Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham

[Transcriber's note: There are small sections where the print is missing from the original. Missing words have been marked [**]. Minor obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

Where it has not been possible to convert fractions to HTML, they have been denoted as example: one and 3/5 = 1-3/5.]

SHOWELL'S

Dictionary of Birmingham.

Birmingham to the Seventh Century.—We have no record or traces whatever of there being inhabitants in this neighbourhood, though there can be little doubt that in the time of the invasion of the Romans some British strongholds were within a few miles of the place, sundry remains having been found to show that many battles had been fought near here. If residents there were prior to King Edward the Confessor's reign, they would probably be of Gurth's tribe, and their huts even Hutton, antiquarian and historian as he was, failed to find traces of. How the name of this our dwelling-place came about, nobody knows. Not less than twelve dozen ways have been found to spell it; a score of different derivations "discovered" for it; and guesses innumerable given as to its origin, but we still wait for the information required.

Birmingham in the Conqueror's Days.—The Manor was held, in 1066, by Alwyne, son of Wigod the Dane, who married the sister of the Saxon Leofric, Earl of Mercia. According to "Domesday Book," in 1086, it was tenanted by Richard, who, held, under William Fitz-Ansculf, and included four hides of land and half-a-mile of wood, worth 20s.; there were 150 acres in cultivation, with but nine residents, five villeins, and four bordarers. In 1181 there were 18 freeholders (libere tenentes) in Birmingham cultivating 667 acres, and 35 tenants in demesne, holding 158 acres, the whole value being £13 8s. 2d.

Birmingham in the Feudal Period.—The number of armed men furnished by this town for Edward III.'s wars were four, as compared with six from Warwick, and forty from Coventry.

Birmingham in the Time of the Edwards and Harrys.—The Manor passed from the Bermingham family in 1537, through the knavish trickery of Lord L'Isle, to whom it was granted in 1545. The fraud, however, was not of much service to the noble rascal, as he was beheaded for treason in 1553. In 1555 the Manor was given by Queen Mary to Thomas Marrow, of Berkswell.

Birmingham in 1538.—Leland, who visited here about this date, says in his "Itinerary"—"There be many smithies in the towne that use to make knives and all manner of cutlery tooles, and many lorimers that make bittes, and a great many naylors, so that a great part of the towne is maintained by smithes, who have their iron and seacole out of Staffordshire." He describes the town as consisting of one street, about a quarter of a mile long, "a pretty street or ever I enterd," and "this street, as I remember, is called Dirtey."

Birmingham in 1586.—Camden in his "Britannica," published this year, speaks of "Bremicham, swarming with inhabitants, and echoing with the noise of anvils, for the most part of them are smiths."

Birmingham in 1627.—In a book issued at Oxford this year mention is made of "Bremincham inhabited with blacksmiths, and forging sundry kinds of iron utensils."

Birmingham in 1635.—As showing the status the town held at this date we find that it was assessed for "ship money" by Charles I. at £100, the same as Warwick, while Sutton Coldfield had to find £80 and Coventry £266.

Birmingham in 1656.—Dugdale speaks of it as "being a place very eminent for most commodities made of iron."

Birmingham in 1680-90.—Macaulay says: The population of Birmingham was only 4,000, and at that day nobody had heard of Birmingham guns. He also says there was not a single regular shop where a Bible or almanack could be bought; on market days a bookseller named Michael Johnson (father of the great Samuel Johnson) came over from Lichfield and opened a stall for a few hours, and this supply was equal to the demand. The gun trade, however, was introduced here very soon after, for there is still in existence a warrant from the Office of Ordnance to "pay to John Smart for Thomas Hadley and the rest of the Gunmakers of Birmingham, one debenture of ffour-score and sixteen poundes and eighteen shillings, dated ye 14th of July, 1690."—Alexander Missen, visiting this town in his travels, said that "swords, heads of canes, snuff-boxes, and other fine works of steel," could be had, "cheaper and better here than even in famed Milan."

Birmingham in 1691.—The author of "The New State of England," published this year, says: "Bromichan drives a good trade in iron and steel wares, saddles and bridles, which find good vent at London, Ireland, and other parts." By another writer, "Bromicham" is described as "a large and well-built town, very populous, much resorted to, and particularly noted a few years ago for the counterfeit groats made here, and dispersed all oven the kingdom."

Birmingham in 1731.—An old "Road-book" of this date, says that "Birmingham, Bromicham, or Bremicham, is a large town, well built and populous. The inhabitants, being mostly smiths, are very ingenious in their way, and vend vast quantities of all sorts of iron wares." The first map of the town (Westley's) was published in this year. It showed the Manorhouse on an oval island, about 126 yards long by 70 yards extreme width, surrounded by a moat about twelve yards broad. Paradise Street was then but a road through the fields; Easy Hill (now Easy Row), Summer Hill, Newhall Hill, Ludgate Hill, Constitution Hill, and Snow Hill pleasant pastures.

Birmingham in 1750.—Bradford's plan of the town, published in 1751, showed a walk by Rea side, where lovers could take a pleasant stroll from Heath Mill Lane. The country residences at Mount Pleasant (now Ann Street) were surrounded with gardens, and it was a common practice to dry clothes on the hedges in Snow Hill. In "England's Gazetteer," published about this date, Birmingham or Bromichan is said to be "a large, well-built, and populous town, noted for the most ingenious artificers in boxes, buckles, buttons, and other iron and steel wares; wherein such multitudes of people are employed that they are sent all over Europe; and here is a continual noise of hammers, anvils, and files."

Birmingham in 1765.—Lord and Lady Shelburne visited here in 1765. Her ladyship kept a diary, and in it she describes Mr. Baskerville's house (Easy Row) as "a pretty place out of the town." She also mentions visiting a Quaker's to see "the making of guns."

Birmingham in 1766.—In "A New Tour through England," by George Beaumont, Esq., and Capt. Henry Disney, Birmingham is described as "a very large populous town, the upper part of which stands dry on the side of a hill, but the lower is watry, and inhabited by the meaner sort of people. They are employed here in the Iron Works, in which they are such ingenious artificers, that their performances in the smallwares of iron and steel are admired both at home and abroad. 'Tis much improved of late years, both in public and private buildings."

Birmingham in 1781.—Hutton published his "History of Birmingham" this year. He estimated that there were then living ninety-four townsmen who were each worth over £5,000; eighty worth over £10,000; seventeen worth over £20,000; eight worth over £30,000; seven worth over £50,000; and three at least worth over £100,000 each.

Birmingham in 1812.—The appearance of the town then would be strange indeed to those who know but the Birmingham of to-day. Many half-timbered houses remained in the Bull Ring and cows grazed near where the Town Hall now stands, there being a farmhouse at the back of the site of Christ Church, then being built. Recruiting parties paraded the streets with fife and drum almost daily, and when the London mail came in with news of some victory in Spain it was no uncommon thing for the workmen to take the horses out and drag the coach up the Bull Ring amid the cheers of the crowd. At night the streets were patrolled by watchmen, with rattles and lanterns, who called the hours and the weather.

AB House, so called from the initials inscribed thereon to show the division of the parishes of Aston and Birmingham near to Deritend Bridge. Early in 1883 part of the foundations were uncovered, showing that the old building was raised on wooden piles, when the neighbourhood was little better than a swamp.

ABC Time Table was first issued in July, 1853. A rival, called the "XYZ Time Table," on a system that was to make all the puzzles of Bradshaw as plain as pikestaves, was brought out in August, 1877, but it required such extra wise heads to understand its simplicity that before one could be found the whole thing was lost, the old Alpha being preferred to the new Omega.

Accidents and Accidental Deaths are of constant occurrence. Those here noted are but a few which, from their peculiar nature, have been placed on record for reference.

In 1789, a Mr. Wright, a patten-maker, of Digbeth, attempted to cross the old bridge over the Rea, fell in and was "smothered in the mud."

Five men were killed by the fall of a scaffold in New Street Station, Oct. 11, 1862.

The body of a man named Thomas Bishop who had fallen in a midden in Oxford Street, was found Oct. 3, 1873.

Charles Henry Porter, surgeon, Aug. 10, 1876, died from an overdose of prussic acid taken as a remedy.

Alfred Mills drowned in a vinegar vat at the Brewery in Glover Street, March 7, 1878.

Two gentlemen (Messrs. W. Arnold and G. Barker), while on a visit of inspection at Sandwell Park Colliery, Nov. 6, 1878, were killed by falling from the cage. Two miners, father and son, were killed by a fall of coal in the following week.

On the night of Sep. 5, 1880, Mrs. Kingham, landlady of the "Hen and Chickens," fell through a doorway on the third storey landing into the yard, dying a few hours after. The doorway was originally intended to lead to a gallery of the Aquarium then proposed to be built at the back of the hotel.

January 12th, 1881.—A helper in the menagerie at Sanger's Exhibition, then at Bingley Hall, was attacked and seriously injured by a lion, whose den he was cleaning out. The animal was beaten off by the keeper, the said keeper, Alicamoosa (?) himself being attacked and injured a few days after by the same animal.

A child of 17 months fell on to a sewer grating in River Street, May 28th, 1881, and died from the effects of hot steam arising therefrom, neighbouring manufacturers pouring their waste boiler water into the sewers.

Accidental Deaths by Drowning.—Five persons were drowned at Soho Pool, on Christmas Day, 1822, through the ice breaking under them.

In 1872, John Jerromes lost his life while trying to save a boy who had fallen into Fazeley Street Canal. £200 subscriptions were raised for his wife and family.

Boat upset at Kirby's Pools, whereby one Lawrence Joyce was drowned, May 17, 1875. Two men were also drowned here July 23, 1876.

Three boys, and a young man named Hodgetts, who attempted to save them, were drowned, Jan 16, 1876, at Green's Hole Pool, Garrison Lane, through breaking of the ice.

Arthur, 3rd son of Sir C.B. Adderley, was drowned near Blair Athol, July 1, 1877, aged 21.

Rev. S. Fiddian, a Wesleyan Minister, of this town, aged nearly 80, was drowned while bathing at Barmouth, Aug. 4, 1880.

A Mrs. Satchwell was drowned at Earlswood, Feb. 3, 1883, though a carrier's cart falling over the embankment into the Reservoir in the dusk of the evening. The horse shared the fate of the lady, but the driver escaped.

Accidental Death from Electricity.—Jan. 20, 1880, a musician, named Augustus Biedermann, took hold of two joints of the wires supplying the electric lights of the Holte Theatre, and receiving nearly the full force of the 40-horse power battery, was killed on the spot.

Accidents from Fallen Buildings.—A house in Snow Hill fell Sept. 1, 1801, when four persons were killed.

During the raising of the roof of Town Hall, John Heap was killed by the fall of a principal (Jan. 26, 1833), and Win. Badger, injured same time, died a few weeks after. Memorial stone in St. Philip's Churchyard.

Two houses fell in Great Lister Street, Aug. 18, 1874, and one in Lower Windsor Street, Jan. 13, 1875.

Three houses collapsed in New Summer Street, April 4, 1875, when one person was killed, and nine others injured.

Two men were killed, and several injured, by chimney blown down at Deykin & Sons, Jennens Row, Jan. 30, 1877, and one man was killed by wall blown down in Harborne Road, Feb. 20, same year.

Some children playing about a row of condemned cottages, Court 2, Gem Street, Jan. 11, 1885, contrived to pull part on to their heads, killing one, and injuring others.

Accidents from Fire.—February, 1875, was an unfortunate month for the females, an old woman being burnt to death on the 5th, a middle-aged one on the 7th, and a young one on the 12th.

Accidents through Lightning.—A boy was struck dead at Bordesley Green, July 30, 1871. Two men, William Harvey and James Steadman, were similarly killed at Chester Street Wharf, May 14, 1879. Harvey was followed to the grave by a procession of white-smocked navvies.

Accidents at Places of Amusement.—A sudden panic and alarm of [**] caused several deaths and many injuries at the Spread Eagle Concert Hall, Bull Ring, May 5, 1855.

The "Female Blondin" was killed by falling from the high rope, at Aston Park, July 20, 1863.

A boy was killed by falling from the Gallery at the Theatre Royal, Feb. 16, 1873.

At Holder's Concert Hall, April 1, 1879, Alfred Bishop (12) had his leg broken while doing the "Shooting Star" trick.

