Dictionary of Birmingham. (continued 5)

Lying-in Hospital.—Founded in 1842, and for many years was located in Broad Street, in the mansion since formed into the Children's Hospital. In 1868 it was deemed advisable to close the establishment in favour of the present plan of supplying midwives and nurses at the poor patients' homes. In 1880 the number of patients attended was 1,020; in 1881, 973; in 1882, 894; in 1883, 870. In each of the two latter years there had been two deaths in mothers (1 in 441 cases) about the usual average of charity. The number of children born alive during the last year was 839, of whom 419 were males, and 420 females. Four infants died; 37 were still-born. There were 6 cases of twins. The assistance of the honorary surgeons was called in 24 times, or once in 37 cases. The financial position of the charity is less satisfactory than could be wished, there being again a deficiency. The subscriptions were £273, against £269 in 1882 and £275 in 1881. There was a slight increase in the amount of donations, but an entire absence of legacies, which, considering the valuable assistance rendered by the charity to so many poor women, is greatly to be deplored. The medical board have the power to grant to any woman who passes the examination, the subjects of which are defined, a certificate as a skilled midwife, competent to attend natural labours. One midwife and four monthly nurses have already received certificates, and it is hoped that many more candidates will avail themselves of the opportunity thus readily afforded to them, and supply a want very generally felt among the poor of the town. Subscribers have the privilege of bestowing the tickets, and the offices are at 71, Newhall Street.

Orthopædic and Spinal Hospital—Was founded in June, 1817; the present establishment in Newhall Street being entered upon in December, 1877. All kinds of bodily deformity, hernia, club feet, spinal diseases, malformations, and distortions of limbs, &c., are treated daily (at two o'clock) free of charge, except where instruments or costly supports are needed, when the patient must be provided with subscribers' tickets in proportion to the cost thereof. In 1881 and 1882, 4,116 cases received attention, 2,064 being new cases, and 678 from outside Birmingham. The variety of diseases was very numerous, and instruments to the value of £420 were supplied to the patients.

Skin and Lock Hospital, Newhall Street, was founded in 1880, and opened Jan. 10, 1881. Admission on payment of registration fee, attendance being given at two o'clock on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in each week.

Smallpox Hospital.—A few years back, when there was a pretty general epidemic of smallpox, a temporary ward or addition was attached to the Workhouse, but many persons whose intelligence led them to know the value of isolation in such cases, could not "cotton" to the idea of going themselves or sending their friends there. The buildings in Weston Road, Winson Green, and now known as the Borough Hospital, have no connection whatever with the Workhouse, and were opened for the reception of persons suffering from smallpox and scarlet fever in Nov. 1874. The latter cases are now taken to the Hospital in Lodge Road, so that present accommodation can be found in the Borough Hospital for nearly 250 patients at a time should it ever be necessary to do so. Persons knowing of any case of smallpox should at once give notice to the officers of health at Council House.

Hotels.—This French-derived name for inns, from what Hutton says on the subject, would appear to have been only introduced in his day, and even then was confined to the large coaching-houses of the town, many of which have long since vanished. The first railway hotel was the Queen's, at the entrance of the old railway station, Duddeston Row, though originally built and used for officers for the company's secretaries, directors' boardroom, &c. As part of the New Street Station, a far more pretentious establishment was erected, and to this was given the title of the "Queen's Hotel," the Duddeston Row building reverting to its original use. The Great Western Hotel was the next to be built, and the success attending these large undertakings have led to the erection of the handsome Midland Hotel, opposite New Street Station, and the still grander "Grand Hotel," in Colmore Row, opened Feb. 1, 1879. The removal of the County Court to Corporation Street, and the possible future erection of Assize Courts near at hand, have induced some speculators to embark in the erection of yet another extensive establishment, to be called the "Inns of Court Hotel," and in due course of time we shall doubtless have others of a similar character. At any of the above, a visitor to the town (with money in his purse) can find first-class accommodation, and (in comparison with the London hotels of a like kind) at reasonably fair rates. After these come a second grade, more suitable for commercial gentlemen, or families whose stay is longer, such as the new Stork Hotel, the Albion, in Livery Street, Bullivant's, in Carr's Lane, the Acorn, the Temperance at the Colonnade, and the Clarendon, in Temple Street, Dingley's, in Moor Street, Knapp's, in High Street, Nock's, in Union Passage, the Plough and Harrow, in Hagley Road, the Swan, in New Street, the White Horse, in Congreve Street (opposite Walter Showell and Sons' head offices), the Woolpack, in Moor Street, and the other Woolpack, now called St. Martin's, at the back of the church.

For much entertaining information respecting the old taverns of Birmingham, the hotels of former days, we recommend the reader to procure a copy of S.D.R.'s little book on the subject, which is full of anecdotes respecting the frequenters of the then houses, as well as many quaint notes of the past.

The Acorn in Temple Street.—The favourite resort of the "men of the time" a few score years ago was at one period so little surrounded with houses that anyone standing at its door could view a landscape stretching for miles, while listening to the song birds in the neighbouring gardens. It dates from about 1750, and numbers among its successive landlords, Mr. John Roderick, the first auctioneer of that well-known name, Mr. James Clements, and Mr. Coleman, all men of mark. The last-named host, after making many improvements in the premises and renewing the lease, disposed of the hotel to a Limited Liability Company for £15,500. It is at present one of the best-frequented commercial houses in the town.

The Hen and Chickens.—In Aris's Gazette, of December 14, 1741, there appeared an advertisement, that there was "to be let, in the High Street, Birmingham, a very good-accustomed Inn, the sign of the Hen and Chickens, with stables, &c." Inasmuch as this advertisement also said "there is a very good Bowling Green joining to it," it has been quoted by almost every writer of local history as an evidence of the popularity of those places of recreation, or as showing the open aspect of the then existing town. This establishment is believed to have been on the site of Messrs. Manton's cabinet warehouse, the adjoining Scotland Passage leading to the stables, and possibly to "the Bowling Green." In 1798, the tenant, Mrs. Lloyd, removed to a new house in New Street, and took the Hen and Chickens' title with her, the place becoming famous as a posting-house, and afterwards, under Mr. William Waddell, as one of the most extensive coaching establishments in the Midlands. A mere list only, of the Serene Highnesses, the Royalties, Nobility, and celebrated characters of all kinds, who have put up at this hotel, would fill pages, and those anxious for such old-time gossip, must refer to S.D.R.'s book, as before-mentioned. At the close of 1878, the premises were acquired by the "Birmingham Aquarium Co., Limited," who proposed to erect a handsome concert-room, aquarium, restaurant, &c. The old building has been considerably altered, and somewhat improved in appearance, but the aquarium and concert-room are, as yet, non est, an Arcade being built instead.

The Midland, New Street.—One of the modern style of hotels, having over a hundred good bedrooms, besides the necessary complement of public and private sitting and dining rooms, coffee, commercial, smoking and billiard rooms, &c., erected for Mr. W.J. Clements in 1874; it was sold early in 1876 to a Limited Company, whose capital was fixed at £40,000 in £10 shares.

The Royal, in Temple Row, was erected on the tontine principle in 1772, but was not called more than "The Hotel" for a long time afterwards the word Royal being added in 1805, after His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester slept there (May 4) on his way to Liverpool. In 1830 the Duchess of Kent, and Princess Victoria (our present Queen) honoured it by their presence. In June, 1804, the Assembly Room (for very many years the most popular place for meetings of a social character) was enlarged, the proprietors purchasing a small piece of adjoining land for the purpose at a cost of £250, being at the rate of £26,000 per acre, a noteworthy fact as showing the then rapidly increasing value of property in the town. The portico in front of the hotel was put there in 1837, when the building had to be repaired, in consequence of the kind attentions of the Birmingham Liberals at the time of the general election then just passed. The whole of the front and main portion of the hotel is now used for the purposes of the Eye Hospital, the Assembly Rooms, &c., being still public.—Portugal House, in New Street, on the present site of the Colonnade, prior to its being taken for the Excise and Post Offices, was used for hotel purposes, and was also called "The Royal."

The Stork.—The Directory of 1800 is the first which contains the name of the Stork Tavern, No. 3, The Square, the host then being Mr. John Bingham, the title of Hotel not being assumed until 1808. For a few years the one house was sufficient for the accommodation required, but as time progressed it became necessary to enlarge it, and this was accomplished by taking in the adjoining houses, until, at last, the hotel occupied one-fourth of The Square, from the corner of the Minories to the Lower Priory, in which were situated the stables, &c. It was in one of the houses so annexed to the hotel (No. 1) that Dr. Hector, the friend of Dr. Johnson, resided; and at the rear of another part of the premises in the Coach Yard, there was opened (in 1833) the "The Equitable Labour Exchange." The whole of the hotel buildings were sold by auction, Sept. 26, 1881, and quickly razed to the ground, which was required for Corporation Street; but the Stork, like the fabulous Phoenix, has risen from its ashes, and in close proximity to the old site, stands boldly forth as one of the magnificences of that-is-to-be most-magnificent thoroughfare.

The Union, in Cherry Street, was built in 1790, but much enlarged in 1825. It was one of the principal coaching houses, but will be remembered mostly as furnishing the chief saleroom in the town for the disposal of landed property. The site being required for Corporation Street, the building was "knocked down" on the 21st April, 1879.

The Woolpack, in Moor Street, saw many strange events, and had in its olden days undergone some few changes for there are not many sites in Birmingham that can compare with this in regard to its recorded history, but at last it is being cleared to make way for a more modern structure. It is believed there was a tavern called the Green Tree here close upon 500 years ago, and even now there is still to be traced the course of an ancient "dyche" running through the premises which was described as the boundary dividing certain properties in 1340, and forming part of that belonging to the Guild of the Holy Cross. The house itself was the residence of William Lench, whose bequests to the town are historical, but when it was turned into a tavern is a little uncertain, as the earliest notice of it as such is dated 1709, when John Fusor was the occupier. It was the house of resort for many Birmingham worthies, especially those connected with the law, even before the erection of the Public Offices, and it is said that John Baskerville used to come here for his tankard of ale and a gossip with his neighbours. In the time of the Reform agitation it was frequented by the leaders of the Liberal party, and has always been the favourite shelter of artists visiting the town.

The Woolpack, in St. Martin's Lane.—Some eighty odd years ago the tavern standing at the corner of Jamaica Row and St. Martin's Lane was known as the Black Boy Inn, from the figure of a young negro then placed over the door. Being purchased in 1817 by the occupier of a neighbouring tavern called the Woolpack, the two names were united, and for a time the house was called the "Black Boy and Woolpack," the first part being gradually allowed to fall into disuse. Prior to its demolition it was the noted market hostelry for cattle dealers and others, the respected landlord, Mr. John Gough, who held the premises from 1848 till his death in 1877, being himself a large wholesale dealer. When the Town Council decided to enlarge and cover in the Smithfield Market, the old house and its adjuncts were purchased by them, and a new hotel of almost palatial character has been erected in its place, the frontage extending nearly the entire length of St. Martin's Lane, and the Black Boy and the Woolpack must in future be called St. Martin's Hotel.

