beautiful groups of statuary sculpture, Corinthian columns of polished granite, pilasters of marble, gilded capitals, panelled ceilings, coloured architraves, ornamental cornices, encaustic tiles, and all the other pretty things appertaining to a building designed in a "severe form of the style of the French Renaissance," as an architectural paper critic calls it. Ratepayers will also have pleasure in taking their money to and delivering it over in "one of the most convenient suites of poor-law offices in the kingdom," possibly deriving a little satisfaction from the fact that their descendants in less than a hundred years' time will have to build another such suite of offices, or buy this over again, as the Guardians only hold the site (1,700 square yards) upon a ninety-nine years' lease at a yearly rental of £600 (7s. per yard). The building contract was for £25,490, besides extras, the architect being Mr. W.H. Ward, and the fittings, internal decoration, and furnishing was estimated at about £5,000 more, though possibly as the chairs in the Boardroom are put down at £5 each, if other articles be in proportion, both sums will be materially increased. The work was commenced in June, 1882, the memorial stone being laid February 15th, the following year. The building, which has five storeys, stands on three sides of a square courtyard, and faces into Edmund Street. Newhall Street, and a new thoroughfare made in continuation of Bread Street. In general character the three faces are alike, the masonry being rusticated in Coxbench stone to the line of the second floor, the chiselling finishing with an entablature, and the remaining two storeys included in one order of Corinthian red granite pillars, which support the main entablature. The front in Edmund Street, 105 feet in length, is symmetrically divided by a central tower, on either side of which the Corinthian pillars are discontinued until the two corners are almost reached, where they support pediments. The tower, which for a distance above the root is square, contains four clock-faces and supports an octagonal storey, covered by a panelled stone dome, surmounted in turn by a lantern and its finial. The height of the tower from the level of the street is 105 feet, the slated towers over the lateral pediments being smaller. The Newhall Street façade, 160 feet long, is broken into three portions of nearly equal length, and the middle portion is treated differently from the other two. Above the line of the second floor entablature the windows, instead of being in a double row in correspondence with the storeys, are in this middle section of the façade carried almost to the height of the columns, and the section is surmounted in its centre by an ornamental pedestal, which bears a group of sculpture, and at its extremes by slated flagstaff towers, whose sides are concave. The purpose of these larger windows is the effectual lighting of the Boardroom, which is of the height of two storeys. The length of the Bread Street front is 90 feet. The Boardroom is 60 feet long, 36 feet wide and 24 feet high, the room being lighted by two sunburners suspended from the ceiling panels, and is handsomely decorated throughout. The offices of the Registrar of births, marriages and deaths are entered from Newhall Street, and there is a special waiting room for the use of marriage parties whilst they are preparing to go before the Registrar, a provision which will no doubt be fully appreciated by many blushing maidens and bashful bachelors.

Public Office.—The office for the meetings of the Justices was at one time in Dale End, and it was there that "Jack and Tom" were taken in November, 1780, charged with murdering a butcher on the road to Coleshill. The first stone of the Public Office and Prison in Moor Street was laid September 18, 1805, the cost being estimated at £10,000. It was considerably enlarged in 1830, and again in 1861, and other improving alterations have been made during the last three years, so that the original cost has been more than doubled, but the place is still inadequate to the requirements of the town.

Smithfield Market.—Laid out by the Street Commissioners in 1817, at a cost of £6,000, as an open market, has been enlarged by taking in most of the ground bordered by Jamaica Row, St. Martin's Lane and Moat Lane, and is nearly all covered in for the purposes of a wholesale market, the work being commenced in November, 1880. The main entrance is in the centre of the St. Martin's Lane front, and consists of a central roadway for carts and wagons, 15ft. wide and 24ft. high, together with a wide entrance on either side for foot passengers. The main piers supporting the large archway are of stone, but the arch itself is constructed of terra-cotta, richly moulded and carved. Over the archway are two sculptured figures in red terra-cotta, representing "Flora" and "Pomona." The whole of the carving and sculptured work has been executed by Mr. John Roddis. The archways are fitted with massive wrought-iron gates, manufactured by Messrs. Hart, Son, Peard, and Co. The entrances in Jamaica Row and Moat Lane have arched gateways and gates to match, though much higher to allow of the passage of laden wains. The market superintendent's office is on the left of the man entrance. Greatest part of the St. Martin's Lane front is occupied by the new Woolpack Hotel, and the remainder by shops. The buildings, which are from the designs of Messrs. Osborne and Reading, are designed in the style of the English Renaissance of the Stuart period, and are constructed of red brick, with red terra-cotta dressings. At each end of the St. Martin's Lane front are circular turrets, with conical roof, flanked by ornamental gables, and in the centre is a gable with octagonal turret on each side.

Temperance Hall.—The foundation stone of this building, which is in Upper Temple Street, was laid Jan. 12, 1858, and it was opened Oct. 11 following.

The Cobden.—Though the property of a private company, who have twenty other establishments in the town, the "Cobden," in Corporation Street, may rank as a public building if only from its central position and finished architecture. It was opened by John Bright, Esq., Aug. 29, 1883, and cost about £10,000. In style it may be said to be French-Gothic of early date, with Venetian features in the shape of traceried oriel windows, &c., the frontage being of Corsham Down and Portland stone.

Town Hall.—For many years the pride and the boast of Birmingham has been its noble Town Hall, which still remains the most conspicuous building, as well as the finest specimen of architecture, in the town. It was erected by the Street Commissioners, who obtained a special Act for the purpose in 1828, to enable them to lay a rate to pay for it. The architect was Mr. T. Hansom, of the firm of Messrs. Hansom and Welch, who, by a curious provision, were also bound to be the contractors. Their original estimate was £17,000, with extras, which would have raised it to about £19,000, but so far were their figures out that £30,000 were expended prior to the first meeting being held in the Hall, and that sum had been increased to £69,520 when the building was finally completed in 1850 by the addition of the pillars and pediments at the back. The foundations and solid parts of the structure are built of brick, the casing or outside of the walls, the pillars, and the ornamental portions being of Anglesey marble, given to the contractors by the owner of Penmaen quarries, Sir Richard Bulkeley, Bart. The building was commenced April 27, 1832, and opened Sept. 19, 1834, being used for the Festival of that year; the first public meeting held in the Hall being on Nov. 28th. The outside measurements of the Hall are— Length 175ft., breadth 100ft., height 83ft., viz., basement 23ft., columns 36ft., cornice 9ft., and pediment 15ft,. The forty columns are each 3-1/2ft. diameter. The hall, or great room, is 145ft. long, 65ft. broad, and 65ft. high; including the orchestra it will seat a few over 3,000 persons, while it is said that on more than one occasion 10,000 have found standing room. Considerable sums have been spent in trying to improve the ventilation and lighting of the Hall, as well as in redecorating occasionally, the medallions of eminent composers and other worthies being introduced in 1876. For description of Town Hall organ see "Organs."