Accidents in the Streets.—On New Year's Day, 1745, a man was killed by a wagon going over him, owing to the "steepness" of Carr's Lane.

The Shrewsbury coach was upset at Hockley, May 24, 1780, when several passengers were injured.

The Chester mail coach was upset, April 15, 1787, while rounding the Welsh Cross, and several persons much injured.

Feb. 28, 1875, must be noted as the "slippery day," no less than forty persons (twelve with broken limbs), being taken to the Hospitals through falling in the icy streets.

The Coroner's van was upset in Livery Street, Jan. 24, 1881, and several jurymen injured.

Accidents on the Rails.—An accident occurred to the Birmingham express train at Shipton, on Christmas Eve, 1874, whereby 26 persons were killed, and 180 injured. In the excitement at Snow Hill Station, a young woman was pushed under a train and lost both her legs, though her life was saved, and she now has artificial lower limbs.

Police-officer Kimberley was killed in the crush at Olton Station on the Race Day, Feb. 11th, 1875.

While getting out of carriages, while the train was in motion, a man was killed at New Street Station, May 15, 1875, and on the 18th, another at Snow Hill, and though such accidents occur almost weekly, on some line or other, people keep on doing it.

Inspector Bellamy, for 30 years at New Street Station, fell while crossing a carriage, and was killed, April 15, 1879.

Acock's Green, a few years back only a little village, is fast becoming a thriving suburban town. The old estate, of about 150 acres, was lotted out for building in 1839, the sale being then conducted by Messrs. E. and C. Robbins, August 19. The Public Hall, which cost about £3,000, was opened December 20, 1878; its principal room being 74 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high.

Adderley.—Sir Charles B. Adderley was gazetted a peer April 16, 1878, his title being Baron Norton, of Norton-on-the-Moors, Staffordshire.

Adderley Park was opened Aug. 30, 1856. Its area is 10a. Or. 22p., and the Corporation hold it as tenants under a 999 years' lease, at 5s. rental. A Reading Room and Branch Library was opened on Jan. 11, 1864.

Advertisements.—The duty on advertisements in newspapers was abolished Aug. 4,1853. One of the most attractive styles of advertising was that adopted by Messrs. Walter Showell and Son, August 30, 1881, when The Birmingham Daily Post gave up a whole page for the firm's use. 10,000 copies were sent to their customers by early post on day of publication.

Afghan War.—A stormy "town's meeting" on this subject was held in the Town Hall, Dec. 3, 1878, memorable for the interference of the police by order of the Mayor, and the proceedings consequent thereon.

Agricultural Labourers.—Jos. Arch, their champion, addressed a meeting in their behalf at Town Hall, Dec. 18, 1873, and other meetings were held April 15 and July 3 following. A collection made for some of the labourers on strike amounted to £137 9s. 2-1/2d.

Agricultural Shows.—The Warwickshire Agricultural Show (with the Birmingham Horse Show, and the Rose Show) began at Aston, June 17, 1873. The first exhibition here of the Royal Agricultural Society took place July 19-24, 1876, in Aston Park, specially granted by the Corporation.— See Cattle Shows, &c.

Albion Metal, tin rolled on lead, much used for making "lace," &c., for coffin decoration, was introduced in 1804, being the invention of Thomas Dobbs, a comic actor, then engaged at the Theatre Royal. He was also the designer of a reaping machine, and made one and showed it with real corn for his "Benefit" on the stage of the Theatre Royal in 1815.

Ales and Alehouses were known in this country nearly 1,200 years ago, but the national beverage was not taxed until 1551, a few years previous to which (1535) hops were first used in place of wormwood, &c. In 1603 it was enacted that not more than 1d. (equal to 9d. value now) should be charged per quart for the best ale or beer, or for two quarts of the "smaller" sort. An additional excise duty was imposed on ale and beer in 1643. See also Breweries.

Almanacks.—The first English-printed Almanack was for the year 1497, and the London Stationers' Company had the monopoly of printing them for nearly 300 years. The first locally printed Almanack was the "Diaria Britannica" (or "British Diary"), by Messrs. Pearson and Rollason, issued in 1787 for 1788, at 9d. per copy, in addition to the 1s. 6d. required for stamp duty. It was barely half the size and not a tenth the value of the "Diary" published by Messrs Walter Showell and Sons, and of which 20,000 copies are given away annually. The stamp duty was removed from Almanacks in 1834. "Showell's Almanack" in past years was highly esteemed before we had been supplied with "Moody's," the "Red Book," &c., and a copy of it for the year 1839 is valuable as a curiosity, it being issued with a partly printed page with blanks left for the insertion of the names of the members of the Corporation, whose first election under the charter of incorporation was about to take place. To prevent any mistake, the "Esqrs." were carefully printed in where the names of the new Aldermen were to go, the blanks for Councillors being only honoured with a "Mr."

Almshouses for Lench's Trust were built in Steelhouse Lane in 1764. In later years other sets of houses have been built in Conybere Street, Hospital Street, Ravenhurst Street, and Ladywood Road, the inmates, all women, numbering 182. Jas. Dowell's Almshouses in Warner Street, consisting of 20 houses and a chapel, known as the "Retreat," were built in 1820. Mrs. Glover's Almshouses in Steelhouse Lane for 36 aged women, were erected in 1832. James Lloyd's twenty-four Almshouses in Belgrave Street were erected in 1869.

Aluminium.—This valuable material for the use of one of our staple trades was first obtained by a German chemist in 1837, but was not produced in sufficient quantity for manufacturing purposes until 1854, at which time its market value was 60s. per oz. It gradually cheapened, until it is now priced at 5s., and a company has lately been formed for its more easy manufacture, who promise to supply it at about as many pence.

Amphitheatres.—Astley's celebrated amphitheatre was brought here in October, 1787. Mr. and Mrs. Astley themselves had performed in Birmingham as early as 1772.—A local amphitheatre was opened in Livery Street in 1787, on the present site of Messrs. Billing's printing works. After the riots of 1791 it was used for a time by the congregations of Old and New Meeting, while their own chapels were being rebuilt. An attempt to bring it back to its old uses failed, and "the properties" were sold Nov. 25, 1795. Several sects occupied it in after years, the last being the Latter-Day Saints. It was taken down in 1848.—Another amphitheatre was opened at Bingley Hall, December 29, 1853, by the plucky but unlucky John Tonks, a well-known caterer for the public's amusement.

Amusement, Places of—Notes of the Theatres, Concert Halls, Parks, &c., will be found under the several headings. Among the most popular series of concerts of late years have been those of a Saturday evening (at 3d. admission) in the Town Hall, which began on Nov. 8, 1879, and are continued to present date.

Analyst.—Dr. Hill was appointed Borough Analyst in Feb., 1861, his duties being to examine and test any sample of food or drinks that may be brought or sent to him in order to prove their purity or otherwise. The fees are limited to a scale approved by the Town Council.

Ancient History of Birmingham can hardly be said to exist. Its rise and progress is essentially modern, and the few notes that have come to us respecting its early history will be found briefly summarised at the commencement of this book.

Anti-Borough-Rate Meeting.—In 1874 the Town Council asked for power to lay a Borough-rate exceeding 2s. in the £., but after three days' polling (ending March 30) permission was refused by a majority of 2,654 votes. The power was obtained afterwards.

Anti-Church-Rate Meetings were frequent enough at one period of our history. The two most worthy of remembrance were those of Dec. 15, 1834, when the rate was refused by a majority of 4,966 votes, and Oct., 1841, when the polling showed 626 for the rate and 7,281 against.

Anti-Corn-Law Meetings were also numerous. The one to recollect is that held Feb. 18, 1842.

Anti-Papal Demonstration.—A town's meeting took place in the Town Hall, Dec. 11, 1850, to protest against the assumption of ecclesiastical titles by the Catholic hierarchy. About 8,000 persons were present, and the "No Popery" element was strong, but Joseph Sturge moved an amendment for freedom to all parties, which so split the votes that the Mayor said the amendment was not carried and the resolution was lost.

Anti-Slavery.—The first Anti-Slavery meeting held here was that of Nov. 27, 1787. A local petition to Parliament against the slave trade was presented to the House of Commons, Feb. 11, 1788. A local society was formed here in 1826, Joseph Sturge being secretary, and many meetings were held before the Day of Abolition was celebrated. The most noteworthy of these was that at Dee's Assembly Room, April 16, 1833, when G.F. Muntz and the Political Union opposed the agitation; a great meeting, Oct. 14, 1835; another on Feb. 1, 1836, in which Daniel O'Connell and John Angell James took part. This last was the first large town's meeting at which the "total and immediate" abolition of slavery was demanded. Joseph Sturge following it up by going to the West Indies and reporting the hardships inflicted upon the blacks under the "gradual" system then in operation. Aug. 7, 1838, the day when slavery dropped its chains on English ground, was celebrated here by a children's festival in the Town Hall, by laying the foundation-stone of "The Negro Emancipation Schools," Legge Street, and by a public meeting at night, at which Sir Eardley Wilmott, D. O'Connell, Dr. Lushington, Edward Baines, &c., were present.

Anti-one-thing-or-t'other.—True to their motto, Birmingham people are always ready to oppose the wrong and forward the right, but what is right and what wrong is only to be ascertained by public discussion, and a few dates of celebrated "talks" are here given:—

In the Christmas week of 1754 public protest was made against the tax on wheel carriages.

March 12, 1824, a deputation was sent to Parliament to protest against our workmen being allowed to emigrate, for fear they should teach the foreigners.

A proposed New Improvement Bill was vetoed by the burgesses, Dec. 18, 1855. We have improved a little since then!

An Anti-giving-up-Fugitive-Slave meeting, Jan. 1, 1876, when a certain Admiralty Circular was condemned.

An Anti-moving-the-Cattle Market meeting Dec. 14, 1869, Smithfield being preferred to Duddeston Hall.

An Anti-Railway-through-Sutton-Park meeting, April 15, 1872, but the railway is there.

An Anti-Rotten-Ship-and-Sailor-drowning meeting, with Mr. Plimsoll to the fore, May 14 1873. Another July 29, 1875.

An Anti-Turkish Atrocity meeting, Sept. 7, 1876; followed by one on Oct. 2nd, properly settling the Eastern question.

An Anti-Six-Million-War-Vote meeting was held on Jan. 28, 1878, when the Liberal majority was immense. A Tory opposition meeting, in support of the vote, was held Feb. 12, when chairs and forms were broken up to use as arguments, the result being a majority of 2 to 1 for both sides.

Apollo, Moseley Street.—Opened as a public resort in 1786, the Rea being then a clear running brook. The first tenant did not prosper, for in the first week of March, 1787, the Gazette contained an advertisement that the Apollo Hotel, "pleasantly situate in a new street, called Moseley Street, in the hamlet of Deritend, on the banks of the River Rea," with "a spacious Bowling Green and Gardens," was to be let, with or without four acres of good pasture land. When closed as a licensed house, it was at first divided into two residences, but in 1816 the division walls, &c., were removed, to fit it as a residence for Mr. Hamper, the antiquary. That gentleman wrote that the prospect at the back was delightful, and was bounded only by Bromsgrove Lickey. The building was then called "Deritend House."

Aquariums.—The Aquarium at Aston Lower Grounds was opened July 10, 1879. The principal room has a length of 312 feet, the promenade being 24 feet wide by 20 feet high. The west side of this spacious apartment is fitted with a number of large show tanks, where many rare and choice specimens of marine animals and fishes may be exhibited. On a smaller scale there is an Aquarium at the "Crystal Palace" Garden, at Sutton Coldfield, and a curiosity in the shape of an "Aquarium Bar" may be seen at the establishment of Mr. Bailey, in Moor Street.