Hothouses.—Those at Frogmore, comprising a range of nearly 1,000 feet of metallic forcing houses, were erected in 1842-3, by Mr. Thomas Clark, of this town, his manager, Mr. John Jones, being described by the celebrated Mr. London, as "the best hot-house builder in Britain."

House and Window Tax.—See "Taxes."

Howard Street Institute.—Founded in 1869. The first annual meeting, for the distribution of prizes, was held in December, 1872. The many sources for acquiring knowledge now provided at such institutions as the Midland Institute, the Mason College, &c., have no doubt tended much to the end, but, considering the amount of good derived by the pupils from the many classes held in the Howard Street rooms, it is a pity the Institute should be allowed to drop.

Humbug.—The Prince of Humbugs, Phineas Barnum, at the Town Hall, February 28, 1859, gave his views of what constituted "Humbug." As if the Brums didn't know.

Humiliation Days.—February 25, 1807, was kept here as a day of fasting and humiliation, as was also September 25, 1832.

Hundred.—Birmingham is in the Hundred of Hemlingford.

Hungary.—The first meeting in this town to express sympathy with the Hungarians in their struggle with Austria, was held in the Corn Exchange, May 23, 1849, and several speakers were in favour of sending armed help, but no volunteers came forward.

Hunter's Lane and Nursery Terrace take their names from the fact that Mr. Hunter's nursery grounds and gardens were here situated. The "Lane" was the old road to Wolverhampton, but has a much older history than that, as it is believed to have been part of the Icknield Street.

Hurricanes.—The late Mr. Thos. Plant, in describing the great storm, which visited England, on the night of Sunday, 6th January, 1839, and lasted all next day, said it was the most tremendous hurricane that had occurred here for fifty years. A large quantity of lead was stripped off the roof of the Town Hall, the driving force of the gale being so strong, that the lead was carried a distance of more than sixty yards before it fell into a warehouse, 'at the back of an ironmonger's shop in Ann Street.—See "Storms and Tempests."

Hurst Street, from Hurst Hill, once a wooded mount (the same being the derivation of Ravenhurst Street), was originally but a passage way, leading under an arch at the side of the White Swan in Smallbrook Street (now Day's establishment). Up the passage was a knacker's yard, a shop for the dyeing of felt hats, and a few cottages.

Icknield Street.—Britain was formerly traversed by four great roads, usually called Roman roads, though there are some grounds for believing that the Ancient Britons themselves were the pioneers in making these trackways, their conquerors only improving the roads as was their wont, and erecting military stations along the line. These roads were severally called "Watling Stræte," which ran from the coast of Kent, through London, to the Welsh coast in county Cardigan; the "Fosse," leading from Cornwall to Lincoln; "Erminge Stræte," running from St. David's to Southampton; and "Hikenilde Stræte," leading through the centre of England, from St. David's to Tynemouth. Part of the latter road, known as Icknield Street, is now our Monument Lane, and in 1865 a portion of ancient road was uncovered near Chad Valley House, which is believed to have been also part thereof. Proceeding in almost a direct line to the bottom of Hockley Hill, the Icknield Street ran across Handsworth Parish, by way of the present Hunter's Lane, but little further trace can be found now until it touches Sutton Coldfield Park, through which it passes for nearly a mile-and-a-half at an almost uniform width of about 60 feet. It is left for our future local antiquarians to institute a search along the track in the Park, but as in scores of other spots Roman and British remains have been found, it seems probable than an effort of the kind suggested would meet its reward, and perhaps lead to the discovery of some valuable relics of our long-gone predecessors.

Illuminations.—When the news of Admiral Rodney's victory was received here, May 20, 1792, it was welcomed by a general illumination, as were almost all the great victories during the long war. The Peace of Amiens in 1802 was also celebrated in this way, and the event has become historical from the fact that for the first time in the world's history the inflammable gas obtained from coal (now one of the commonest necessities of our advanced civilisation) was used for the purpose of a public illumination at Soho Works. (See "Gas.") In 1813 the town went into shining ecstacies four or five times, and ditto in the following year, the chief events giving rise thereto being the entry of the Allies into Paris, and the declaration of peace, the latter being celebrated (in addition to two nights' lighting up of the principal buildings, &c.), by an extra grand show of thousands of lamps at Soho, with the accompaniment of fireworks and fire-balloons, the roasting of sheep and oxen, &c. Waterloo was the next occasion, but local chroniclers of the news of the day gave but scant note thereof. From time to time there have been illuminations for several more peaceable matters of rejoicing, but the grandest display that Birmingham has ever witnessed was that to celebrate the marriage of the Prince of Wales, March 10th, 1863, when St. Philip's Church was illuminated on a scale so colossal as to exceed anything of the kind that had previously been attempted in the illumination by gas of public buildings upon their architectural lines. Situated in the centre, and upon the most elevated ground in Birmingham, St. Philip's measures upwards of 170-ft. from the base to the summit of the cross. The design for the illumination—furnished by Mr. Peter Hollins—consisted of gas-tubing, running parallel to the principal lines of architecture from the base to the summit, pierced at distances of 3 in. or 5 in., and fitted with batswing burners. About 10,000 of these burners were used in the illumination. The service-pipes employed varied in diameter from three inches to three-quarters of an inch, and measured, in a straight line, about three-quarters of a mile, being united by more than two thousand sockets. Separate mains conducted the gas to the western elevation, the tower, the dome, the cupola, and cross; the latter standing 8 ft. above the ordinary cross of the church, and being inclosed in a frame of ruby-coloured glass. These mains were connected with a ten-inch main from a heavily-weighed gasometer at the Windsor Street works of the Birmingham Gas Company, which was reserved for the sole use of the illumination. It took forty men three days to put up the scaffolding, but the whole work was finished and the scaffolding removed in a week. It was estimated that the consumption of gas during the period of illumination reached very nearly three-quarters of a million of cubic feet; and the entire expense of the illumination, including the gas-fittings, was somewhat over six hundred pounds. The illumination was seen for miles round in every direction. From the top of Barr Beacon, about eight miles distant, a singular effect was produced by means of a fog cloud which hung over the town, and concealed the dome and tower from view—a blood-red cross appearing to shine in the heavens and rest upon Birmingham. As the traveller approached the town on that side the opacity of the fog gradually diminished until, when about three miles away, the broad lines of light which spanned the dome appeared in sight, and, magnified by the thin vapour through which they were refracted, gave the idea of some gigantic monster clawing the heavens with his fiery paws. All the avenues to the church and the surrounding streets were crowded with masses of human heads, in the midst of which stood a glittering fairy palace. The effect was heightened by coloured fires, which, under the superintendence of Mr. C.L. Hanmer, were introduced at intervals in burning censers, wreathing their clouds of incense among the urns upon the parapet in the gallery of the tower, and shedding upon the windows of the church the rich tints of a peaceful southern sky at sunset. The several gateways were wreathed in evergreens, amongst which nestled festoons of variegated lamps. So great was the sensation produced throughout the town and surrounding districts, and such the disappointment of those who had not seen it, that the committee, at a great expense, consented to reillumine for one night more, which was done on the 13th. The last general illumination was on the occasion of the visit of Prince and Princess of Wales, Nov. 3, 1874.

Improvement Schemes.—See "Town Improvements."

Income Tax.—This impost was first levied in 1798, when those who had four children were allowed an abatement of 10 per cent.; eight children, 15 per cent.; ten or more 20 per cent. At the close of the Peninsular campaign this tax was done away with, it being looked upon, even in those heavily betaxed times, as about the most oppressive duty ever imposed by an arbitrary Government on loyal and willing citizens. When the tax was revived, in 1842, there was a considerable outcry, though if fairly levied it would seem to be about the most just and equitable mode of raising revenue that can be devised, notwithstanding its somewhat inquisitorial accompaniments. The Act was only for three years but it was triennially renewed until 1851, since when it has become "a yearly tenant," though at varying rates, the tax being as high as 1s. 4d. in the pound in 1855, and only 2d. in 1874. A Parliamentary return issued in 1866 gave the assessment of Birmingham to the Income Tax at £1,394,161; in 1874 it was estimated at £1,792,700. The present assessment is considerably over the two millions, but the peculiar reticence generally connected with all Governmental offices prevents us giving the exact figures.

Indian Famine.—The total amount subscribed here towards the fund for the relief of sufferers by famine in India in 1877 was £7,922 13s. 2d.

India-rubber, in 1770, was sold at 3s. per cubic half-inch, and was only used to remove pencil marks from paper. Its present uses are manifold, and varied in the extreme, from the toy balloon of the infant to railway buffers and unsinkable lifeboats.

Infirmaries.—See "Hospitals," &c.

Inge.—The family name of one of the large property owners of this town, after whom Inge Street is so called. The last representative of the family lived to the ripe old age of 81, dying in August, 1881. Though very little known in the town from whence a large portion of his income was drawn, the Rev. George Inge, rector of Thorpe (Staffordshire), was in his way a man of mark, a mighty Nimrod, who followed the hounds from the early age of five, when he was carried on a pony in front of a groom, until a few weeks prior to his death, having hunted with the Atherstone pack duriug the management of sixteen successive masters thereof.

Insane Asylums.—See "Lunacy."

Insurance.—In 1782 a duty of 1s. 6d. per cent, was levied on all fire insurances, which was raised to 2s. in 1797, to 2s. 6d. in 1804. and to 3s. in 1815, remaining at that until 1865, when it was lowered to 1s. 6d., being removed altogether in 1869. Farming stock was exempted in 1833, and workmen's tools in 1860.

Insurance Companies.—Their name is legion, their agents are a multitude, and a list of their officers would fill a book. You can insure your own life, or your wife's, or your children's or anybody else's, in whose existence you may have a beneficial interest, and there are a hundred officers ready to receive the premiums. If you are journeying, the Railway Passengers' Accident Co. will be glad to guarantee your family a solatium in case you and your train come to grief, and though it is not more than one in half-a-million that meets with an accident on the line, the penny for a ticket, when at the booking office, will be well expended. Do you employ clerks, there are several Guarantee Societies who will secure you against loss by defalcation. Shopkeepers and others will do well to insure their glass against breakage, and all and everyone should pay into a "General Accident" Association, for broken limbs, like broken glass, cannot be foreseen or prevented. It is not likely that any of [**] will be "drawn" for a militiaman in these piping times of peace, but that the system of insurance was applied here in the last century against the chances of being drawn in the ballot, is evidenced by the following carefully-preserved and curious receipt:—

"Received of Matthew Boulton, tagmaker, Snow Hill, three shillings and sixpence, for which sum I solemnly engage, if he should be chosen by lot to serve in the militia for this parish, at the first meeting for that purpose, to procure a substitute that shall be approved of.