Arcades.—The Arcade between Monmouth Street and Temple Row, was commenced April 26, 1875; first illuminated August 19, 1876, and opened for public use on 28th of that month. It is built over that portion of the G.W.R. line running from Monmouth Street to Temple Row, the front facing the Great Western Hotel, occupying the site once filled by the old Quaker's burial ground. It is the property of a company, and cost nearly £100,000, the architect being Mr. W.H. Ward. The shops number 38, and in addition there are 56 offices in the galleries.—The Central Arcade in Corporation Street, near to New Street, and leading into Cannon Street, is from the designs of the same architect and was opened September 26, 1881. Underneath the Arcade proper is the Central Restaurant, and one side of the thoroughfare forms part of the shop of Messrs. Marris and Norton.—The North-Western Arcade, which was opened April 5, 1884, is like a continuation of the first-named, being also built over the G.W.R. tunnel, and runs from Temple Row to Corporation Street. The architect is Mr. W. Jenkins, and the undertakers Messrs. Wilkinson and Riddell, who occupy the principal frontage. Several of the twenty-six shops into which the Arcade is divided have connection with places of business in Bull Street.—The Imperial Arcade, in Dale End, next to St. Peter's Church, is also a private speculation (that of Mr. Thos. Hall), and was opened at Christmas, 1883. It contains, in addition to the frontage, thirty-two shops, with the same number of offices above, while the basement forms a large room suitable for meetings, auctions, &c., it being 135ft. long, 55ft. wide and nearly 15ft. high. Two of the principal features of the Arcade are a magnificent stained window, looking towards St. Peters, and a curious clock, said to be the second of its kind in England, life-size figures of Guy, Earl of Warwick, and his Countess, with their attendants, striking the hours and quarters on a set of musical bells, the largest of which weighs about 5cwt.—Snow Hill Arcade, opposite the railway station, and leading to Slaney Street, is an improvement due to Mr. C. Ede, who has adopted the designs of Mr. J.S. Davis.—The Hen and Chickens Arcade has been designed by Mr. J.A. Cossins, for a company who purpose to build it, and, at the same time, enlarge the well-known New Street hotel of the same name. The portico and vestibule of the hotel will form the entrance in New Street to the Arcade, which will contain two-dozen good-sized shops, a large basement room for restaurant, &c.; the out in Worcester Street being nearly facing the Market Hall.

Area of Borough.—Birmingham covers an area of 8,400 acres, with an estimated population of 400,680 (end of 1881), thus giving an average of 47.7 persons to an acre. As a means of comparison, similar figures are given for a few other large towns:—

Arms of the Borough.—The Town Council, on the 6th day of August, 1867, did resolve and declare that the Arms of the Borough should be blazoned as follows: "1st and 4th azure, a bend lozengy or; 2nd and 3rd, parti per pale or and gules."—(See cover).

Art and Artists.—An "Academy of Arts" was organised in 1814, and an exhibition of paintings took place in Union Passage that year, but the experiment was not repeated. A School of Design, or "Society of Arts," was started Feb. 7, 1821; Sir Robert Lawley (the first Lord Wenlock) presenting a valuable collection of casts from Grecian sculpture. The first exhibition was held in 1826, at The Panorama, an erection then standing on the site of the present building in New Street, the opening being inaugurated by a conversazione on September 10. In 1858, the School of Design was removed to the Midland Institute. The "Society of Artists" may be said to have commenced in 1826, when several gentlemen withdrew from the School of Design. Their number greatly increased by 1842, when they took possession of the Athenæum, in which building their exhibitions were annually held until 1858. In that year they returned to New Street, acquiring the title of "Royal" in 1864. The Art Students' Literary Association was formed in September, 1869.

Art Gallery and School of Art.—In connection with the Central Free Library a small gallery of pictures, works of Art, &c., loaned or presented to the town, was opened to the public August 1, 1867, and from time to time was further enriched. Fortunately they were all removed previous to the disastrous fire of Jan. 11, 1879. A portion of the new Reference Library is at present devoted to the same purpose, pending the completion of the handsome edifice being erected by the Gas Committee at the back of the Municipal Buildings, and of which it will form a part, extending from Congreve Street along Edmund Street to Eden Place. The whole of the upper portion of the building will be devoted to the purposes of a Museum and Art Gallery, and already there has been gathered the nucleus of what promises to be one of the finest collections in the kingdom, more particularly in respect to works of Art relating more or less to some of the principal manufactures of Birmingham. There are a large number of valuable paintings, including many good specimens of David Cox and other local artists; quite a gallery of portraits of gentlemen connected with the town, and other worthies; a choice collection of gems and precious stones of all kinds; a number of rare specimens of Japanese and Chinese cloisonné enamels; nearly a complete set of the celebrated Soho coins and medals, with many additions of a general character; many cases of ancient Roman, Greek, and Byzantine coins; more than an hundred almost priceless examples of old Italian carvings, in marble and stone, with some dozens of ancient articles of decorative furniture; reproductions of delicately-wrought articles of Persian Art work, plate belonging to the old City Companies, the Universities, and from Amsterdam and the Hague; a collection of Wedgwood and other ceramic ware, the gift of Messrs. R. and G. Tangye, with thousands of other rare, costly, and beautiful things. In connection with the Art Gallery is the "Public Picture Gallery Fund," the founder of which was the late Mr. Clarkson Osler, who gave £3,000 towards it. From this fund, which at present amounts to about £450 per year, choice pictures are purchased as occasion offers, many others being presented by friends to the town, notably the works of David Cox, which were given by the late Mr. Joseph Nettlefold.—The School of Art, which is being built in Edmund Street, close to the Art Gallery, is so intimately connected therewith that it may well be noticed with it. The ground, about 1,000 square yards, has been given by Mr. Cregoe Colmore, the cost of election being paid out of £10,000 given by Miss Ryland, and £10,000 contributed by Messrs. Tangye. The latter firm have also given £5,000 towards the Art Gallery; Mr. Joseph Chamberlain has contributed liberally in paintings and in cash; other friends have subscribed about £8,000; Mr. Nettlefold's gift was valued at £14,000, and altogether not less than £40,000 has been presented to the town in connection with the Art Gallery, in addition to the whole cost of the School of Art.

Art Union.—The first Ballot for pictures to be chosen from the Annual Exhibition of Local Artists took place in 1835, the Rev. Hugh Hutton having the honour of originating it. The tickets were 21s. each, subscribers receiving an engraving.

Ash, John, M.D.—Born in 1723, was an eminent physician who practised in Birmingham for some years, but afterwards removed to London. He devoted much attention to the analysis of mineral waters, delivered the Harveian oration in 1790, and was president of a club which numbered among its members some of the most learned and eminent men of the time. Died in 1798.

Ashford, Mary.—Sensational trials for murder have of late years been numerous enough, indeed, though few of them have had much local interest, if we except that of the poisoner Palmer. The death of the unfortunate Mary Ashford, however, with the peculiar circumstance attending the trial of the supposed murderer, and the latter's appeal to the right then existing under an old English law of a criminal's claim to a "Trial of Battel," invested the case with an interest which even at this date can hardly be said to have ceased. Few people can be found to give credence to the possibility of the innocence of Abraham Thornton, yet a careful perusal of a history of the world-known but last "Wager of Battel" case, as written by the late Mr. Toulmin Smith, must lead to the belief that the poor fellow was as much sinned against as sinning, local prejudices and indignant misrepresentations notwithstanding. So far from the appeal to the "Wager of Battel" being the desperate remedy of a convicted felon to escape the doom justly imposed upon him for such heinous offence as the murder of an innocent girl, it was simply the attempt of a clever attorney to remove the stigma attached to an unfortunate and much-maligned client. The dead body of Mary Ashford was found in a pit of water in Sutton Coldfield, on the 27th of May, 1817, she having been seen alive on the morning of the same day. Circumstances instantly, and most naturally, fastened suspicion of foul play upon Abraham Thornton. He was tried at Warwick, at the Autumn Assizes of the same year, and acquitted. The trial was a very remarkable one. Facts were proved with unusual clearness and precision, which put it beyond the bounds of physical possibility that he could have murdered Mary Ashford. Those facts hinged on the time shown by several different clocks, compared with the standard time kept at Birmingham. But the public feeling on the matter was intense. An engraving of the scene of the alleged murder, with a stimulating letter-press description, was published at the time, and the general sense undoubtedly was, that the perpetrator of a very foul murder had escaped his just doom. Hoping to do away with this impression, a well-known local lawyer bethought himself of the long-forgotten "Appeal of Murder," trusting that by a second acquittal Thornton's innocence would be acknowledged by all. Though the condition of all the parties was but humble, friends soon came forward with funds and good advice, so that within the year and a day which the law allowed, proceedings were taken in the name of William Ashford (Mary's brother, who, as next heir, according to the old law, had the sole power of pardon in such a case) for an "Appeal of Murder" against Abraham Thornton. What followed is here given in Mr. Toulmin Smith's own words:—"I have seen it stated, hot indignation colouring imagination, that here was a weak stripling nobly aroused to avenge the death of his sister, by tendering himself to do battle against the tall strong man who was charged with her murder. The facts, as they stand are truly striking enough; but this melodramatic spectacle does not formally true part of them." A writ of "Appeal of Murder" was soon issued. It bears the date of 1st October, 1817. Under that writ Thornton was again arrested by the Sheriff of Warwick. On the first day of Michaelmas Term, in the same year, William Ashford appeared in the Court of King's Bench at Westminster, as appellant, and Abraham Thornton, brought up on writ of habeas corpus, appeared as appellee. The charge of murder was formally made by the appellant; and time to plead to this charge was granted to the appellee until Monday, 16th November.—It must have been a strange and startling scene, on the morning of that Monday, 16th November, 1817, when Abraham Thornton stood at the bar of the Court of King's Bench in Westminster Hall; a scene which that ancient Hall had not witnessed within the memory of any living man, but which must have then roused the attention of even its drowsiest haunter. "The appellee being brought into Court and placed at the bar" (I am quoting the original dry technical record of the transaction), "and the appellant being also in court, the count [charge] was again read over to him, and he [Thornton] was called upon to plead. He pleaded as follows;—'Not Guilty; and I am ready to defend the same by my body.' And thereupon, taking his glove off, he threw it on the floor of the Court." That is to say, Ashford having "appealed" Thornton of the murder, Thornton claimed the right to maintain his own innocence by "Trial of Battel;" and so his answer to the charge was a "Wager of Battel." And now the din of fight seemed near, with the Court of King's Bench at Westminster for the arena, and the grave Judges of that Court for the umpires. But the case was destined to add but another illustration to what Cicero tells us of how, oftentimes, arms yield to argument, and the swordsman's looked-for laurel vanishes before the pleader's tongue. William Ashford, of course, acting under the advice of those who really promoted the appeal, declined to accept Thornton's wager of battel. Instead of accepting it, his counsel disputed the right of Thornton to wage his battel in this case; alleging, in a very long plea, that there were presumptions of guilt so strong as to deprive him of that right. Thornton answered this plea by another, in which all the facts that had been proved on the trial at Warwick were set forth at great length. And then the case was very elaborately argued, for three days, by two eminent and able counsel, one of whom will be well remembered by most readers as the late Chief-Justice Tindal. Tindal was Thornton's counsel. Of course I cannot go here into the argument. The result was, that, on 16th April, 1881, the full Court (Lord Ellenborough, and Justices Bayley, Abbott, and Holroyd) declared themselves unanimously of opinion that the appellee (Thornton) was entitled to, wage his battel, no presumptions of guilt having been shown clear enough or strong enough to deprive him of that right. Upon this, Ashford, not having accepted the wager of battel, the "appeal" was stayed, and Thornton was discharged. Thus no reversal took place of the previous acquittal of Thornton by the Jury at Warwick Assizes. But that acquittal had nothing whatever to do with any "trial by battel;" for I have shown that the "wager of battel" arose out of a proceeding later than and consequent upon that acquittal, and that this "wager of battel" never reached the stage of a "trial by battel."

What became of Thornton is unknown, but he is supposed to have died in America, where he fled to escape the obloquoy showered upon him by an unforgiving public. The adage that "murder will out" has frequently proved correct, but in this case it has not, and the charge against Thornton is reiterated in every account of this celebrated trial that has been published, though his innocence cannot now be doubted.

Ashted, now a populous part of the town, takes its name from Dr. Ash, whose residence was transformed into Ashted Church, the estate being laid out for building in 1788.

Assay Marks.—These consist of the initials of the maker, the Queen's head for the duty (17/-on gold, 1/6 on silver, per oz.), a letter (changed yearly) for date, an anchor for the Birmingham office mark, and the standard or value mark, which is given in figures, thus:—for gold of 22-carat fineness (in oz. of 24) a crown and 22; 18-carat, a crown and 18; 15-carat, 15.625; 12-carat, 12.5; 9-carat, 9.375. The value mark for silver of 11 oz. 10 dwts. (in lb. of 12 oz.) is the figure of Britannia; for 11 oz. 2 dwts. a lion passant. The date letter is changed in July. At present it is k. The lower standards of 15, 12, and 9-carat gold (which are not liable to duty), were authorised by an Order in Council, of December 22, 1854, since which date an immense increase has taken place in the quantity assayed in Birmingham.