"HENRY BROOKES, Sergt.

"Birmingham, Jan. 11, 1762."

The local manufacture of Insurance Societies has not been on a large scale, almost the only ones being the "Birmingham Workman's Mutual," the "British Workman," and the "Wesleyan and General." The late Act of Parliament, by which in certain cases, employers are pecuniarily liable for accidents to their workpeople, has brought into existence several new Associations, prominent among which is the comprehensive "Employers' Liability and Workpeople's Provident and Accident Insurance Society, Limited," whose offices are at 33, Newhall Street.

Interesting Odds and Ends. A fair was held here on Good Friday, 1793.

A fight of lion with dogs took place at Warwick, September 4, 1824.

The Orsim bombs used in Paris, January 15, 1858, were made here.

In 1771 meetings of the inhabitants, were called by the tolling of a bell.

A large assembly of Radicals visited Christ Church, November 21, 1819, but not for prayer.

A "flying railway" (the Centrifugal) was exhibited at the Circus in Bradford Street, October 31, 1842.

The doors of Moor Street prison were thrown open, September 3, 1842, there, not being then one person in confinement.

March 2, 1877, a bull got loose in New Street Station, and ran through the tunnel to Banbury Street, where he leaped over the parapet and was made into beef.

William Godfrey, who died in Ruston-street, October 27, 1863, was a native of this town, who, enlisting at eighteen, was sent out to China, where he accumulated a fortune of more than £1,000,000. So said the Birmingham Journal, November 7, 1863.

The De Berminghams had no blankets before the fourteenth century, when they were brought from Bristol. None but the very rich wore stockings prior to the year 1589, and many of them had their legs covered with bands of cloth.

A petition was presented to the Prince of Wales (June 26, 1791) asking his patronage and support for the starving buckle-makers of Birmingham. He ordered his suite to wear buckles on their shoes, but the laces soon whipped them out of market.

One Friday evening in July, 1750, a woman who had laid informations against 150 persons she had caught retailing spirituous liquors without licenses, was seized by a mob, who doused, ducked and daubed her, and then shoved her in the Dungeon.

At a parish meeting, May 17, 1726, it was decided to put up an organ in St. Martin's at a cost of £300 "and upwards." At a general meeting of the inhabitants, April 3, 1727, it was ordered that, a bell be cast for St. Philip's, "to be done with all expedition."

In 1789 it was proposed that the inmates of the workhouse should be employed at making worsted and thread. Our fathers often tried their inventive faculties in the way of finding work for the inmates. A few years later it was proposed (August 26) to lighten the rates by erecting a steam mill for grinding corn.

On the retirement of Mr. William Lucy, in 1850, from the Mayoralty, the usual vote of thanks was passed, but with one dissentient. Mr. Henry Hawkes was chosen coroner July 6, 1875, by forty votes to one. The great improvement scheme was adopted by the Town Council (November 10, 1875), with but one dissentient.

A certificate, dated March 23, 1683, and signed by the minister and church-wardens, was granted to Elizabeth, daughter of John and Ann Dickens, "in order to obtain his majesty's touch for the Evil." The "royal touch" was administered to 200 persons from this neighbourhood, March 17, 1714; Samuel Johnson (the Dr.) being one of those whose ailments, it was believed, could be thus easily removed. Professor Holloway did not live in those days.

Sir Thomas Holte (the first baronet) is traditionally reported to have slain his cook. He brought an action for libel against one William Ascrick, for saying "that he did strike his cook with a cleaver, so that one moiety of the head fell on one shoulder, and the other on the other shoulder." The defendant was ordered to pay £30 damages, but appealed, and successfully; the worthy lawyers of that day deciding that though Sir Thomas might have clove the cook's head, the defendant did not say he had killed the man, and hence had not libelled the baronet.

Interpreters.—In commercial circles it sometimes happens that the foreign corresponding clerk may be out of the way when an important business letter arrives, and we, therefore, give the addresses of a few gentlemen linguists, viz.:—Mr. H.R. Forrest, 46, Peel Buildings, Lower Temple Street; Mr. L. Hewson, 30, Paradise Street; Mr. F. Julien, 189, Monument Road; Mr. Wm. Krisch, 3, Newhall Street; Mr. L. Notelle, 42, George Road, Edgbaston; and Mr. A. Vincent, 49, Islington Row.

Invasion.—They said the French were coming in February, 1758, so the patriotic Brums put their hands into their pockets and contributed to a fund "to repel invasion."

Inventors and Inventions.—Birmingham, for a hundred years, led the van in inventions of all kinds, and though to many persons patent specifications may be the driest of all dry reading, there is an infinitude of interesting matter to be found in those documents. Much of the trade history of the town is closely connected with the inventions of the patentees of last century, including such men as Lewis Paul, who first introduced spinning by rollers, and a machine for the carding of wool and cotton; Baskerville, the japanner; Wyatt, partner with Paul; Boulton, of Soho, and his coadjutors, Watt, Murdoch, Small, Keir, Alston, and others. Nothing has been too ponderous and naught too trivial for the exercise of the inventive faculties of our skilled workmen. All the world knows that hundreds of patents have been taken out for improvements, and discoveries in connection with steam machinery, but few would credit that quite an equal number relate to such trifling articles as buckles and buttons, pins and pens, hooks and eyes, &c.; and fortunes have been made even more readily by the manufacture of the small items than the larger ones. The history of Birmingham inventors has yet to be written; a few notes of some of their doings will be found under "Patents" and "Trades."

Iron.—In 1354 it was forbidden to export iron from England. In 1567 it was brought here from Sweden and Russia. A patent for smelting iron with pit coal was granted in 1620 to Dud Dudley, who also patented the tinning of iron in 1661. The total make of iron in England in 1740 was but 17,000 tons, from 59 furnaces, only two of which were in Staffordshire, turning out about 1,000 tons per year. In 1788 there were nine blast furnaces in the same county; in 1796, fourteen; in 1806, forty-two; in 1827, ninety-five, with an output of 216,000 tons, the kingdom's make being 690,000 tons from 284 furnaces. This quantity in 1842 was turned out of the 130 Staffordshire furnaces alone, though the hot-air blast was not used prior to 1835. Some figures have lately been published showing that the present product of iron in the world is close upon 19-1/2 million tons per year, and as iron and its working-up has a little to do with the prosperity of Birmingham, we preserve them. Statistics for the more important countries are obtainable as late as 1881. For the others it is assumed that the yield has not fallen off since the latest figures reported. Under "other countries," in the table below, are included Canada, Switzerland, and Mexico, each producing about 7,500 tons a year, and Norway, with 4,000 tons a year:—

Year. Gross Tons.

Great Britain 1881 8,377,364

United States 1881 4,144,254

Germany 1881 2,863,400

France 1881 1,866,438

Belgium 1881 622,288

Austro-Hungary 1880 448,685

Sweden 1880 399,628

Luxembourg 1881 289,212

Russia 1881 231,341

Italy 1876 76,000

Spain 1873 73,000

Turkey -- 40,000

Japan 1877 10,000

All other countries -- 46,000

Total 19,487,610

The first four countries produce 88.4 per cent, of the world's iron supply; the first two, 64.3 per cent.; the first, 43 per cent. The chief consumer is the United States, 29 per cent.; next Great Britain, 23 '4 per cent.; these two using more than half of all. Cast iron wares do not appear to have been made here in any quantity before 1755; malleable iron castings being introduced about 1811. The first iron canal boat made its appearance here July 24, 1787. Iron pots were first tinned in 1779 by Jonathan Taylor's patented process, but we have no date when vessels of iron were first enamelled, though a French method of coating them with glass was introduced in 1850 by Messrs. T.G. Griffiths and Co. In 1809, Mr. Benjamin Cook, a well-known local inventor, proposed to use iron for building purposes, more particularly in the shape of joists, rafters, and beams, so as to make fire-proof rooms, walls, and flooring, as well as iron staircases. This suggestion was a long time before it was adopted, for in many things Cook was far in advance of his age. Corrugated iron for roofing, &c., came into use in 1832, but it was not till the period of the Australian gold fever—1852-4—that there was any great call for iron houses. The first iron church (made at Smethwick) as well as iron barracks for the mounted police, were sent out there, the price at Melbourne for iron houses being from £70 each.—See "Trades."

Iron Bedsteads are said to have been invented by Dr. Church. Metallic bedsteads of many different kinds have been made since then, from the simple iron stretcher to the elaborately guilded couches made for princes and potentates, but the latest novelty in this line is a bedstead of solid silver, lately ordered for one of the Indian Rajahs.

Iron Rods.—Among the immense number of semi-religious tracts published during the Civil War, one appeared (in 1642) entitled "An Iron Rod for the Naylours and Tradesmen near Birmingham," by a self-styled prophet, who exhorted his neighbours to amend their lives and give better prices "twopence in the shilling at the least to poor workmen." We fancy the poor nailers of the present time would also be glad of an extra twopence.

Jacks.—Roasting Jacks of some kind or other were doubtless used by our great-great-grandmothers, but their kitchen grates were not supplied with "bottle-jacks" till their fellow-townsman, Mr. Fellowes, of Great Hampton Street, made them in 1796.

Jennens.—It is almost certain that the "Great Jennens (or Jennings) Case," has taken up more time in our law courts than any other cause brought before the judges. Charles Dickens is supposed to have had some little knowledge of it, and to have modelled his "Jarndyce v. Jarndyce" in "Bleak House" therefrom. It has a local interest, inasmuch as several members of the family lived, prospered, and died here, and, in addition, a fair proportion of the property so long disputed, is here situated. The first of the name we hear of as residing in Birmingham was William Jennens, who died in 1602. His son John became a well-to-do ironmonger, dying in 1653. One of John's sons, Humphrey, also waxed rich, and became possessed of considerable estate, having at one time, it is said, no less a personage than Lord Conway as "game-keeper" over a portion of his Warwickshire property. Probably the meaning was that his lordship rented the shooting. Ultimately, although every branch of the family were tolerably prolific, the bulk of the garnered wealth was concentrated in the hands of William Jennings, bachelor, who died at Acton Place in 1798, at the age of 98, though some have said he was 103. His landed property was calculated to be worth £650,000; in Stock and Shares he held £270,000; at his bankers, in cash and dividends due, there were £247,000; while at his several houses, after his death, they found close upon £20,000 in bank notes, and more than that in gold. Dying intestate, his property was administered to by Lady Andover, and William Lygon, Esq., who claimed to be next of kin descended from Humphrey Jennings, of this town. Greatest part of the property was claimed by these branches, and several noble families were enriched who, it is said, were never entitled to anything. The Curzon family came in for a share, and hence the connection of Earl Howe and others with this town. The collaterals and their descendants have, for generations, been fighting for shares, alleging all kinds of fraud and malfeasance on the part of the present holders and their predecessors, but the claimants have increased and multiplied to such an extent, that if it were possible for them to recover the whole of the twelve million pounds they say the property is now worth, it would, when divided, give but small fortunes to any of them. A meeting of the little army of claimants was held at the Temperance Hall, March 2, 1875, and there have been several attempts, notwithstanding the many previous adverse decisions, to re-open the battle for the pelf, no less than a quarter of a million, it is believed, having already been uselessly spent in that way.