Assay Office.—There are seven Assay Offices in the country, the Birmingham one being established by special Act in 1773, for the convenience of silversmiths and plateworkers. A few hours per week was sufficient for the business at that time, and it was conducted at the King's Head in New Street; afterwards, in 1782, in Bull Lane, in 1800 at a house in Little Colmore Street, and from 1816 at the old Baptist Chapel in Little Cannon Street. In 1824 the Act 5, George IV., cap 52, incorporated the assay of gold, the guardians being 36 in number, from whom are chosen the wardens. On July 14, 1877, the foundation stone was laid of the New Assay Office in Newhall Street, and it was opened for business June 24, 1878.

Assizes.—Birmingham was "proclaimed" an assize town January 14, 1859, but the first assizes were held in July, 1884.

Aston.—Eight hundred years ago, Aston filled a small space in the Domesday book of history, wherein it is stated that the estate consisted of eight hides of land, and three miles of wood, worth £5, with 44 residents (one being a priest), and 1,200 acres in cultivation. The present area of Aston Manor is 943 acres, on which are built about 14,000 houses, having a population of some 60,000 persons, and a rateable value of £140,000. In the first ten years of the existence of the Local Board (1869 to 1878) £30,000 was spent on main drainage works, £10,000 in public improvements, and £53,000 in street improvements. Aston has now its Public Buildings, Free Library, &c., as well as an energetic School Board, and, though unsuccessful in its attempt in 1876 to obtain a charter of incorporation, there can be little doubt but that it will ultimately bloom forth in all the glories of a Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses. Aston parish, which extends in several directions into the borough of Birmingham, has an area of 13,786 acres.

Aston Almshouses were built in 1655, according to the provisions made by Sir Thomas Holte previous to his decease.

Aston Church was probably built about the year 1170, the nave and part of chancel being added in 1231, the east end and arch of chancel in 1310, and the tower and spire in 1440. The old building, which contained an interesting collection of monuments in memory of the Holtes, the Ardens, the Erdingtons, and other county families, has been lately enlarged by the extension of the nave and aisles eastward, and widening the chancel so as to accommodate about 1,200 people, instead of 500. The whole of the monuments have been replaced in their relative positions.

Aston Cross Tavern was opened as a licensed house and tea gardens in 1775, the first landlord, Mr. Barron, dying in 1792, his widow keeping it till her death in 1817. Of late years it has been a favourite resort of all classes of athletes, though from being so closely built to it has lost much of the attraction which drew our grandfathers to its shady arbours when on country pleasure bent. The park wall extended to the corner of and along the side of Park Lane, opposite the tavern.

Aston Hall and Park.—This building was commenced by Sir Thomas Holte in April, 1618, and finished in April, 1635, Inigo Jones being accredited with the design. King Charles I., in his days of trouble, paid a short visit to the Hall, his host being punished afterwards by some of Cromwell's soldiers and the malcontents of Birmingham besieging the place in the week after Christmas, 1643. The brick wall round the park, nearly three miles long, but of which there are now few traces left, was put up by Sir Lister Holte about 1750, and tradition says it was paid for by some Staffordshire coal-masters, who, supposing that coal lay underneath, conditioned with Sir Lister that no mines should be sunk within [word missing—presume "its"] boundary. The Hall and Park were held by the various generations of the family till the death of the late Dowager Lady Holte. (For an accurate and interesting description of the edifice see Davidson's "Holtes of Aston.") The Act authorising the sale of the Aston estates received the royal sanction on July 10, 1817, and the sale of the furniture and effects in the Hall was commenced by Messrs. J. and C. Robins on September 22. The sale lasted nine days, there being 1,144 lots, which realised £2,150; the farming stock, &c., being sold afterwards for £1,201. The Hall and Park was put up on April 15, 1818, and was bought by Messrs. Greenway, Greaves, and Whitehead, bankers, of Warwick, the estate of 1,530 acres being let off by them in suitable lots. The herd of deer, reduced to 150 head, was sold December 21. The Hall was rented by Mr. James Watt, son of the James Watt, and for many years it was closed to the public. At his death, in 1848, the changes which had been going on all round for years begin to make themselves seen in the shape of huge gaps in the old wall, houses springing up fast here and there, and a street being cut through the noble avenue of chestnut trees in 1852. By degrees, the park was reduced to 370 acres, which, with the Hall, were offered to the town in 1850 for the sum of £130,000; but the Town Council declined the bargain, though less than one-half of the Park (150 acres) was sold immediately after for more than all the money. In 1857 a "People's Park" Company was started to "Save Aston Hall" and the few acres close round it, an agreement being entered into for £35,000. Many of the 20s. shares were taken up, and Her Majesty the Queen performed the opening ceremony June 15, 1858. The speculation proved a failure, as out of about £18,000 raised one-half went in repairs, alterations, losses, &c., and it would have been lost to the town had not the Corporation bought it in February, 1864. They gave £33,000 (£7,000 being private subscriptions), and it was at last opened as a free park, September 22, 1864. The picture gallery is 136ft. long, by 18ft. wide and 16ft. high. In this and various other rooms, will be found a miscellaneous museum of curiosities, more or less rare, including stuffed birds and animals, ancient tapestry and furniture, &c.

Aston Lower Grounds, the most beautiful pleasure grounds in the Midland counties, cover 31 acres, and were originally nothing more than the kitchen and private gardens and the fish-ponds belonging to Aston Hall, and were purchased at the sale in 1818 by the Warwick bankers, who let them to Mr. H.G. Quilter, at the time an attempt was made to purchase the Hall and Park "by the people." Adding to its attractions year by year, Mr. Quilter remained on the ground until 1878, when a limited liability company was formed to take to the hotel and premises, building an aquarium 320 feet long by 54 feet wide, an assembly-room, 220 feet long, by 91 feet wide, and otherwise catering for the comfort of their visitors, 10,000 of whom can be now entertained and amused under shelter, in case of wet weather. Mr. Quilter's selling price was £45,000, taking £25,000 in shares, and £20,000 cash by instalments. The speculation did not appear to be very successful, and the property is now in private hands. The visitors to the Lower Grounds since 1864 have averaged 280,000 per annum.

Asylum, in Summer Lane, was opened in July 1797, by the Guardians of the Poor as an industrial residence and school for 250 children. It was dismantled and closed in 1846, though the "Beehive" carved over the door was allowed to remain on the ruins some years after.

Athenæum—For the "diffusion of Literature and Science" was established in March, 1839, but has long been merged in the Midland Institute. In the building called the "Athenæum", top of Temple Street, some of the early exhibitions of paintings were held.

Athenic Institute, founded in 1841, was an institute of a somewhat similar character to the Athenæum, though including athletics, and existed no longer.

Athletic Clubs.—The first festival of the Birmingham Athletic Club was held in 1868. On the 1st of March, 1880, an association was organised of many of the bicycle clubs, cricket clubs, football clubs, and similar athletic bodies in the town and neighbourhood, under the name of "The Midland Counties Amateurs' Athletic Union."

Atlantic Cables.—It would have been strange if Birmingham had not had a hand in the making of these. For the cable laid in 1865, 16,000 miles of copper wire, weighing 308 tons, were turned out by Messrs. Bolton and Sons and Messrs. Wilkes and Sons. The cable itself was 2,300 (nautical) miles in length.

Baby Show.—Let Mr. Inshaw, of the "Steam Clock," have the honour of being recorded as the first to introduce the Yankee notion of a "baby show," which took place at his Music Hall, May 15, 1874.

Bachelors.—In 1695, bachelors over 24 had to pay a tax of 1s., if "a common person," the scale running as high as £12 10s. for a duke! Judging from the increase of the population about that time, we doubt if even a "common" bachelor paid here. The married folks had not much to laugh at though, for they had to pay duty on every child that was born. Funny time, those!

Balloons.—A Mr. Harper was the first to scale the clouds in a balloon from this town, January 4, 1785. He rose again on the 31, from the Tennis Court, in Coleshill Street, and is said to have sailed a distance of 57 miles in 80 minutes. Mr. Sadler went up from Vauxhall, October 7th, 1811, and again on October 20th, 1823. Mr. Green rose from Newhall Hill, July 17th, 1827, and several times after.

Balsall Heath.—In some ancient deeds called "Boswell Heath." The land round Mary street, known as the Balsall Heath estate, was sold in building lots (234) in 1839, the last day's sale being August 26, and the auctioneers, Messrs. E. & C. Robins. Edwardes-street takes its name from the last owner of the estate, who, if he could now but glance over the property, would be not a little astonished at the changes which have taken place in the last forty years, for, like unto Aston, it may be said to really form but a portion of the ever-extending town of Birmingham. Balsall Heath, which is in the parish of King's Norton, has now a Local Board (with its offices in Lime Grove, Moseley Road) several Board schools, chapels, and churches, a police court, and that sure mark of advancement, a local newspaper. One thing still wanting, however, is a cemetery. Though an appropriate and convenient spot near Cannon Hill Park was chosen for the last resting-place, the ratepayers, at a meeting held July 21, 1879, decided that they could not yet afford the required outlay of some £17,000 necessary for the purpose, notwithstanding that the annual rateable value of the property in the neighbourhood is something like £70,000, and increasing by three to four thousand a year.

Banks and Bankers.—The Birmingham Branch Bank of England (drawing on the parent Bank of England), is in Bennett's Hill.

The local Branch of the National Provincial Bank of England (Lim.), Bennett's Hill, also draws on its headquarters. It commenced business here on New Year's Day 1827.

The Birmingham Banking Company (Lim.), also in Bennett's Hill, draws on the London and Westminster. It opened its doors Sept. 1, 1829, with a nominal capital of £500,000, in £50 shares, £5 being paid up at starting. An amalgamation took place in the year 1880 with the Stourbridge and Kidderminster Bank (established in 1834) the united company having a paid-up capital of £286,000 and a reserve of £312,000.

The Birmingham and Midland Bank (Limited) opened in Union Street, August 23, 1836, removing to New Street in 1869. London agents, the Union Bank of London. Authorised capital, £2,400,000.

The Birmingham, Dudley, and District Banking Co. (Limited) was commenced in Colmore Row July 1st, 1836, as the Town and District Bank, with a capital of £500,000, in £20 shares. London agents, Barclay and Co., and Williams and Co.

The Birmingham Joint Stock Bank (Limited) opened in Temple Row West, Jan. 1st, 1862, with a capital of £3,000,000, in £100 shares, £10 paid. Agents, London Joint Stock. Has branches in New Street and Great Hampton Street.

Lloyds' Banking Co. (Limited) Colmore Row, dates from June 3rd, 1765. when it was known as Taylor and Lloyds, their first premises being in Dale End [hence the name of Bank Passage]. This old established firm has incorporated during its century of existence a score of other banks, and lately has been amalgamated with Barnetts, Hoares, and Co., of London, the present name being Lloyd, Barnett, Bosanquet, and Co. (Limited). There are sub-offices also in Great Hampton Street, Deritend, Five Ways and Aston. In this and adjoining counties, Lloyds' number about 40 branch establishments.

The Worcester City and County Banking Co. (Limited), drawing on Glynn and Co., removed from Cherry Street to their newly-built edifice in Colmore Row, June 1, 1880.

The Union Bank of Birmingham (Limited), Waterloo Street, commenced business with a nominal capital of £1,000,000, in £20 shares, £5 paid. London agents, the City Bank. It has since been taken over by the Midland Bank.

Banks.—A popular Penny Bank was established in 1851, but came to grief in 1865, closing March 16, with assets £1,608, to pay debts £9,448. Another penny bank was opened in Granville Street, April 13, 1861, and is still carried on at the Immanuel Schools, Tennant Street, with about 5,000 depositors at the present time.

A Local Savings Bank was opened in May, 1827, and legalised in the year after, but ultimately its business was transferred to the Post Office Savings Bank, which opened its doors in Cannon Street, Dec. 1, 1863. By a Government return, it appeared that at the end of 1880 the total amount to the credit of depositors in the Post Office Savings Banks of the Kingdom stood at £30,546,306. After the Metropolitan counties of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, Warwickshire comes next with a deposit of £1,564,815, the average for the whole of the English counties being but little over £500,000.