Jennen's Row is named after the above family.

Jewellery.—See "Trades."

Jews.—The descendants of Israel were allowed to reside in this country in 1079, but if we are to believe history their lot could not have been a very pleasant one, the poorer classes of our countrymen looking upon them with aversion, while the knights and squires of high degree, though willing enough to use them when requiring loans for their fierce forays, were equally ready to plunder and oppress on the slightest chance. Still England must have even then been a kind of sheltering haven, for in 1287, when a sudden anti-Semitic panic occurred to drive the Jews out of the kingdom, it was estimated that 15,660 had to cross the silver streak. Nominally, they were not allowed to return until Cromwell's time, 364 years after. It was in 1723 Jews were permitted to hold lands in this country, and thirty years after an Act was passed to naturalise them, but it was repealed in the following year. Now the Jews are entitled to every right and privilege that a Christian possesses. It is not possible to say when the Jewish community of this town originated, but it must have been considerably more than a hundred and fifty years ago, as when Hutton wrote in 1781, there was a synagogue in the Froggery, "a very questionable part of the town," and an infamous locality. He quaintly says:—"We have also among us a remnant of Israel, a people who, when masters of their own country, were scarcely ever known to travel, and who are now seldom employed in anything else. But though they are ever moving they are ever at home; who once lived the favourites of heaven, and fed upon the cream of the earth, but now are little regarded by either; whose society is entirely confined to themselves, except in the commercial line. In the synagogue, situated in the Froggery, they still preserve the faint resemblance of the ancient worship, their whole apparatus being no more than the drooping ensigns of poverty. The place is rather small, but tolerably filled; where there appears less decorum than in the Christian churches. The proverbial expression, 'as rich as a Jew,' is not altogether verified in Birmingham; but, perhaps, time is transferring it to the Quakers. It is rather singular that the honesty of a Jew is seldom pleaded but by the Jew himself." No modern historian would think of using such language now-a-days, respecting the Jews who now abide with us, whose charitable contributions to our public institutions, &c., may bear comparison with those of their Christian brethren. An instance of this was given so far back as December 5th, 1805, the day of general thanksgiving for the glorious victory of Trafalgar. On that day collections were made in all places of worship in aid of the patriotic fund for the relief of those wounded, and of the relatives of those killed in the war. It is worthy of remark that the parish church, St. Martin's, then raised the sum of £37 7s., and the "Jews' Synagogue" £3 3s. At the yearly collections in aid of the medical charities, now annually held on Hospital Sunday, St. Martin's gives between three and four hundred pounds; the Jewish congregation contributes about one hundred and fifty. If, then, the church has thus increased ten-fold in wealth and benevolence in the last seventy years, the synagogue has increased fifty-fold.

Jews' Board of Guardians. A committee of resident Jews was appointed in 1869, to look after and relieve poor and destitute families among the Israelites; and though they pay their due quota to the poor rates of their parish, it is much to the credit of the Jewish community that no poor member is, permitted to go to the Workhouse or want for food and clothing. The yearly amount expended in relief by this Hebrew Board of Guardians is more than £500, mostly given in cash in comparatively large sums, so as to enable the recipients to become self-supporting, rather than continue them as paupers receiving a small weekly dole. There is an increase in the number of poor latterly, owing to the depression of trade and to the influx of poor families from Poland during the last few years. Another cause of poverty among the Jews is the paucity of artisans among them, very few of them even at the present time choosing to follow any of the staple trades outside those connected with clothing and jewellery.

Jewish Persecutions in Russia.—On Feb. 6, 1882, a town's meeting was called with reference to the gross persecution of the Jews in Russia, and the collection of a fund towards assisting the sufferers was set afoot, £1,800 being promised at the meeting.

John a' Dean's Hole.—A little brook which took the water from the moat round the old Manor House (site of Smithfield) was thus called, from a man named John Dean being drowned there about Henry VIII.'s time. This brook emptied into the river Rea, near the bottom of Floodgate Street, where a hundred and odd years back, there were two poolholes, with a very narrow causeway between them, which was especially dangerous at flood times to chance wayfarers who chose the path as a near cut to their dwellings, several cases of drowning being on record as occurring at this spot.—See "Manor House."

Johnson, Dr. Samuel.—Dr. Johnson's connection with Birmingham has always been a pleasant matter of interest to the local literati, but to the general public we fear it matters naught. His visit to his good friend Dr. Hector in 1733 is historically famous; his translations and writings while here have been often noted; his marriage with the widow Porter duly chronicled; but it is due to the researches of the learned Dr. Langford that attention has been lately drawn to the interesting fact that Johnson, who was born in 1709, actually came to Birmingham in his tenth year, on a visit to his uncle Harrison, who in after years, in his usual plain-speaking style, Johnson described as "a very mean and vulgar man, drunk every night, but drunk with little drink, very peevish, very proud, very ostentatious, but, luckily, not rich." That our local governors have a due appreciation of the genius of the famed lexicographer is shown by the fact of a passage-way from Bull Street to the Upper Priory being named "Dr. Samuel Johnson's Passage!"

Jubilees.—Strange as it may appear to the men of the present day, there has never been a National holiday yet kept equal to that known as the Jubilee Day of George the Third. Why it should have been so seems a great puzzle now. The celebration began in this town at midnight of the 24th October, 1809, by the ringers of St. Philip's giving "five times fifty claps, an interim with the same number of rounds, to honour the King, Queen, the Royal Family, the Nation, and the loyal town of Birmingham." At six o'clock next morning the sluggards were aroused with a second peal, and with little rest the bells were kept swinging the whole day long, the finale coming with a performance of "perpetual claps and clashings" that must have made many a head ache. There was a Sunday school jubilee celebrated September 14, 1831. The fiftieth year's pastorate of Rev. John Angell James was kept September 12, 1855, and the Jubilee Day of the Chapel in Carr's Lane, September 27, 1870; of Cannon Street Chapel, July 16, 1856; of the Rev. G. Cheatle's pastorate, at Lombard Street Chapel, January 11, 1860; of the Missionary Society, September 15, 1864; of Pope Pius the Ninth, in 1877, when the Roman Catholics of this town sent him £1,230. being the third largest contribution from England.

Jubilee Singers.—This troupe of coloured minstrels gave their first entertainment here in the Town Hall April 9, 1874.

Jury Lists.—According to the Jury Act, 6 George IV., the churchwardens and overseers of every parish in England are required to make out an alphabetical list before the 1st September in each year of all men residing in their respective parishes and townships qualified to serve on juries, setting forth at length their Christian and surname, &c. Copies of these lists, on the three first Sundays in September, are to be fixed on the principal door to every church, chapel, and other public place of religious worship, with a notice subjoined that all appeals will be heard at the Petty Sessions, to be held within the last day of September. The jury list for persons resident in the borough, and for several adjoining parishes, may be seen at the office of Mr. Alfred Walter, solicitor, Colmore Row, so that persons exempt may see if their names are included.

Justices Of the Peace.—The earliest named local Justices of the Peace (March 8, 1327) are "William of Birmingham" and "John Murdak" the only two then named for the county.—See "Magistrates".

Kidneys (Petrified).—In olden days our footpaths, where paved at all, were, as a rule, laid with round, hard pebbles, and many readers will be surprised to learn that five years ago there still remained 50,000 square yards of the said temper-trying paving waiting to be changed into more modern bricks or stone. Little, however, as we may think of them, the time has been when the natives were rather proud than otherwise of their pebbly paths, for, according to Bisset, when one returned from visiting the metropolis, he said he liked everything in London very much "except the pavement, for the stones were all so smooth, there was no foothold!"

King Edward's Place.—Laid out in 1782 on a 99 years' lease, from Grammar School, at a ground rent of £28, there being built 31 houses, and two in Broad Street.

King's Heath.—A little over three miles on the Alcester Road, in the Parish of King's Norton, an outskirt of Moseley, and a suburb of Birmingham; has added a thousand to its population in the ten years from census 1871 to 1881, and promises to more than double it in the next decennial period. The King's Heath and Moseley Institute, built in 1878, at the cost of Mr. J.H. Nettlefold, provides the residents with a commodious hall, library, and news-room. There is a station here on the Midland line, and the alterations now in the course of being made on that railway must result in a considerable, addition to the traffic and the usefulness of the station, as a local depôt for coal, &c.

King's Norton.—Mentioned in Domesday, and in the olden times was evidently thought of equal standing (to say the least) with its five-miles-neighbour, Birmingham, as in James the First's reign there was a weekly market (Saturdays) and ten fairs in the twelve months. The market the inhabitants now attend is to be found in this town, and the half-score of fairs has degenerated to what is known as "King's Norton Mop" or October statute fair, for the hiring of servants and labourers, when the Lord of Misrule holds sway, the more's the pity. The King's Norton Union comprises part of the borough of Birmingham (Edgbaston), as well as Balsall Heath, Harborne, Moseley, Northfield, Selly Oak, &c., and part of it bids fair to become a manufacturing district of some extent, as there are already paper mills, rolling mills, screw works, &c., and the Smethwick men are rapidly advancing in its direction—the Midland Junction with the West Suburban line being also in the parish. The fortified mansion, known as Hawkesley House, in this parish, was the scene of a contest in May, 1645, between King Charles' forces and the Parliamentarians, who held it, the result being its capture, pillage, and destruction by fire.

Kirby's Pools.—A well-known and favourite resort on the outskirt of the borough, on the Bristol Road, and formerly one of the celebrated taverns and tea gardens of past days. The publichouse (the "Malt Shovel") having been extended and partially rebuilt, and the grounds better laid out, the establishment was re-christened, and opened as the Bournbrook Hotel, at Whitsuntide, 1877.

Kossuth.—Louis Kossuth, the ex-dictator of Hungary, was honoured with a public welcome and procession of trades, &c., Nov. 10, 1851, and entertained at a banquet in Town Hall on the 12th. He afterwards appeared here May 7 and 8, 1856, in the role of a public lecturer.

Kyott's Lake.—A pool once existing where now is Grafton Road, Camp Hill. There was another pool near it, known as Foul Lake.