Banks Defunct.—The old-established concern known so long as Attwood and Spooner's closed its doors March 10, 1865, with liabilities amounting to £1,007,296. The Joint Stock Bank took the business, and paid 11s. 3d. in the £.

The Borough Bank, a branch of Northern and Central Bank of England, stopped Feb. 24, 1840.

Coates, Woolley and Gordon, who occupied the premises at corner of Cherry Street and Cannon Street in 1814, was joined to Moilliet's, and by them to Lloyds.

Freer, Rotton, Lloyds and Co., of 1814, changed to Rotton, Onions and Co., then Rotton and Scholefield, next to Rotton and Son, and lastly with its manager transferred to National Provincial.

Gibbins and Lowell, opened in 1826, but was joined to Birmingham Banking Co. in 1829.

Smith, Gray, Cooper and Co., of 1815, afterwards Gibbins, Smith, and Goode, went in 1825.

Banknotes.—Notes for 5/3 were issued in 1773. 300 counterfeit £1 notes, dated 1814, were found near Heathfield House, January 16, 1858. A noted forger of these shams is said to have resided in the immediate neighbourhood about the period named on the discovered "flimsies." When Boulton and Watt were trying to get the Act passed patenting their copying-press the officials of the Bank of England opposed it for fear it should lead to forgery of their notes, and several Members of Parliament actually tried to copy banknotes as they did their letters.

Bankrupts.—In the year 1882 (according to the Daily Post) there were 297 bankruptcies, compositions, or liquidations in Birmingham, the total amount of debts being a little over £400,000. The dividends ranged from 2d. to 15s. in the £, one-half the whole number, however, realising under 1s. 6d. The estimated aggregate loss to creditors is put at £243,000.

Baptists.—As far back as 1655, we have record of meetings or conferences of the Baptist churches in the Midland district, their representatives assembling at Warwick on the second day of the third month, and at Moreton-in-the-Marsh, on the 26th of the fourth month in that year. Those were the Cromwellian days of religious freedom, and we are somewhat surprised that no Birmingham Baptists should be among those who gathered together at the King's Head, at Moreton, on the last named date, as we find mention made of brethren from Warwick, Tewkesbury, Alcester, Derby, Bourton-on-the-Water, Hook Norton, Moreton-in-the-Marsh, and even of there being a community of the same persuasion at Cirencester. The conference of the Midland Counties' District Association of Baptist Churches met in this town for the first time in 1740.—For Chapels see "Places of Worship."

Barr Beacon.—A trial was made on January 10, 1856, as to how far a light could be seen by the ignition of a beacon on Malvern Hills. It was said to have been seen from Snowdon in Wales (105 miles), and at other parts of the country at lesser distances, though the gazers at Worcester saw it not. The look-out at Dudley Castle (26 miles) could have passed the signal on to Barr Beacon, but it was not needed, as the Malvern light was not only seen there, but still away on at Bardon Hill, Leicester.—Many persons imagine that Barr Beacon is the highest spot in the Midland Counties, but the idea is erroneous, Turners Hill, near Lye Cross, Rowley Regis, which is 893 ft. above mean sea level, being considerably higher, while the Clee Hills reach an altitude of 1,100 ft.

Barber of Birmingham, The.—The knights of the pole (or poll) have always been noted for getting into mischief, and it is not therefore so very surprising to find that in March, 1327, a royal pardon had to be granted to "Roger, the barber of Birmingham," for the part he had taken in the political disturbances of that time. Was he a Con., or a Lib., Tory or Rad.?

Barracks.—Built in 1793, at a cost of £13,000, as a consequence of the riots of 1791.

Barring Out—On the 26th of Nov. 1667, the scholars of the Grammar School "barred out" the Master, and then left the school for a time. When they returned they found the worthy pedagogue had obtained admission and intended to keep his young rebels outside. Whereupon, says an old chronicler, they, being reinforced by certain of the townsmen "in vizards, and with pistolls and other armes," sought to re-enter by assault, threatening to kill the Master, and showering stones and bricks through the windows. When the fun was over the Governors passed a law that any boy taking part in future "barrings-out" should be expelled from the School, but the amusement seems to have been rather popular, as an entry in the School records some ten years later show that a certain Widow Spooner was paid one shilling "for cleansinge ye Schoole at penninge out."

Baskerville (John).—This celebrated local worthy was a native of Wolverley, near Kidderminster, having been born in the year 1706. He came to this town in early life, as we find that he kept a writing school in 1726. In 1745 he built himself a residence at Easy-hill, and carried on the business of japanner afterwards adding to it that of printer and typefounder. His achievements in this line have made his name famous for ever, though it is said that he spent £600 before he could produce one letter to his own satisfaction, and some thousands before he obtained any profits from his printing trade. He was somewhat eccentric in personal matters of dress and taste, his carriage (drawn by cream-coloured horses) being a wonderful specimen of the art of japanning in the way of pictured panels, etc., while he delighted to adorn his person in the richest style of dress. The terms of his peculiar will, and his apparent renunciation of Christianity, were almost as curious as his choice of a place of sepulture. He was buried in his own grounds under a solid cone of masonry, where his remains lay until 1821, at which time the canal wharf, now at Easy Row, was being made. His body was found in a good state of preservation, and for some short period was almost made a show of, until by the kindness of Mr. Knott the bookseller, it was taken to Us present resting-place in one of the vaults under Christ Church. Mr. Baskerville died January 8, 1775, his widow living till March 21, 1787, to the age of 80 years.

Baths.—Ladywell Baths were said by Hutton to be the most complete in the island, being seven in number, that for swimmers 36 yards long by 18 wide, and cost £2,000. The place is now occupied by a timber yard, the old spring being covered in, though fitted with a pump for public use. For many years a tribe of water carriers procured a living by retailing the water at a halfpenny per can. The red sand from the New Street tunnels was turned to account in tilling up the old baths, much to the advantage of Mr. Turner, the lessee, and of the hauliers who turned the honest penny by turning in so near at hand.

Baths and Wash-houses.—The local movement for the establishment of public Baths first took practical shape at a meeting held Nov. 19,1844, within a week of which date subscriptions amounting to £4,430 were received for the purpose. The Association then formed purchased a plot of land in Kent Street in June, 1846, and presented it to the Town Council in November following, though the Baths erected thereon were not opened to the public until May 12, 1851. It was at that time imagined that the working classes would he glad of the boon provided for them in the convenient wash-houses attached to the Baths proper, and the chance given them to do away with all the sloppy, steamy annoyances of washing-day at home, but the results proved otherwise, and the wash-houses turned out to be not wanted. The Woodcock Street establishment was opened August 27, 1860; Northwood Street, March 5, 1862; Sheepcote Street in 1878, and Ladywood in 1882. Turkish Baths are now connected with the above, and there are also private speculations of the same kind in High Street, Broad Street, and the Crescent. Hardy swimmers, who prefer taking their natatory exercises in the open air, will find provision made for them at the Reservoir, at Cannon Hill Park, and also at Small Heath Park. The swimming-bath in George Street, Balsall Heath, opened in 1846, was filled up in 1878, by order of the Local Board of Health.

Bath Street takes its name from some baths formerly in Blews Street, but which, about 1820, were turned into a malthouse.

Battle Of the Alma.—A disturbance which took place at a steeplechase meeting at Aston, Monday, March 26, 1855, received this grandiloquent title.

Battles and Sieges.—It is more than probable that the British, under their gallant Queen Boadicea, fought the Romans more than once in the near vicinity of this district, and very possibly in those happy days of feudalism, which followed the invasion of the Normans, when every knight and squire surrounded himself with his armed retainers, sundry skirmishes may have taken place hereabouts, but history is silent. Even of the battle of Barnet (April 14, 1471), when the Earl of Warwick and 10,000 men were slain, we have not sufficient note to say, though it can hardly be doubted, that many Birmingham citizens went down. But still we have on record one real "Battle of Birmingham," which took place on the 3rd of April, 1643. On that day our town was attacked by Prince Rupert, with some 2,000 horse and foot; being pretty stoutly opposed, his soldiers slew a number of inhabitants, burnt nearly 80 houses, and did damage (it is said) to the extent of £30,000. It took five days for the news of this exploit to reach London. In the week following Christmas of the same year, a number of townspeople, aided by a party of the Commonwealth soldiers, laid siege to, and captured, Aston Hall.

Bazaars.—When originated none can tell. How much good done by means of them, nobody knows. But that immense amounts have been raised for good and charitable purposes, none can deny—and then, "they are such fun!". "Grand Bazaars" have been held for many an institution, and by many different sects and parties, and to attempt to enumerate them would be an impossibility, but the one on behalf of the Queen's Hospital, held in April, 1880, is noteworthy, for two reasons:—first, because the proceeds amounted to the munificent sum of £5,969, and, secondly, from the novelty of the decorations. The body of the Town Hall was arranged to represent an English street of the olden time, a baronial castle rising tower upon tower at the great gallery end, and an Elizabethan mansion in the orchestra, with a lawn in front, occupied by a military band. The sides of the Hall constituted a double row of shops, the upper storeys (reaching to the galleries) being filled with casements and balconies, from whence the doings in the street could be witnessed.

Bean Club.—The first anniversary we read of was that held July 17, 1752, at which meeting Lord Fielding gave £120 to erect an altarpiece in St. Bartholomew's.

Beardsworth (John).—Founder of the Repository, began life as driver of a hackney coach, in which one night he drove a beautiful young lady to a ball. John went home, dressed, procured admission to the ball, danced with the lady, handed her to the coach, drove her home, and some time after married her. The lady's cash enabled him to acquire an ample fortune, being at one time worth nearly a quarter of a million, most of which, however, was lost on the turf. The Repository was the largest establishment of the kind in the kingdom, and Beardsworth'a house adjoining was furnished in most splendid style, one centre table (made of rich and rare American wood) costing £1,500.

Beelzebub.—Watt's first steam engine was so christened. It was brought from Scotland, put up at Soho, and used for experimenting upon. It was replaced by "Old Bess," the first engine constructed upon the expansive principle. This latter engine is now in the Museum of Patents, South Kensington, though Mr. Smiles says he saw it working in 1857, seventy years after it was made.

Beer.—Brewers of beer were first called upon to pay a license duty in 1784, though the sellers thereof had been taxed more or less for 250 years previously. The effect of the heavy duties then imposed was to reduce the consumption of the national and wholesome beverage, which in 1782 averaged one barrel per head of the then population per annum, down to half-a-barrel per head in 1830, its place being filled by an increased consumption of ardent spirits, which from half-a-gallon per head in 1782, rose by degrees to six-sevenths of a gallon per head by 1830. In this year, the statesmen of the day, who thought more of the well-being of the working part of the population than raising money by the taxation of their necessaries, took off the 10s. per barrel on beer, in the belief that cheap and good malt liquors would be more likely to make healthy strong men than an indulgence in the drinking of spirits. Notwithstanding all the wild statements of the total abstainers to the contrary, the latest Parliamentary statistics show that the consumption of beer per head per annum averages now only seven-eighths of a barrel, though before even this moderate quantity reaches the consumers, the Government takes [see Inland Revenue returns, 1879, before alteration of malt-tax] no less a sum than £19,349 per year from the good people of Birmingham alone. Of this sum the brewers paid £9,518, the maltsters £425, beer dealers £2,245, and beer retailers £7,161.

Bells.—There was a bell foundry at Good Knave's End, in 1760, from whence several neighbouring churches were supplied with bells to summon the good knaves of the day to prayers, or to toll the bad knaves to their end. There was also one at Holloway Head, in 1780, but the business must have been hollow enough, for it did not go ahead, and we find no record of church bells being cast here until just a hundred years back (1732), when Messrs. Blews & Son took up the trade. Birmingham bells have, however, made some little noise in the world, and may still be heard on sea or land, near and far, in the shape of door bells, ship bells, call bells, hand bells, railway bells, sleigh bells, sheep bells, fog bells, mounted on rockbound coasts to warn the weary mariner, or silver bells, bound with coral from other coasts, to soothe the toothless babbler. These, and scores of others, are ordered here every year by thousands; but the strangest of all orders must have been that one received by a local firm some fifteen years ago from a West African prince, who desired them to send him 10,000 house bells (each 3/4 lb. weight), wherewith to adorn his iron "palace." And he had them! Edgar Poe's bells are nowhere, in comparison with

Such a charm, such a chime,
Out of tune, out of time.
Oh, the jangling and the wrangling
Of ten thousand brazen throats.