Kyrle Society.—So named after the character alluded to by Pope in his "Moral Essays":

John Kyrle, who died Nov. 11, 1724, though not a native, resided at Ross nearly the whole of his long and loyal life of close on 90 years, and Pope, who often visited the neighbourhood, there became acquainted with him and his good works, and embalmed his memory in undying verse as an example to future generations. A more benevolent lover of his fellowman than Kyrle cannot be named, and a society for cultivating purity of taste, and a delight in aiding the well-being of others, is rightly called after him. The Birmingham Kyrle Society was established in 1880, and frequent paragraphs in the local papers tell us of their doings, at one time cheering the inmates of the institutions where the sick and unfortunate lie, with music and song, and at another distributing books, pictures, and flowers, where they are prized by those who are too poor to purchase. The officers of the society will be pleased to hear from donors, as let contributions of flowers or pictures be ever so many, the recipients are far more numerous. Mr. Walliker, our philanthropic postmaster, is one of the vice-presidents, and the arrangements of the parcel post are peculiarly suited for forwarding parcels.

Lady Well.—There is mention in a document dated 1347 of a "dwelling in Egebaston Strete leading towards God well feld," and there can be no doubt that this was an allusion to the Lady Well, or the well dedicated to the blessed Virgin, close to the old house that for centuries sheltered the priests that served St. Martin's, and which afterwards was called the Parsonage or Rectory. The well spring was most abundant, and was never known to fail. The stream from it helped to supply the moat round the Parsonage, and there, joined by the waters from the higher grounds in the neighbourhood of Holloway Head, and from the hill above the Pinfold, it passed at the back of Edgbaston Street, by the way of Smithfield passage and Dean Street (formerly the course of a brook) to the Manor House moat. The Ladywell Baths were historically famous and, as stated by Hutton, were the finest in the kingdom. The Holy Well of the blessed Virgin still exists, though covered over and its waters allowed to flow into the sewers instead of the Baths, and any visitor desirous of testing the water once hallowed for its purity must take his course down the mean alley known as Ladywell Walk, at the bend in which he will find a dirty passage leading to a rusty iron pump, "presented by Sir E.S. Gooch, Bart., to the inhabitants of Birmingham," as commemorated by an inscription on the dirty stone which covers the spring and its well. God's Well field is covered with workshops, stables, dirty backyards and grimy-looking houses, and the Baths are a timber-yard.

Lambert.—Birmingham had something to do with the fattening of the celebrated Daniel Lambert, the heaviest lump of humanity this country has yet produced, for he was an apprentice to Mr. John Taylor, button maker, of Crooked Lane. His indentures were cancelled through his becoming so fat and unwieldy, and he was sent back to his father, the then governor of Leicester gaol. Daniel died June 21st, 1809, at Stamford, where he was buried; his age was 39, and he weighed 52 stone 11 lb. (at 14 lb. the stone), measuring 9 ft. 4 in. round the body, and 3 ft. 1 in. round the thick of each of his legs.

Lancashire Distress.—The accounts of the Local Fund raised for the relief of the cotton operatives of Lancashire were published Aug. 3, 1863, showing receipts amounting £15,115 4s. 10d.

Lamps.—The number of ordinary lamps in the borough, under the control of the Public Works Department, on the 31st of December, 1882, was 6,591, of which number 1,950 are regulated to consume 5.20 cubic feet, and the remainder, or 4,641, 4.30 cubic feet per hour; their cost respectively inclusive of lighting, cleaning, and extinguishing, was £2 12s. 4-1/2d., and £2 5s. 2-1/4d. per lamp per annum. In addition there are 93 special and 53 urinal lamps.

Lands.—In Birmingham it is bought and sold by the square yard, and very pretty prices are occasionally paid therefor; our agricultural friends reckon by acres, roods, and perches. The Saxon "hyde" of land, as mentioned in Domesday Book and other old documents, was equivalent to 100, or, as some read it, 120 acres; the Norman "Carncase" being similar.

Land Agency.—An International Land and Labour Agency was established at Birmingham by the Hon. Elihu Burritt in October, 1869; its object being to facilitate the settlement of English farmers and mechanics in the United States, and also to supply American orders for English labourers and domestic servants of all kinds. Large numbers of servant-girls in England, it was thought, would be glad to go to America, but unable to pay their passage-money, and unwilling to start without knowing where they were to go on arriving. This agency advanced the passage-money, to be deducted from the first wages; but, though the scheme was good and well meant, very little advantage was taken of the agency, and, like some other of the learned blacksmith's notions, though a fair-looking tree, it bore very little fruit.

Land and Building Societies.—Though frequently considered to be quite a modern invention, the plan of a number uniting to purchase lands and houses for after distribution, is a system almost as old as the hills. The earliest record we have of a local Building Society dates from 1781, though no documents are at hand to show its methods of working. On Jan. 17, 1837, the books were opened for the formation of a Freehold Land and Building Society here, but its usefulness was very limited, and its existence short. It was left to the seething and revolutionary days of 1847-8, when the Continental nations were toppling over thrones and kicking out kings, for sundry of our men of light and leading to bethink themselves of the immense political power that lay in the holding of the land, and how, by the exercise of the old English law, which gave the holder of a 40s. freehold the right of voting for the election of a "knight of the shire," such power could be brought to bear on Parliament, by the extension of the franchise in that direction. The times were out of joint, trade bad, and discontent universal, and the possession of a little bit of the land we live on was to be a panacea for every abuse complained of, and the sure harbinger of a return of the days when every Jack had Jill at his own fireside. The misery and starvation existing in Ireland where small farms had been divided and subdivided until the poor families could no longer derive a sustenance from their several moieties, was altogether overlooked, and "friends of the people" advocated the wholesale settlement of the unemployed English on somewhat similar small plots. Feargus O'Connor, the Chartist leader, started his National Land Society, and thousands paid in their weekly mites in hopes of becoming "lords of the soil;" estates here and there were purchased, allotments made, cottages built, and many new homes created. But as figs do not grow on thistles, neither was it to be expected that men from the weaving-sheds, or the mines, should he able to grow their own corn, or even know how to turn it into bread when grown, and that Utopian scheme was a failure. More wise in their generation were the men of Birmingham: they went not for country estates, nor for apple orchards or turnip fields. The wise sagaciousness of their leaders, and the Brums always play well at "follow my leading," made them go in for the vote, the full vote, and nothing but the vote. The possession of a little plot on which to build a house, though really the most important, was not the first part of the bargain by any means at the commencement. To get a vote and thus help upset something or somebody was all that was thought of at the time, though now the case is rather different, few members of any of the many societies caring at present so much for the franchise as for the "proputty, proputty, proputty." Mr. James Taylor, jun., has been generally dubbed the "the father of the freehold land societies," and few men have done more than him in their establishment, but the honour of dividing the first estate in this neighbourhood, we believe, must be given to Mr. William Benjamin Smith, whilome secretary of the Manchester Order of Odd Fellows, and afterwards publisher of the Birmingham Mercury newspaper. Being possessed of a small estate of about eight acres, near to the Railway Station at Perry Barr, he had it laid out in 100 lots, which were sold by auction at Hawley's Temperance Hotel, Jan. 10, 1848, each lot being of sufficient value to carry a vote for the shire. The purchasers were principally members of an Investment and Permanent Benefit Building Society, started January 4, 1847, in connection with the local branch of Oddfellows, of which Mr. Smith was a chief official. Franchise Street, which is supposed to be the only street of its name in England, was the result of this division of land, and as every purchaser pleased himself in the matter of architecture, the style of building may be called that of "the free and easy." Many estates have been divided since then, thousands of acres in the outskirts being covered with houses where erst were green fields, and in a certain measure Birmingham owes much of its extension to the admirable working of the several Societies. As this town led the van in the formation of the present style of Land and Building Societies, it is well to note here their present general status. In 1850 there were 75 Societies in the kingdom, with about 25,000 members, holding among them 35,000 shares, with paid-up subscriptions amounting to £164,000. In 1880, the number of societies in England was 946, in Scotland, 53, and in Ireland 27. The number of members in the English societies was 320,076, in the scotch 11,902, and in the Irish 6,533. A return relating to these societies in England has just been issued, which shows that there are now 1,687 societies in existence, with a membership of 493,271. The total receipts during the last financial year amounted to £20,919,473. There were 1,528 societies making a return of liabilities, which were to the holders of shares £29,351,611, and to the depositors £16,351,611. There was a balance of unappropriated profit to the extent of £1,567,942. The assets came to £44,587,718. In Scotland there were 15,386 members of building societies; the receipts were £413,609, the liabilities to holders of shares amounted to £679,990, to depositors and other creditors £268,511; the assets consisted of balance due on mortgage securities £987,987, and amount invested in other securities and cash £67,618. In Ireland there were 9,714 members of building societies; the receipts were £778,889, liabilities to the holders of shares £684,396, to depositors and others £432,356; the assets included balance due on mortgage securities £1,051,423, and amount invested in other securities £79,812. There were 150 of the English societies whose accounts showed deficiencies amounting to £27,850; two Scotch societies minus £862, but no Irish short. It is a pity to have to record that there have been failures in Birmingham, foremost among them being that of the Victoria Land and Building Society, which came to grief in 1870, with liabilities amounting to £31,550. The assets, including £5,627 given by the directors and trustees, and £886 contributed by other persons, realised £27,972. Creditors paid in full took £9,271, the rest receiving 8s. 9d. in the pound, and £4,897 being swallowed up in costs. The break-up of the Midland Land and Investment Corporation (Limited) is the latest. This Company was established in 1864, and by no means confined itself to procuring sites for workmen's dwellings, or troubled about getting them votes. According to its last advertisement, the authorised capital was £500,000, of which £248,900 had been subscribed, but only £62,225 called up, though the reserve fund was stated to be £80,000. What the dividend will be is a matter for the future, and may not even be guessed at at present. The chief local societies, and their present status, areas follows:—

The Birmingham Freehold Land Society was started in 1848, and the aggregate receipts up to the end of 1882 amounted to £680,132 12s. 7d. The year's receipts were £20,978 16s. 5d., of which £11,479 represented payments made by members who had been alloted land on the estates divided by the Society, there being, after payment of all expenses, a balance of £11,779 12s. 9d. The number of members was then 772, and it was calculated that the whole of the allotments made would be paid off in four years.

The Friendly Benefit Building Society was organised in 1859, and up to Midsummer, 1883, the sums paid in amounted to £340,000. The year's receipts were £21,834 19s. 6d., of which £10,037 came from borrowers, whose whole indebtedness would be cleared in about 5-1/2 years. The members on the books numbered 827, of whom 684 were investors and 143 borrowers. The reserve fund stood at £5,704 5s. 9d There is a branch of this Society connected with Severn Street Schools, and in a flourishing condition, 32 members having joined during the year, and £2,800 having been received as contributions. The total amount paid in since the commencement of the branch in June, 1876, was £18,181 13s. 11d. The Severn Street scholars connected with it had secured property during the past year valued at £2,400.