Ten bells were put in St. Martin's, in 1786, the total weight being 7 tons, 6 cwt. 2 lbs.

The peal of ten bells in St. Philip's were first used August 7, 1751, the weight being 9 tons 10 cwt. 22 lbs., the tenor weighs 30 cwt.

A new peal of eight bells were put up in Aston Church, in May, 1776, the tenor weighing 21 cwt. The St. Martin's Society of Change Ringers "opened" them, July 15, by ringing Holt's celebrated peal of 5040 grandsire triples, the performance occupying 3 hours 4 minutes.

Eight bells and a clock were mounted in the tower of Deritend Chapel, in 1776, the first peal being rung July 29.

The eight bells in Bishop Ryder's Church, which weigh 55 cwt., and cost £600, were cast in 1868, by Blews and Sons, and may be reckoned as the first full peal founded in Birmingham.

There are eight bells in Harborne Parish Church, four of them bearing date 1697, two with only the makers' name on, and two put in February, 1877, on the 24th of which month the whole peal were inaugurated by the ringing of a true peal of Stedman triples, composed by the late Thomas Thurstans, and consisting of 5,040 changes, in 2 hours and 52 minutes. The St. Martin's ringers officiated.

The six bells of Northfield Church were cast by Joseph Smith, of Edgbaston, in 1730.

St. Chad's Cathedral has eight bells, five of which were presented in 1848 as a memorial to Dr. Moore; the other three, from the foundry of W. Blews and Sons, were hung in March, 1877 the peculiar ceremony of "blessing the bells" being performed by Bishop Ullathorne on the 22nd of that month. The three cost £110. The bells at Erdington Catholic Church were first used on February 2, 1878.

Bellows to Mend.—Our townspeople bellowed a little over their losses after Prince Rupert's rueful visit, but there was one among them who knew how to "raise the wind," for we find Onions, the bellows-maker, hard at work in 1650; and his descendants keep at the same old game.

Bennett's Hill.—There was a walled-in garden (with an old brick summer-house) running up from Waterloo-street to Colmore-row as late as 1838-9.

Bermingham.—The Irish family of this name descended from Robert, son of Peter de Bermingham, who left here and settled in Connaught about the year 1169.

Bibles and Testaments.—In 1272 the price of a Bible, well written out, was £30 sterling, and there were few readers of it in Birmingham. The good book can now be bought for 6d., and it is to be hoped there is one in every house. The Rev. Angell James once appealed to his congregation for subscriptions towards sending a million New Testaments to China, and the Carrslaneites responded promptly with £410 8s., enough to pay for 24,624 copies—the publisher's price being 4d. each. They can be bought for a penny now.—A local Auxiliary Bible Society was commenced here May 9, 1806.

Bingley Hall—Takes its name from Bingley House, on the site of which it is built. It was erected in 1850 by Messrs. Branson and Gwyther, at a cost of about £6,000, the proprietary shares being £100 each. In form it is nearly a square, the admeasurements being 224 ft. by 212 ft., giving an area of nearly one acre and a half. There are ten entrance doors, five in King Edward's Place, and five in King Alfred's Place, and the building may be easily divided into five separate compartments. The Hall will hold from 20,000 to 25,000 people, and is principally used for Exhibitions and Cattle Shows; with occasionally "monster meetings," when it is considered necessary for the welfare of the nation to save sinners or convert Conservatives.

Bird's-eye View of the town can be best obtained from the dome of the Council House, to which access may be obtained on application to the Curator. Some good views may be also obtained from some parts of Moseley Road, Cannon Hill Park, and from Bearwood Road.

Birmingham.—A horse of this name won the Doncaster St. Leger in 1830 against 27 competitors. The owner, John Beardsworth, cleared £40,000. He gave Connolly, the jockey, £2,000.

Birmingham Abroad.—Our brethren who have emigrated do not like to forget even the name of their old town, and a glance over the American and Colonial census sheet shows us that there are at least a score of other Birminghams in the world. In New Zealand there are three, and in Australia five townships so christened. Two can be found in Canada, and ten or twelve in the United States, the chief of which is Birmingham in Alabama. In 1870 this district contained only a few inhabitants, but in the following year, with a population of 700, it was incorporated, and at once took rank as a thriving city, now proudly called "The Iron City," from its numerous ironworks, furnaces, and mills. Last year the citizens numbered over 12,000, the annual output of pig-iron being about 60,000 tons, and the coal mines in the neighbourhood turning out 2,000 tons per day. The city is 240 miles from Nashville, 143 miles from Chattanooga, and 96 miles from Montgomery, all thriving places, and is a central junction of six railways. The climate is good, work plentiful, wages fair, provisions cheap, house rent not dear, churches and schools abundant, and if any of our townsmen are thinking of emigrating they may do a deal worse than go from hence to that other Birmingham, which its own "daily" says is a "City of marvellous wonder and magic growth," &c., &c.

Birmingham Begging.—Liberal to others as a rule when in distress, it is on record that once at least the inhabitants of this town were the recipients of like favours at the hands of their fellow-countrymen. In the churchwardens' books of Redenall, Norfolk, under date September 20, 1644, is an entry of 6s. paid "to Richard Herbert, of Birmingham, where was an hundred fifty and five dwelling house burnt by Pr. Rupert."

Birmingham Borough, which is in the hundred of Hemlingford, and wholly in the county of Warwick, includes the parish of Birmingham, part of the parish of Edgbaston, and the hamlets of Deritend-and-Bordesley, and Duddeston-cum-Nechells, in the parish of Aston. The extreme length is six miles one furlong, the average breadth three miles, the circumference twenty-one miles, and the total area 8,420 acres, viz., Birmingham, 2,955; in Edgbaston, 2,512; and in Aston, 2,853. Divided into sixteen wards by an Order in Council, approved by Her Majesty, October 15, 1872. The mean level of Birmingham is reckoned as 443 feet above sea level.

Birmingham Heath.—Once an unenclosed common, and part of it may now be said to be common property, nearly 100 acres of it being covered with public buildings for the use of such as need a common home. There is not, however, anything commonplace in the style of these erections for sheltering our common infirmities, as the Workhouse, Gaol, and Asylum combined have cost "the Commons" something like £350,000. The Volunteers in 1798 made use of part of the Heath as a practice and parade ground.

Birmingham Bishops.—The Rev. John Milner, a Catholic divine and eminent ecclesiastical antiquary, who was educated at Edgbaston, was appointed Bishop Apostolic in the Midland district, with the title of "Bishop of Castaballa." He died in 1826, in his 74th year.—Dr. Ullathorne was enthroned at St. Chad's, August 30th, 1848, as Bishop of the present Catholic diocese.—The Rev. P. Lee, Head Master of Free Grammar School in 1839, was chosen as the first Bishop of Manchester.— The Rev. S. Thornton, St. George's, was consecrated Bishop of Ballarat, May 1, 1875.—The Rev. Edward White Benson, D.D., a native of this town, was nominated first Bishop of Truro, in December, 1876, and is now Archbishop of Canterbury.—The Rev. Thomas Huband Gregg resigned the vicarage of East Harborne in March, 1877, and on June 20 was consecrated at New York a Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church.

Birmingham (Little).—In a record of the early date of 1313 there is mention of a place called Little Birmingham (parvam Birmingham), as being in the hundreds of North and South Erpyngham, Norfolk.

Birmingham in the Future.—It has been proposed that the Borough should be extended so as to include the Local Board districts of Harborne and Handsworth, Balsall Heath, Moseley, King's Heath, part of King's Norton parish, the whole of Yardley and Acock's Green, part of Northfield parish, all Aston Manor, Saltley, Witton, Little Bromwich, and Erdington, covering an area of about 32,000 acres, with a present population of over half a million.

Blondin made his first appearance at Aston Park, June 8, 1861; at the Birmingham Concert Hall, December, 1869, and March, 1870; at the Reservoir September, 1873, and September, 1878. Mrs. Powell, who was known as the "Female Blondin," was killed at a fête in Aston Park, July 20, 1868, by falling from the high rope.

Bloomsbury Institute.—Opened in 1860. The memorial stones of the lecture-hall in Bloomsbury Street were laid August 6, 1877, the £750 cost being given by Mr. David Smith. Seats 500.

Blues.—The United Society of True Blues was founded in 1805 by a number of old Blue Coat boys (formerly known as "The Grateful Society") who joined in raising an annual subscription for the School.

Boatmen's Hall, erected on Worcester Wharf, by Miss Ryland, was opened March 17, 1879.

Bonded Warehouses.—Our Chamber of Commerce memoralised the Lords of the Treasury for the extension of the bonded warehouse system to this town, in December, 1858, but it was several years before permission was obtained.

Books.—The oldest known Birmingham book is a "Latin Grammar, composed in the English tongue," printed in London in 1652, for Thomas Underhill, its author having been one of the masters of our Free School.

Book Club (The).—Commenced some few years previous to 1775, at which time its meetings were held in Poet Freeth's, Leicester Arms, Bell-street. As its name implies, the club was formed for the purchase and circulation among the members of new or choice books, which were sold at the annual dinner, hence the poet's hint in one of his invitations to these meetings:—

"Due regard let the hammer be paid, Ply the glass gloomy care to dispel; If mellow our hearts are all made, The books much better may sell."

In these days of cheap literature, free libraries, and halfpenny papers, such a club is not wanted.

Books on Birmingham.—Notes of Birmingham were now and then given before the days of that dear old antiquary Hutton, but his "History" must always take rank as the first. Morfitt's was amusing as far as it went; Bissett's was ditto and pictorial; but it remained till the present period for really reliable sketches to be given. The best are Langford's "Century of Birmingham Life," Harman's "Book of Dates," Dent's "Old and New Birmingham," Bunce's "Municipal History," and the last is "Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham."

Boulton (Mathew).—The son of a hardware manufacturer of the same name, was born here on September 3, 1728 (old style) and received his education principally at the academy of the Rev. Mr. Anstey, Deritend. He is accredited with having at the early age of seventeen invented the inlaying of steel buckles, buttons and trinkets, which for many years were in great request. These articles at first were exported to France in large quantities, being afterwards brought from thence and sold in London as the latest Parisian fashion. In 1762 (his father having left him a considerable property) Mr. Boulton leased a quantity of the land then forming part of Birmingham Heath, where at a cost of over £10,000 he erected the famous Soho Works, and later on (in 1794) he purchased the freehold of that and a considerable tract of the adjoining land. In 1767 steam was first brought into use to supplement the power derived from the water wheels, and in 1769 he became acquainted with James Watt, with whom he afterwards went into partnership to make steam engines of all kinds, sinking £47,000 before he had any return for his money. Mr. Boulton lived to the patriarchal age of fourscore and one, leaving this life on August 7, 1809. He was buried at Handsworth, 600 workmen, besides numberless friends, following his remains; all of whom were presented with hatbands and gloves and a silver medal, and regaled with a dinner, the funeral costing altogether about £2,000.—See "Coinage," &c.

Bourne College, erected by the Primitive Methodists and their friends, at Quinton, at a cost of nearly £10,00, was formally opened on October 240 [Transcriber's note: as original] 1882. When completed there will be accommodation for 120 students.

Bowling Greens.—These seem to have been favourite places of resort with our grandfathers and great-grandfathers. The completion of one at the Union Tavern, Cherry Street, was announced March 26, 1792, but we read of another as attached to the Hen and Chickens, in High Street, as early as 1741. There is a very fine bowling-green at Aston Hall, and lovers of the old-fashioned game can be also accommodated at Cannon Hill Park, and at several suburban hotels.

Boys' Refuge is at corner of Bradford Street and Alcester Street, and the Secretary will be glad of help.

Boyton.—Captain Boyton showed his life-preserving dress, at the Reservoir, April 24, 1875.