The Incorporated Building Society comprises the United, the Queen's, the Freeholders', and the Second Freeholders' Societies, the earliest of them established in 1849, the incorporation taking place in 1878. The aggregate receipts of these several Societies would reach nearly 3-1/2 millions. The amounts paid in since the amalgamation (to the end of 1882) being £1,049,667. As might be expected the present Society has a large constituency, numbering 6,220 members, 693 of whom joined in 1882. The advances during the year reached £78,275, to 150 borrowers, being an average of £500 to each. The amount due from borrowers was £482,000, an average of £540 each. The amount due to investors was ££449,000, an average of £84 each. The borrowers repaid last year £104,000, and as there was £482,000 now due on mortgage accounts the whole capital of the society would be turned over in five years, instead of thirteen and a half, the period for which the money was lent. The withdrawals had been £85,409, which was considerably under the average, as the society had paid away since the amalgamation £520,000, or £104,000 per annum. The amount of interest credited to investors was £19,779. A total of £100,000 had been credited in the last five years. The reserve fund now amounted to £34,119, which was nearly 7-1/2 per cent. on the whole capital employed.

The Birmingham Building Society, No. 1, was established in May, 1842, and re-established in 1853. It has now 1,580 members, subscribing for shares amounting to £634,920. The last report states that during the existence of the society over £500,000 has been advanced to members, and that the amount of "receipts and payments" have reached the sum of £1,883,444. Reserve fund is put at £5,000.

The Birmingham Building Society, No. 4, was established in June, 1846, and claims to be the oldest society in the town. The report, to end of June, 1883, gave the number of shares as 801-3/4, of which 563-1/4 belong to investors, and the remainder to borrowers. The year's receipts were £10,432, and £6,420 was advanced. The balance-sheet showed the unallotted share fund to be £18,042, on deposit £3,915, due to bank £2,108, and balance in favour of society £976. The assets amounted to £25,042, of which £21,163 was on mortgages, and £3,818 on properties in possession.

St. Philip's Building Society was began in January, 1850, since when (up to January, 1883) £116,674 had been advanced on mortgages, and £28,921 repaid to depositing members. The society had then 326 members, holding among them 1,094-1/4 shares. The year's receipts were £13,136, and £7,815 had been advanced in same period. The reserve fund was £3,642; the assets £65,940, of which £54,531 was on mortgages, £7,987 deferred premiums, and £2,757 properties in hand.

Several societies have not favoured us with their reports.

Law.—There are 306 solicitors and law firms in Birmingham, 19 barristers, and a host of students and law clerks, each and every one of whom doubtless dreams of becoming Lord Chancellor. The Birmingham Law Society was formed in 1818, and there is a Society of Law Students besides, and a Law Library. At present, our Law Courts comprise the Bankruptcy and County Courts, Assize Courts (held pro tem in the Council House), the Quarter Sessions' and Petty Sessions' Courts.

League of Universal Brotherhood.—Originated by Elihu Burritt, in 1846, while sitting in the "Angel," at Pershore, on his walk through England. He came back to Joseph Sturge and here was printed his little periodical called "The Bond of Brotherhood," leading to many International Addresses, Peace Congresses, and Olive-Leaf Missions, but alas! alas! how very far off still seems the "universal peace" thus sought to be brought about. Twenty thousand signatures were attached to "The Bond" in one year. Far more than that number have been slain in warfare every year since.

Lease Lane.—Apparently a corruption of Lea or Leay Lane, an ancient bye-road running at the back of the Dog or Talbot Inn, the owners of which, some 300 years ago, were named Leays. When the Market Hall was built and sewers were laid round it, the workmen came upon what was at the time imagined to be an underground passage, leading from the Guildhall in New Street to the old Church of St. Martin's. Local antiquarians at the time would appear to have been conspicuous by their absence, as the workmen were allowed to close the passage with rubbish without a proper examination being made of it. Quite lately, however, in digging out the soil for the extension of the Fish Market at a point on the line of Lease Lane, about 60ft. from Bell Street, the workmen, on reaching a depth of 8ft. or 9ft., struck upon the same underground passage, but of which the original purpose was not very apparent. Cut in the soft, sandstone, and devoid of any lining, it ran almost at right angles to Lease Lane, and proved to extend half way under that thoroughfare, and some four or five yards into the excavated ground. Under Lease Lane it was blocked by rubbish, through which a sewer is believed to run, and therefore the exact ending of the passage in one direction cannot be traced; in the excavated ground it ended, on the site of a dismantled public-house, in a circular shaft, which may have been that of a well, or that of a cesspool. The passage, so far as it was traceable, was 24ft. long, 7ft. high, and 4-1/2ft. wide. As to its use before it was severed by the sewerage of Lease Lane, the conjecture is that it afforded a secret means of communication between two houses separated above ground by that thoroughfare, but for what purpose must remain one of the perplexing puzzles of the past. That it had no connection with the Church or the Grammar School (the site of the old Guild House) is quite certain, as the course of the passage was in a different direction.

Leasing Wives.—In the histories of sundry strange lands we read of curious customs appertaining to marriage and the giving in marriage. Taking a wife on trial is the rule of more than one happy clime, but taking a wife upon lease is quite a Brummagem way of marrying (using the term in the manner of many detractors of our town's fair fame). In one of the numbers of the Gentleman's Magazine, for the year 1788, Mr. Sylvanus Urban, as the editor has always been called, is addressed as follows by a Birmingham correspondent:—"Since my residing in this town I have often heard there is a method of obtaining a wife's sister upon lease. I never could learn the method to be taken to get a wife upon lease, or whether such connections are sanctioned by law; but there is an eminent manufacturer in the vicinity of this town who had his deceased wife's sister upon lease for twenty years and upwards; and I know she went by his name, enjoyed all the privileges, and received all the honours due to the respectable name of wife." A rarer case of marital leasing has often been noted against us by the aforesaid smirchers of character as occurring in 1853, but in reality it was rather an instance of hiring a husband.

Leather Hall.—As early as the Norman Conquest this town was famed for its tanneries, and there was a considerable market, for leather for centuries after. Two of the Court Leet officers were "Leather Sealers," and part of the proclamation made by the Crier of the Court when it held its meetings was in those words, "All whyte tawers that sell not good chaffer as they ought to do reasonably, and bye the skynnes in any other place than in towne or market, ye shall do us to weet," meaning that anyone knowing of such offences on the part of the "whyte tawers" or tanners should give information at the Court then assembled. New Street originally was entered from High Street, under an arched gateway, and here was the Leather Hall (which was still in existence in Hutton's time), where the "Sealers" performed their functions. It was taken down when New Street was opened out, and though we have an extensive hide and skin market now, we can hardly be said to possess a market for leather other than the boot and shoe shops, the saddlers, &c.

Lench's Trust.—See "Philanthropic Institutions."

Liberal Association.—On Feb. 17, 1865, a meeting was held in the committee room of the Town Hall for the purpose of forming an organisation which should "unite all the Liberals of the town, and provide them with a regular and efficient method of exercising a legitimate influence in favour of their political principles." The outcome of this meeting was the birth of the now famous Liberal "Caucus," and though the names of ten gentlemen were appended to the advertisement calling the meeting, the honour of the paternity of the Liberal bantling is generally given to Mr. William Harris. The governing body of the association was fixed at two dozen, inclusive of the president, vice, and secretary; all persons subscribing a shilling or more per annum being eligible to become members. The "General Committee," for some time known as the "Four Hundred," was enlarged in 1876 to Six Hundred, and in June, 1880, to Eight Hundred, the Executive Committee, at the same time, being considerably increased. The recent alteration in the franchise, and the division of the borough and outskirts into seven electoral districts, has led to a reorganisation of the Association, or Associations, for each of the seven divisions now works by itself, though guided by a central Council.—A "Women's Liberal Association" was founded in October, 1873, and a "Junior Liberal Association" in October, 1878.

Libraries.—The first public or semi-public library founded in Birmingham, was the Theological. In 1733 the Rev. William Higgs, first Rector of St. Philip's, left his collection of 550 volumes, and a sum of money, to found a library for the use of clergymen and students. The books, many of which are rare, are kept in a building erected in 1792, adjacent to the Rectory, and are accessible to all for whom the library was designed.—A Circulating Library was opened in Colmore Row, in 1763, and at one time there was a second-class institution of the kind at a house up one of the courts in Dale End.—A "New Library" was opened in Cannon Street, April 26, 1796, which was removed to Temple Row, in 1821, and afterwards united to the Old Library. The latter was commenced in 1779, the first room for the convenience of members being opened in 1782, and the present building in Union Street, erected in 1798. The report of the committee for the year 1882 showed that there were 772 proprietors, at 21s. per annum; 35 annual subscribers, at 31s. 6d. per annum; 528 at 2ls.; 6 quarterly, at 9s. per quarter; 53 at 6s. per quarter; 17 resident members of subscribers' families, at 10s. per annum; and 118 resident members of subscribers' families (readers) at 5s. The total number of members was 1,479; the year's subscriptions being £1,594. The price of shares has been raised from two to three guineas during the past year. Receipts from shares, fines, &c., amounted to about £480, making the amount actually received in 1882, £2,012 6s. The expenditure had been £1,818 19s. 9d., inclusive of £60 carried to the reserve fund, and £108 paid on account of the new catalogue; and there remained a balance of £198 6s. 1d. in hand. £782 0s. 9d. had been expended on the purchase of 1,560 additional books, re-binding others, &c., making a total of about 50,000 volumes. The library needs extension, but the shortness of the lease (thirty years only) and the high value of the adjoining land prevents any step being taken in that direction at present. The Birmingham Law Society's Library was founded in February, 1831, by Mr. Arthur Ryland, and has now nearly 6,000 volumes of law works, law reports (English, Scotch, and Irish), local and personal Acts, &c., &c. The present home in Wellington Passage was opened August 2, 1876, being far more commodious than the old abode in Waterloo-street, the "library" itself being a room 35ft. long, 22ft. wide, and 20ft. high, with a gallery round it. There are several extensive libraries connected with places of worship, such as the Church of the Saviour, Edward Street, Severn Street Schools, the Friends' Meeting House, &c. and a number of valuable collections in the hands of some well-known connoisseurs, literati, and antiquarians, access to most of which may be obtained on proper introduction.

Libraries (The Free).—The first attempt to found a Free Library in this town was the holding of a public meeting in April, 1852, under the provisions of the Museums and Libraries Act of 1850, which allowed of a 1/2d. rate being levied for the support of such institutions. Whether the townsfolk were careless on the subject, or extra careful, and therefore, doubtful of the sufficiency of the 1/2d. rate to provide them, is not certain; but so little interest was shown in the matter that only 534 persons voted for the adoption of the Act, while 363 voted against it, and the question for the time was shelved, as the Act required the assents to be two-thirds of the total votes given. In 1855 the Commissioner of patents presented to the town some 200 volumes, conditionally that they should be kept in a Free Library, and about the same time another proposal was made to establish such a Library, but to no effect. The Act was altered so that a penny rate could be made, and in October, 1859, it was again suggested to try the burgesses. On February 21, 1860, the meeting was held and the adoption of the Act carried by a large majority. A committee of sixteen, eight members of the Council, and eight out if it, was chosen, and in a short time their work was shown by the transfer of 10,000 square feet of land belonging to the Midland Institute, on which to erect a central library, the preparations of plans therefor, the purchase of books, and (April 3, 1861) the opening of the first branch library and reading room in Constitution Hill. Mr. E.M. Barry, the architect of the Midland Institute, put in designs, including Art Gallery, but his figures were too high, being £14,250 10s., the Town Council having only voted £10,500. The plans of Mr. W. Martin, whose estimate was £12,000 were adopted, the Council added £1,500, a loan for the cash was negotiated, and building commenced by Messrs. Branson and Murray, whose tender to do the work for £8,600 was accepted. Thirty-two applications for the chief librarianship at £200 per annum were sent in, the chosen man being Mr. J.D. Mullins, though he was not the one recommended by the Committee. The Central Lending Library (with 10,000 volumes) and Reading-room, with Art Gallery, was formally opened September 6, 1865, and the Reference Library (then containing 18,200 volumes) October 26, 1866. In 1869, the latter was much enlarged by the purchase of 604 square yards of land in Edmund Street, and the total cost of the building came to £14,896. The Branch Library at Adderley Park was opened January 11, 1864; that at Deritend Oct. 2, 1866, and at Gosta Green Feb. 1, 1868. At the end of 1870, the total number of volumes in the whole of the Libraries was 56,764, of which 26,590 were in the Reference, and 12,595 in the Central Lending Library. By 1877, the total number of volumes had reached 86,087, of which 46,520 were in the Reference, and 17,543 in the Central Lending, the total number of borrowers being 8,947 at the Central, 4,188 at Constitution Hill, 3,002 at Deritend, 2,668 at Gosta Green, and 271 at Adderley Park. Meantime several new features in connection with the Reference Library had appeared. A room had been fitted up and dedicated to the reception of the "Shakespeare Memorial Library," presented April 23, 1864; the "Cervantes Library," presented by Mr. Bragge, was opened on a similar date in 1873; the "Staunton Collection" purchased for £2,400, (not half its value) was added Sept. 1, 1875, and very many important additions had been made to the Art Gallery and incipient Museum. For a long time, the Free Libraries' Committee had under consideration the necessity of extending the building, by adding a wing, which should be used not only as an Art Gallery, but also as an Industrial Museum; the Art Gallery and its treasures being located in that portion of the premises devoted to the Midland Institute, which was found to be a very inconvenient arrangement. The subject came under the notice of the Council on February 19th, 1878, when the committee submitted plans of the proposed alterations. These included the erection of a new block of buildings fronting Edmund Street, to consist of three storeys. The Town Council approved the plans, and granted £11,000 to defray the cost of the enlargement. About Midsummer the committee proceeded to carry out the plans, and in order to do this it was necessary to remove the old entrance hall and the flight of stairs which led up to the Shakespeare Memorial Library and to the Reference Library, and to make sundry other alterations of the buildings. The Library was closed for several days, and in the meantime the walls, where the entrances were, were pulled down and wooden partitions were run up across the room, making each department of much smaller area than before. In addition to this a boarded-in staircase was erected in Edmund Street, by which persons were able to gain access to the Lending Library, which is on the ground floor, and to the Reference Library, which was immediately above. A similar staircase was made in Ratcliff-place, near the cab stand, for the accommodation of the members of the Midland Institute, who occupy the Paradise-street side of the building. The space between the two staircases was boarded up, in order to keep the public off the works during the alterations, and the necessary gas supply pipes, &c., were located outside these wooden partitions. The alterations were well advanced by Christmas, and everything bade fair for an early and satisfactory completion of the undertaking. The weather, however, was most severe, and now and then the moisture in the gas-pipes exposed to the air became frozen. This occurred on the afternoon of Saturday, January 11, 1879, and an employé of the gas office lit a gas jet to thaw one of the pipes, A shaving was blown by the wind across this light, it blazed; the flame caught other shavings, which had been packed round the pipe to keep the frost out, and in less than a minute the fire was inside, and in one hour the Birmingham Reference Library was doomed to destruction. It was the greatest loss the town had ever suffered, but a new building has arisen on the site, and (with certain exceptions) it is hoped that a more perfect and valuable Library will be gathered to fill it. In a few days after the fire it was decided to ask the public at large for at least £10,000 towards a new collection, and within a week £7,000 had been sent in, the principal donors named in the list being—

£ s

The Mayor (Mr. Jesse Collins). 100 0

Alderman Chamberlain, M.P. (as Trustee of the late Mrs. Chamberlain, Moor Green) 1000 0