Bracebridge.—A very ancient family, long connected with this neighbourhood, for we read of Peter de Bracebrigg who married a grand-daughter of the Earl of Warwick in A.D. 1100, and through her inherited Kingsbury, an ancient residence of the Kings of Mercia. In later days the Bracebridges became more intimately connected with this town by the marriage in 1775 of Abraham Bracebridge, Esq., of Atherstone, with Mary Elizabeth, the only child and heiress of Sir Charles Holte, to whom the Aston estates ultimately reverted. Many articles connected with the Holte family have been presented to Birmingham by the descendants of this marriage.

Bradford Street takes its name from Henry Bradford, who, in 1767, advertised that he would give a freehold site to any man who would build the first house therein.

Breweries.—In the days of old nearly every publican and innkeeper was his own brewer, the fame of his house depending almost solely on the quality of the "stingo" he could pour out to his customers. The first local brewery on a large scale appears to have been that erected in Moseley Street in 1782, which even down to late years retained its cognomen of the Birmingham Old Brewery. In 1817 another company opened a similar extensive establishment at St. Peter's Place, in Broad Street, and since then a number of enterprising individuals have at times started in the same track, but most have come grief, even in the case of those whose capital was not classed under the modern term "limited." The principal local breweries now in existence are those of Messrs. Holder, Mitchell, and Bates, in addition to the well-known Crosswells Brewery of Messrs Walter Showell and Sons, noted in next paragraph. The principal Vinegar Brewery in Birmingham is that of Messrs. Fardon and Co. (Limited), in Glover Street, which was formed in 1860, and is well worthy of the stranger's visit. The annual output is about 850,000 gallons, there being storage for nearly a million gallons, and 36,000 casks to send the vinegar out in.

Brewery at Crosswells.—Though by far the most extensive brewery supplying Birmingham, the Crosswells cannot claim to be more than in the infancy of its establishment at present, as only twelve years ago the many acres of ground now covered by its buildings formed but part of an unenclosed piece of waste land. Nevertheless, the spot was well-known and often visited in ancient times, on account of the wonderful and miraculous cures said to have been effected by the free use of the water gushing up from the depths of the springs to be found there, and which the monks of old had christened "The Wells of the Cross." Be its medicinal qualities what they might in the days before Harry the Eighth was king, the Cross Wells water retained its name and fame for centuries after the monks were banished and the burly king who drove them out had himself turned to dust. It has always been acknowledged as one of the purest waters to be found in the kingdom; but its peculiar and special adaptability to the brewing of "good old English cheer" was left to be discovered by the founder of the firm of Messrs. Walter Showell and Sons, who, as stated before, some twelve years back, erected the nucleus of the present extensive brewery. Starting with the sale of only a few hundred barrels per week, the call for their ales soon forced the proprietors to extend their premises in order that supply should meet demand. At first doubled, then quadrupled, the brewery is now at least ten times its original size; and a slight notion of the business carried on may be gathered from the fact that the firm's stock of barrels tots up to nearly 60,000 and is being continually increased, extensive cooperages, blacksmiths' shops, &c., being attached to the brewery, as well as malthouses, offices, and storehouses of all kinds. The head offices of the firm, which are connected by telephone with the brewery, as well as with the stores at Kingston Buildings, Crescent Wharf, are situated in Great Charles Street, and thus the Crosswells Brewery (though really at Langley Green, some half-dozen miles away as the crow flies) becomes entitled to rank as a Birmingham establishment, and certainly not one of the least, inasmuch as the weekly sale of Crosswells ales for this town alone is more than 80,000 gallons per week.

Bright.—The Right Hon. John Bright, though not a Birmingham man, nor connected with the town by any ties of personal interest or business, has for the last quarter-century been the leading member returned to Parliament as representing the borough, and must always rank foremost among our men of note. Mr. Bright is the son of the late Jacob Bright, of Greenbank, near Rochdale, and was born November 16, 1811. He and his brother, Mr. Jacob Bright, M.P. for Manchester, began business as partners in the affiliated firms of John Bright and Brothers, cotton spinners and manufacturers, Rochdale, and Bright and Co., carpet manufacturers, Rochdale and Manchester. At an early age Mr. Bright showed a keen interest in politics, and took part in the Reform agitation of 1831-32. In those days every householder was compelled by law to pay the Church-rates levied in his parish, whatever his religious creed might be, and it is said that Mr. Bright's first flights of oratory were delivered from a tombstone in Rochdale church-yard in indignant denunciation of a tax which to him, as a member of the Society of Friends, appeared especially odious. It was not, however, till 1839, when he joined the Anti-Corn Law League, that Mr. Bright's reputation spread beyond his own immediate neighbourhood; and there can be no doubt but that his fervid addresses, coupled with the calmer and more logical speeches of Mr. Cobden, contributed in an appreciable degree to the success of the movement. In July, 1843, he was returned as M.P. for the city of Durham, which he represented until the general election of 1847, when he was the chosen of Manchester. For ten years he was Manchester's man in everything, but the side he took in regard to the Russian war was so much at variance with the popular opinions of his constituents that they at last turned on him, burnt his effigy in the streets, and threw him out at the general election in March, 1857. At the death of Mr. G.F. Muntz, in July following, Mr. Bright was almost unanimously selected to fill his place as M.P. for this town, and for 25 years he has continued to honour Birmingham by permitting us to call him our member. (See "Parliamentary Elections.") Mr. Bright has been twice married, but is now a widower, and he has twice held office in the Cabinet, first as President of the Board Of Trade, and more lately as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Bristol Road.—Trees were first planted in this road in the spring of 1853.

Britannia Metal.—A mixed metal formed of 90 parts of tin, 2 copper, and 8 antimony, brought into use about 1790, and long a favourite with manufacturers and public alike. The introduction of electroplating did much towards its extended make at first, but latterly it has been in great measure, replaced by German silver and other alloys.

British Association for the Advancement, of Science first met in this town Aug. 26, 1839. They were here again Oct. 12, 1857, and Sep. 6, 1865.

Brittle Street formerly ran from Livery Street to Snow Hill, about the spot where now the entrance gates to the Station are.

Broad Street.—150 years ago part of what is now known as Dale End was called Broad Street, the present thoroughfare of that name then being only a pathway through the fields.

Brunswick Buildings.—Erected in New Street, by Mr. Samuel Haines in 1854. A funny tale has been told about the original lease, which included a covenant that at the expiration of the term of 100 years for which it was granted, the land was to be delivered up to the Grammar School "well cropped with potatoes." In 1760 New Street was a new street indeed, for there were but a few cottages with gardens there then, and the potatoe proviso was no doubt thought a capital provision; but fancy growing that choice edibie there in 1860!

Buck.—Henry Buck, P.G.M., and Sec. of the Birmingham district of the Manchester Order of Oddfellows for twenty-five years, died Jan. 22, 1876, aged 63. A granite obelisk to his memory in St. Philip's churchyard was unveiled Sep. 17, 1877.

Building Societies took early root here, as we find there were several in 1781.—See "Friendly Societies."

Buckles were worn as shoe fasteners in the reign of Charles II.—See "Trades."

Buttons.—Some interesting notes respecting the manufacture of buttons will be found under the head of "Trades."

Bulgarian Atrocities, 1876-7.—A considerable amount of "political capital" was made out of these occurrences, but only £1,400 was subscribed here for the relief of the unfortunates; while merely £540 could be raised towards helping the thousands of poor Bosnian refugees driven from their homes by the Russians in 1878, and of this sum £200 was given by one person.

Bullbaiting was prohibited in 1773 by Order in Council, and an Act was passed in 1835, to put a stop to all baiting of bulls, badgers, and bears. At Chapel Wake, 1798, some law-defying reprobates started a bullbaiting on Snow Hill, but the Loyal Association of Volunteers turned out, and with drums beating and colours flying soon put the rebels to flight, pursuing them as far as Birmingham Heath, where the baiters got a beating, the Loyals returning home in triumph with the bull as a trophy. The last time this "sport" was indulged in in this neighbourhood appears to have been early in October, 1838, at Gib Heath, better known now as Nineveh Road.

Bull Lane was the name once given to that part of the present Colmore Row between Livery Street and Snow Hill, though it has been better known as Monmouth Street.

Bull Street.—Once called Chapel Street, as leading to the chapel of the ancient Priory; afterwards named from the old inn known as the Red Bull (No. 83).

Burns.—Excisemen, when Robert Burns was one of them, were wont to carry pistols, and those the poet had were given him by one of our gunmakers, Mr. Blair. They were afterwards bought by Allan Cunningham, who gave them back to Burns' widow.—Birmingham lent its rill to the great river of homage to the genius of Burns which flowed through the length and breadth of the civilised world on the occasion of the Burns' centenary in January, 1859. The most interesting of the three or four meetings held here was one of a semi-private nature, which took place at Aston Hall, and which originated, not with Scotchmen, but with Englishmen. Some forty-five or fifty gentlemen, only some half-dozen of whom were Scotch, sat down to an excellent supper in the fine old room in which the Queen lunched the previous year. The chairman was Mr. Samuel Timmins, and the vice-chairman was Mr. Ross.

Cabs, Cars, and Carriages.—The hackney carriages, or four-wheelers, of this town, have the credit of being superior to those used in London, though the hansoms (notwithstanding their being the inventions of one who should rank almost as a local worthy—the architect of our Town Hall) are not up to the mark. Prior to 1820 there were no regular stands for vehicles plying for hire, those in New Street, Bull Street, and Colmore Row being laid in that year, the first cabman's license being dated June 11. The first "Cabman's Rest" was opened in Ratcliffe Place, June 13, 1872, the cost (£65) being gathered by the cabman's friend, the Rev. Micarah Hill, who also, in 1875, helped them to start an association for mutual assistance in cases of sickness or death. There are sixteen of these "shelters" in the town, the cabmen subscribing about £200 yearly towards expenses. As a rule, the Birmingham cabmen are a civil and obliging body of men, though now and then a little sharp practice may occur, as in the instance of the stranger who, arriving in New Street Station one evening last summer, desired to be taken to the Queen's Hotel. His luggage being properly secured, and himself safely ensconced, Mr. Cabby cooly took the rug from his horse's back, mounted his seat and walked the animal through the gates back to the building the stranger had just left, depositing his fare, and as calmly holding out his hand for the customary shilling as if he had driven the full distance of a mile and a half. The fares laid down by the bye-laws as proper to be charged within the Borough, and within five miles from the statue in Stephenson Place, in the Borough, are as follows:—

Calthorpe Park, Pershore road, has an area of 3la. 1r. 13p., and was given to the town in 1857 by Lord Calthorpe. Though never legally conveyed to the Corporation, the Park is held under a grant from the Calthorpe family, the effect of which is equivalent to a conveyance in fee. The Duke of Cambridge performed the opening ceremony in this our first public park.

Calthorpe Road was laid out for building in the year 1818, and the fact is worthy of note as being the commencement of our local West End.

Calico, Cotton, and Cloth.—In 1702 the printing or wearing of printed calicoes was prohibited, and more strictly so in 1721, when cloth buttons and buttonholes were also forbidden. Fifty years after, the requisites for manufacturing cotton or cotton cloth were now allowed to be exported, and in 1785 a duty was imposed on all cotton goods brought into the Kingdom. Strange as it may now appear, there was once a "cotton-spinning mill" in Birmingham. The first thread of cotton ever spun by rollers was produced in a small house near Sutton Coldfield as early as the year 1700, and in 1741 the inventor, John Wyatt, had a mill in the Upper Priory, where his machine, containing fifty rollers, was turned by two donkeys walking round an axis, like a horse in a modern clay mill. The manufacture, however, did not succeed in this town, though carried on more or less till the close of the century, Paul's machine being advertised for sale April 29, 1795. The Friends' schoolroom now covers the site of the cotton mill.