Alderman Chamberlain, M.P. 500 0

Alderman Avery 500 0

Mr. John Jaffray 500 0

Mr. A. Follett Osler, F.R.S 500 0

Mr. John Feeney 250 0

Mrs. Harrold 250 0

Mr. Timothy Kenrick 250 0

Mr. William Middlemore 250 0

A Friend 250 0

Mr. James Atkins 105 0

Lord Calthorpe 100 0

Lord Teynham 100 0

Mr. Thomas Gladstone 100 0

Messrs. William Tonks and Sons 100 0

Mr. W.A. Watkins. 100 0

Mr. and Mrs. T. Scruton 75 0

Dr. Anthony 52 10

Mr. Oliver Pemberton 52 10

Alderman Baker 50 0

Alderman Barrow 50 0

Messrs. Cadbury Brothers 50 0

Mr. J.H. Chamberlain 50 0

Alderman Deykin 50 0

Mr. T.S. Fallows 50 0

Mr. J.D. Goodman 50 0

Councillor Johnson 50 0

Mr. William Martin 50 0

Councillor Thomas Martineau 50 0

Councillor R.F. Martineau 50 0

Mr. Lawley Parker 50 0

Mrs. E. Phipson 50 0

Messrs. Player Brothers 50 0

Mr. Walter Showell 50 0

Mr. Sam Timmins 50 0

The Rev. A.R. Vardy 50 0

Mr. J.S. Wright and Sons 50 0

In sums of £20, &c 480 5

In sums of £10, &c 247 2

In sums of £5, &c 169 5

Smaller amounts 88 8

This fund has received many noble additions since the above, the total, with interest, amounting, up to the end of 1883, to no less than £15,500, of which there is still in hand, £10,000 for the purchase of books. The precaution of insuring such an institution and its contents had of course been taken, and most fortunately the requisite endorsements on the policies had been made to cover the extra risk accruing from the alteration in progress. The insurances were made in the "Lancashire" and "Yorkshire" offices, the buildings for £10,000, the Reference Library for £12,000, the Lending Library for £1,000, the Shakespeare Library for £1,500, the Prince Consort statue for £1,000, the models of Burke and Goldsmith for £100, and the bust of Mr. Timmins for £100, making £25,700 in all. The two companies hardly waited for the claim to be made, but met it in a most generous manner, paying over at once £20,000, of which £10,528 has been devoted to the buildings and fittings, nearly £500 paid for expenses and injury to statues, and the remaining £9,000 put to the book purchase fund. In the Reference Library there were quite 48,000 volumes, in addition to about 4,000 of patent specifications. Every great department of human knowledge was represented by the best known works. In history, biography, voyages, and travels, natural history, fine arts, all the greatest works, not only in English, but often in the principal European languages, had been gathered. Volumes of maps and plans, engravings of all sorts of antiquities, costumes, weapons, transactions of all the chief learned societies, and especially bibliography, or "books about books" had been collected with unceasing care, the shelves being loaded with costly and valuable works rarely found out of the great libraries of London, or Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, or Glasgow. Among the collections lost were many volumes relating to the early history of railways in England, originally collected by Mr. Charles Brewin, and supplemented by all the pamphlets and tracts procurable. Many of those volumes were full of cuttings from contemporary newspapers, and early reports of early railway companies, and of the condition of canals and roads. Still more valuable were many bundles of papers, letters, invoices, calculations, etc., concerning the early attempt to establish the cotton manufacture in Birmingham at the beginning of the last century, including the papers of Warren, the printer, and some letters of Dr. Johnson, and others relating the story of the invention of spinning by rollers—the work of John Wyatt and Lewis Paul—long before Arkwright's time. Among the immense collection of Birmingham books and papers were hundreds of Acts of Parliament, Birmingham Almanacs, Directories (from 1770) most curious, valuable, and rare; a heap of pamphlets on the Grammar School, Birmingham History, Topography, and Guides; the political pamphlets of Job Nott and John Nott, some of which were the only copies known, the more ancient pamphlets describing Prince Rupert's Burning Love (date 1613) and others of that time; reports from the year 1726 of the several local learned institutions; an invaluable collection of maps; programmes of the Festivals; and copies of all the known Birmingham newspapers and periodicals (some being perfect sets) etc., etc. Of all the host not more than 1,000 volumes were saved. The fame of the Shakespeare Memorial Library at Birmingham was world-wide and to us it had extra value as emanating from the love which George Dawson bore for the memory of Shakespeare. It was his wish that the library should be possessed of every known edition of the bard's works in every language, and that it should contain every book ever printed about him or his writings. In the words of Mr. Timmins, "The devotion of George Dawson to Shakespeare was not based upon literary reasons alone, nor did it only rest upon his admiration and his marvel at the wondrous gifts bestowed upon this greatest of men, but it was founded upon his love for one who loved so much. His heart, which knew no inhumanity, rejoiced in one who was so greatly human, and the basis of his reverence for Shakespeare was his own reverence for man. It was thus, to him, a constant pleasure to mark the increasing number of the students of Shakespeare, and to see how, first in one language and then in another, attempts were made to bring some knowledge of his work to other nations than the English-speaking ones; and the acquisition of some of these books by the library was received by him with delight, not merely or not much for acquisition sake, but as another evidence of the ever-widening influence of Shakespeare's work. The contents of this library were to Mr. Dawson a great and convincing proof that the greatest of all English authors had not lived fruitlessly, and that the widest human heart the world has known had not poured out its treasure in vain." So successful had the attempts of the collectors been that nearly 7,000 volumes had been brought together, many of them coming from the most distant parts of the globe. The collection included 336 editions of Shakspeare's complete works in English, 17 in French, 58 in German, 3 in Danish, 1 in Dutch, 1 in Bohemian, 3 in Italian, 4 in Polish, 2 in Russian, 1 in Spanish, 1 in Swedish; while in Frisian, Icelandic, Hebrew, Greek, Servian, Wallachian, Welsh, and Tamil there were copies of many separate plays. The English volumes numbered 4,500, the German 1,500, the French 400. The great and costly editions of Boydell and Halliwell, the original folios of 1632, 1664, and 1685, the very rare quarto contemporary issues of various plays, the valuable German editions, the matchless collection of "ana," in contemporary criticism, reviews, &c., and the interesting garnering of all the details of the Tercentenary Celebration— wall-posters, tickets, pamphlets, caricatures, &c., were all to be found here, forming the largest and most varied collection of Shakspeare's works, and the English and foreign literature illustrating them, which has ever been made, and the greatest literary memorial which any author has ever yet received. So highly was the library valued that its contents were consulted from Berlin and Paris, and even from the United States, and similar libraries have been founded in other places. Only 500 of the books were preserved, and many of them were much damaged. The loss of the famed Staunton or Warwickshire collection was even worse than that of the Shakespearean, rich and rare as that was, for it included the results of more than two centuries' patient work, from the days of Sir William Dugdale down to the beginning of the present century. The manuscript collections of Sir Simon Archer, fellow-labourer of Dugdale, the records of the Berkeley, Digby, and Ferrers families, the valued and patient gatherings of Thomas Sharpe, the Coventry antiquarian, of William Hamper, the Birmingham collector, and of William Staunton himself, were all here, forming the most wonderful county collection ever yet formed, and which a hundred years' work will never replace. The books, many rare or unique, and of extraordinary value, comprised over 2000 volumes; there were hundreds of sketches and water-colour drawings of buildings long since destroyed, and more than 1,500 engravings of various places in the county, among them being some 300 relating to Birmingham, 200 to Coventry, 200 to Warwick Castle, 200 to Kenilworth Castle, and more than 100 to Stratford-on-Avon. The thousand portraits of Warwickshire Worthies, more rare and valuable still, included no less than 267 distinct portraits of Shakespeare, every one from a different block or plate. There was, in fact, everything about Warwickshire which successive generations of learned and generous collectors could secure. Among other treasures were hundreds of Acts of Parliament, all pedigrees, pamphlets, &c., about the Earls of Warwick and the town of Warwick; the original vellum volume with the installation of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, to the Order of St. Michael, with his own autograph; volumes of rare, curious autographs of county interest; county poll books, newspapers and magazines; all the rare Civil War pamphlets relating to the Warwickshire incidents; ancient deeds, indulgences, charters, seals, rubbings of brasses long lost or worn away, medals, coins, hundreds in number; and rare and invaluable volumes, like the Duc de Nortombria's "Arcano de Mare," and two fine copies of Dugdale's Warwickshire; besides hundreds of books, engravings, caricatures, pamphlets and tracts. The catalogue of this precious collection had only recently been completed, but even that was burnt, so that there is nothing left to show the full extent of the loss sustained. The only salvage consisted of three books, though most providentially one of the three was the splendid Cartulary of the Priory of St. Anne, at Knowle, a noble vellum folio, richly illuminated by some patient scribe four centuries ago, and preserving not only the names of the benefactors of the Priory, and details of its possessions, but also the service books of the Church, with the ancient music and illuminated initials, as fresh and perfect as when first written. Of almost inestimable value, it has now an acquired interest in the fact of its being, so to speak, all that remains of all the great Staunton collection. The Cervantes Library, which had taken him a quarter of a century to gather together, was presented by Mr. William Bragge. For many years, even in a busy life, Mr. Bragge, in his visits to Spain and his travels all over Europe, had been able to collect nearly all the known editions, not only of "Don Quixote," but of all the other works of Cervantes. Not only editions, but translations into any and every language were eagerly sought; and, after cherishing his treasures for many years, Mr. Bragge was so impressed with the Shakespeare Library that he generously offered his unrivalled collection of the great contemporary author to the town of which he is a native, and in which he afterwards came to live. The collection extended from editions published in 1605 down to our own days, and included many very rare and very costly illustrated volumes, which can never be replaced. All the known translations were among the thousand volumes, and all the works were in the choicest condition, but only ten survived the fire.—From the Lending Library about 10,000 volumes were rescued, and as there were nearly 4,000 in the hands of readers, the loss here was comparatively small. The present number of books in the Reference Library bids fair to surpass the collection lost, except, of course, as regards the Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Staunton gatherings, the latter of which it is simply impossible to replace, while it will take many years to make up the other two. There are now (March, 1884) over 54,000 volumes on the shelves, including 4,300 saved from the fire, about 33,000 purchased, and nearly 17,000 presented. Among the latter are many rare and costly works given to Birmingham soon after the catastrophe by a number of societies and gentlemen connected with the town, as well as others at home and abroad. To catalogue the names of all donors is impossible, but a few of those who first contributed may be given. Foremost, many of the books being of local character, was the gift of Mr. David Malins, which included Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle, 1492, one vol.; Camden's Britannia, ed. Gibson, 1695, one vol.; Ackermann's London, Westminster Abbey, Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, &c., ten vols.; Works of Samuel Parr, 1828, eight vols.; Illustrated Record of European Events, 1812-1815, one vol.; Thompson's Seasons, illustrated by Bartolozzi, and other works, seventy vols.; Notes and Queries (complete set of five series), 1850-78, fifty-seven vols.; Dugdale's "Warwickshire, 1656, and other books relating to Birmingham, Warwickshire and neighbourhood, seventy-four vols.; books printed by Baskerville, ten vols.; Birmingham-printed books, 203 vols.; books on or by Birmingham authors, fifty-six vols.; total, 491 vols.; in addition to a collection of about 600 portraits, maps and views relating to Birmingham, Warwickshire and the neighbourhood, including sixty portraits of Shakespeare. The Manchester Town Council sent us from their Public Library about 300 volumes, among which may be named the edition of Barclay's Apology printed by Baskerville (1765); a fine copy of the folio edition of Ben Johnson (1640); the Duke of Newcastle's New Method to Dress Horses (1667); several volumes of the Maitland Club books, the catalogue of the Harleian MSS (1759); two tracts of Socinus (1618); the Foundations of Manchester (4 vols.); Daulby's Rembrandt Catalogue; Weever's Funeral Monuments (1631); Visconti's Egyptian Antiquities (1837); Heylyn's History of St. George (1633), and Nicholl's History of English Poor Law. There are also a considerable number of works of science and general literature of a more modern date. The trustees of the British Museum gave about 150 works, relating to Greek, Egyptian, Syrian, Phoenician, and other antiquities, to various departments of natural science, and other interesting matters, the whole constituting a valuable contribution towards the restored library. The Science and Art Department of South Kensington sent a selection of catalogues, chromo-lithographs, books of etchings, photographs, &c. Dr. F.A. Leo, of Berlin, sent a splendid copy of his valuable fac-simile of "Four Chapters of North's Plutarch," illustrating Shakespeare's Roman plays, to replace his former gift-volume lost in the calamitous fire. The volume is one of twenty-four copies, and the learned Professor added a printed dedication as a record of the fire and the loss. Dr. Delius, of Bonn, Herr Wilhelm Oechelhaüser, of Dessau, and other German Shakespeare authors sent copies of their works. Mr. J. Payne Collier offered copies of his rare quarto reprints of Elizabethan books, to replace those which had been lost. Mr. Gerald Massey offered a copy of his rare volume on Shakespeare's Sonnets, "because it is a Free Library." Mr. H. Reader Lack offered a set of the Patent Office volumes from the limited number at his disposal as Chief of the Patent Office. Dr. Kaines, of Trinder Road, London, selected 100 volumes from his library for acceptance; Mrs. and Miss L. Toulmin Smith sent all they could make up of the works of Mr. J. Toulmin Smith, and of his father, Mr. W. Hawkes Smith, both natives of our town; Messrs. Low, Son, and Co., gave 120 excellent volumes; Messrs. W. and R. Chambers, Messrs. Crosby, Lockwood, and Co., and other publishers, valuable books; Mr. James Coleman his "Index to Pedigrees," "Somerset House Registers," and "William Penn Pedigrees;" Miss N. Bradley (Bath) the new reissue of Professor Ruskin's works; Mr. H.W. Adnitt (Shrewsbury) his reprint of Gough's curious "History of Myddie," and of Churchyard's "Miserie of Flaunders," and "The Four Ministers of Salop:" Mr. H.F. Osle presented a, fine collection of Art books, including Grüner's great work, and Mr. J.H. Stone made a valuable donation of the same kind. The above are mere items in the list of generous donors, and gives but small idea of the many thousands of volumes which have streamed in from all parts. Many indeed have been the valuable gifts and additions by purchase since the fire, one of the latest being nearly the whole of the almost priceless collection of Birmingham books, papers, &c., belonging to Mr. Sam. Timmins. The sum of £1,100 was paid him for a certain portion of backs, but the number he has given at various times is almost past count. Immediate steps were taken after the fire to get the lending department of the Library into work again, and on the 9th of June, 1879, a commodious (though rather dark) reading room was opened in Eden Place, the Town Council allowing a number of rooms in the Municipal Buildings to be used by the Libraries Committee. In a little time the nucleus of the new Reference gathering was also in hand, and for three years the institution sojourned with the Council. The new buildings were opened June 1st, 1882, and the date should be recorded as a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving. The Reference department was opened to readers on the 26th of the same month. In place of the hired rooms so long used as a library in Constitution Hill, there has been erected in the near neighbourhood a neat two-storey building which will accommodate some 2,000 readers per day, and the shelves are supplied with about 7,000 volumes. This new library was opened July 18, 1883. To summarise this brief history of the Birmingham Free Libraries it is well to state that £78,000 has been spent on them, of which £36,392 has been for buildings. The cost of the Central Library so far has been £55,000, the remaining £23,000 being the expenditure on the branch libraries. The present annual cost is £9,372, of which £3,372 goes for interest and sinking fund, so that an addition must soon be made to the 1d. rate, which produces £6,454. The power to increase the rate is given in the last Act of Parliament obtained by the Corporation. At the end of 1882 the Reference Library contained 50,000 volumes. The number of books in the Central Lending Library was 21,394, while the branch lending libraries contained—Constitution Hill, 7,815; Deritend, 8,295; Gosta Green, 8,274; and Adderley Park, 3,122. The aggregate of all the libraries was 98,900 volumes. The issues of books during 1882 were as follows:—Reference Library, 202,179; Central Lending Library, 186,988; Constitution Hill, 73,705; Deriteud, 70,218; Gosta Green, 56,160; Adderley Park, 8,497; total, 597,747; giving a daily average of 2,127 issues. These figures are exclusive of the Sunday issues at the Reference Library, which numbered 25,095. The average number of readers in the Reference Library on Sundays has been 545; and the average attendance at all the libraries shows something like 55,000 readers per week, 133 different weekly and monthly periodicals being put on the tables for their use, besides the books. At a meeting of the School Board, June 4, 1875, permission was given to use the several infants' schoolrooms connected with the Board Schools, as evening reading rooms in connection with the libraries.