Canals.—The first Act for the construction of the "cut" or canal in connection with Birmingham was passed in 1761, that to Bilston being commenced in 1767. The delivery here of the first boat-load of coals (Nov. 6, 1769) was hailed, and rightly so, as one of the greatest blessings that could be conferred on the town, the immediate effect being a reduction in the price to 6d per cwt, which in the following May came down to 4d. The cutting of the first sod towards making the Grand Junction Canal took place July 26, 1766, and it was completed in 1790. In 1768 Briudley, the celebrated engineer, planned out the Birmingham and Wolverhampton Canal, proposing to make it 22 miles long; but he did not live to see it finished. The work was taken up by Smeaton and Telford; the latter of whom calling it "a crooked ditch" struck out a straight cut, reducing the length to 14 miles, increasing the width to 40 feet, the bridges having each a span of 52 feet. The "Summit" bridge was finished in 1879. The Fazeley Canal was completed in 1783, and so successfully was it worked that in nine years the shares were at a premium of £1170. In 1785 the Birmingham, the Fazeley, and the Grand Junction Companies took up and completed an extension to Coventry. The Birmingham and Worcester Canal was commenced in 1,791, the cost being a little over £600,000, and it was opened for through traffic July 21, 1815. By an agreement of September 18, 1873, this canal was sold to the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal Co. (otherwise the Sharpness Dock Co.), and has thus lost its distinctive local name. The Birmingham and Warwick commenced in 1793; was finished in 1800. Communication with Liverpool by water was complete in 1826, the carriage of goods thereto which had previously cost £5 per ton, being reduced to 30s. For a through cut to London, a company was started in May, 1836, with a nominal capital of £3,000,000, in £100 shares, and the first cargoes were despatched in August, 1840. In April, 1840, an Act was passed to unite the Wyrley and Essington Canal Co. with the Birmingham Canal Co., leading to the extension, at a cost of over £120,000, of the canal system to the lower side of the town. There are 2,800 miles of canals in England, and about 300 miles in Ireland. The total length of what may properly be called Birmingham canals is about 130 miles, but if the branches in the "Black Country" be added thereto, it will reach to near 250 miles. The first iron boat made its appearance on canal waters July 24, 1787; the first propelled by steam arrived here from London, September 29, 1826. The adaptation of steam power to general canal traffic, however, was not carried to any great extent, on account of the injury caused to the banks by the "wash" from the paddles and screws, though, when railways were first talked about, the possibility of an inland steam navigation was much canvassed. When the Bill for the London and Birmingham Railway was before Parliament, in 1833, some enterprising carriers started (on Midsummer-day) an opposition in the shape of a stage-boat, to run daily and do the distance, with goods and passengers, in 16 hours. The Birmingham and Liverpool Canal Company introduced steam tugs in 1843. On Saturday, November 11, they despatched 16 boats, with an aggregate load of 380 tons, to Liverpool, drawn by one small vessel of 16-horse power, other engines taking up the "train" at different parts of the voyage. Mr. Inshaw, in 1853, built a steamboat for canals with a screw on each side of the rudder. It was made to draw four boats with 40 tons of coal in each at two and a half miles per hour, and the twin screws were to negative the surge, but the iron horses of the rail soon put down, not only all such weak attempts at competition, but almost the whole canal traffic itself, so far as general merchandise and carriage of light goods and parcels was concerned. "Flyboats" for passengers at one time ran a close race with the coaches and omnibuses between here, Wolverhampton, and other places, but they are old people now who can recollect travelling in that manner in their youth.

Canal Accidents.—The banks of the Birmingham and Worcester Canal, near Wheeley's Road, gave way on May 26, 1872, causing considerable damage to the properties near at hand. A similar occurrence took place at Aston, July 20, 1875; and a third happened at Solihull Lodge Valley, October 27, 1880, when about 80ft. of an embankment 30-ft. high collapsed.

Canal Reservoir, better known as "The Reservoir," near Monument Lane, a popular place of resort, covers an area of 62A. 1R. 5P., and is three-quarters of a mile long. Visitors and others fond of boating can be accommodated here to their heart's content.

Cannon.—The first appearance of these instruments of destruction in connection with the English army was in the time of Edward III. in his wars with the Scotch and the French, the first great battle of historical note in which they were used being that of Cressy, in 1346. The manufacture of "small arms," as they are called, has been anything but a small feature in the trade history of our past, but cannon-founding does not appear to have been much carried on, though a local newspaper of 1836 mentioned that several 250 and 300-pounder guns were sent from here in that year for the fortifications on the Dardanelles.

Cannon Hill Park covers an area of 57a. 1r. 9p., and was presented to the town by Miss Ryland, the deed of conveyance bearing date April 18th, 1873. The nearest route to this Park is by way of Pershore Road and Edgbaston Lane, omnibuses going that way every half-hour.

Caps.—The inventor of percussion caps is not known, but we read of them as being made here as early as 1816, though they were not introduced into "the service" until 1839. The manufacture of these articles has several times led to great loss of life among the workers, notes of which will be found under the head of "Explosions." See also "Trades."

Carlyle.—The celebrated philosopher, Thomas Carlyle, resided here for a short time in 1824; and his notes about Birmingham cannot but be worth preserving. Writing to his brother John under date Aug. 10, he says:—

Carr's Lane.—Originally this is believed to have been known as "Goddes Cart Lane," and was sufficiently steep to be dangerous, as evidenced by accidents noted in past history.

Carr's Lane Chapel, the meeting house of the old Independents, or as they are now called, the Congregationalists, will be noticed under "Places of Worship."

Cartoons.—If some of our fore-fathers could but glance at the illustrations or the portait caricatures of local public men and their doings, now given us almost daily, we fear they would not credit us moderns with much advancement in the way of political politeness, however forward we may be in other respects. Many really good cartoons have appeared, and neither side can be said to hold a monopoly of such sketchy skilfulness, but one of the best (because most truthful) was the cartoon issued in October 1868, giving the portrait of a "Vote-as-you're-told" electer, led by the nose by his Daily Post.

Castle.—Birmingham Castle is named in an ancient document as being situated a "bowshot southwestward of the church," but the exact site thereof has never been traced. It is supposed to have been erected about the year 1140, and to have been demolished by order of King Stephen, in 1176.

Castle Street takes its name from the hostlery once so famous among our coach officers.

Catacombs.—There is a large number of massively-built stone vaults underneath Christ Church, each divided into tiers of catacombs, or receptacles for the dead. It is in one of these that the remains of Baskerville at last found a resting place.—The catacombs at the General Cemetery are many, being cut out of the sandstone rock known as Key Hill, and a large number have been and can be excavated underneath the church in the Warstone Lane Cemetery.

Cat Shows.—The first Cat Show held here was opened November 29th, 1873, and was a very successful speculation; but the exhibitions of the two following years did not pay and since then the grimalkins have been left at home.

Cattle Show.—As first started (in 1849, when it was held near Kent Street), and at Bingley Hall in the following year, this was an annual show of cattle, sheep, and pigs only, but after years has made it a gathering place for specimens, of nearly everything required on a farm, and the "Show" has become an "Exhibition," under which heading full notice will be found.

Cemeteries.—The burial grounds attached to the Churches were formerly the only places of interment save for suicides and murderers—the former of whom were buried at some cross-road, with a stake driven through the body, while the latter were frequently hung in chains and got no burial at all. In 1807 the first addendum to our churchyards was made by the purchase of 13,192 square yards of land in Park Street, which cost £1,600. Having been laid out and enclosed with substantial railed walls at a further outlay of £764, the ground was duly consecrated July 16, 1813, and for some years was the chief receptacle for decaying humanity of all classes, many thousands of whom were there deposited. By degrees the ground came to be looked upon as only fit for the poorest of the poor, until, after being divided by the railway, this "God's Acre" was cared fir by none, and was well called the "black spot" of the town. Since the passing of the Closed Burial Grounds Bill (March 18, 1878) the Corporations have taken possession, and at considerable expense have re-walled the enclosure and laid it out as a place of health resort for the children of the neighbourhood. The burial grounds of St. Bartholomew's, St. Martin's, St. Mary's, and St. George's have also been carefully and tastefully improved in appearance, and we can now venture to look at most of our churchyards without shame.

The General Cemetery at Key Hill was originated at a meeting held Oct. 18, 1832, when a proprietary Company was formed, and a capital fixed at £12,000, in shares of £10 each. The total area of the property is about twelve acres, eight of which are laid out for general burials, in a edition to the catacombs cut into the sandstone rock.

The Church of England Cemetery in Warstone Lane is also the property of a private Company, having a capital of £20,000 in £10 shares. The area is nearly fifteen acres, the whole of which was consecrated as a burial ground for the Church on August 20, 1848.

The Catholic Cemetery of St. Joseph, at Nechell's Green, received its first consignment in 1850.

The introduction and extension of railways have played sad havoc with a number of the old burial grounds belonging to our forefathers. As mentioned above the London and North Western took a slice out of Park Street Cemetery. The Great Western cleared the Quakers' burial ground in Monmouth Street (where the Arcade now stands) the remains of the departed Friends being removed to their chapel yard in Bull Street, and a curious tale has been told in connection therewith. It is said that the representative of the Society of Friends was a proper man of business, as, indeed, most of them are, and that he drove rather a hard bargain with the railway directors, who at last were obliged to give in to what they considered to be an exorbitant demand for such a small bit of freehold. The agreement was made and the contract signed, and Friend Broadbrim went on his way rejoicing; but not for long. In selling the land he apparently forgot that the land contained bones, for when the question of removing the dead was mooted, the Quaker found he had to pay back a goodly portion of the purchase money before he obtained permission to do so. In clearing the old streets away to make room for New Street Station, in 1846, the London and North Western found a small Jewish Cemetery in what was then known as the "Froggery," but which had long been disused. The descendants of Israel carefully gathered the bones and reinterred them in their later-dated cemetery in Granville Street, but even here they did not find their last resting-place, for when, a few years back, the Midland made the West Suburban line, it became necessary to clear out this ground also, and the much-disturbed remains of the poor Hebrews were removed to Witton. The third and last of the Jewish Cemeteries, that in Betholom Row, which was first used in or about 1825, and has long been full, is also doomed to make way for the extension of the same line.—During the year 1883 the time-honoured old Meeting-house yard, where Poet Freeth, and many another local worthy, were laid to rest, has been carted off—dust and ashes, tombs and tombstones—to the great graveyard at Witton, where Christian and Infidel, Jew and Gentile, it is to be hoped, will be left at peace till the end of the world.

In 1860, the Corporation purchased 105 acres of land at Witton for the Borough Cemetery. The foundation stones of two chapels were laid August 12, 1861, and the Cemetery was opened May 27, 1863, the total cost being nearly £40,000. Of the 105 acres, 53 are consecrated to the use of the Church of England, 35 laid out for Dissenters, and 14 set aside for Catholics and Jews.

Census.—The numbering of the people by a regular and systematic plan once in every ten years, only came into operation in 1801, and the most interesting returns, as connected with this town and its immediate neighbourhood, will be found under the heading of "Population."

Centre of Birmingham.—As defined by the authorities for the settlement of any question of distance, Attwood's statue at the top of Stephenson Place, in New Street, is reckoned as the central spot of the borough. In olden days, Nelson's monument, and prior to that, the Old Cross, in the Bull Ring, was taken as the centre. As an absolute matter of fact, so far as the irregular shape of the borough area will allow of such a measurement being made, the central spot is covered by Messrs. Harris and Norton's warehouse in Corporation Street.

Centenarians.—John Harman, better known as Bishop Vesey, died in 1555, in his 103rd year. James Sands, who died at Harborne in 1625, was said to have been 140 years old, and his wife lived to be 120. Joseph Stanley, of Aston, died in May, 1761, in his 106th year. Wesley, under date of March 19, 1768, wrote of having seen George Bridgens, then in his 107th year; Hutton, in noticing the long life of Bridgens, also mentions one John Pitt who lived to be 100, a Mrs. Moore who reached 104, and an old market man who completed his 107th year. A Mr. Clarkson died here, in February, 1733, aged 112. William Jennens, the Jennens of untold, but much coveted, wealth, died in June, 1798, aged 103. John Roberts, of Digbeth, had a family of twenty-eight children, six by his third wife, whom he married when nearly eighty, and lived to see his 103rd year, in 1792, dying July 6. Thomas Taylor, a cobbler, stuck to his last until a week of his death, July 8, 1796, at 103. T. Blakemore died November 12, 1837, aged 105. Mrs. E. Bailey, founder of the Female Charity School, was also 105 at her death, December 2, 1854. Another old lady was Elizabeth Taylor, who died at Sparkbrook, March 5, 1864, aged 104 years. Mary Hemming, of Moseley Wake Green, died December 5, 1881, in her 104th year.

Centenary Celebrations, more or less worthy of note, are continuously recurring, and the date of some few are here preserved. Our loyal grandfathers honoured the hundredth, anniversary of the Revolution of 1688, by a public dinner, November 4, 1788. Old Bluecoat boys in like manner kept the centenary of their school, August 24, 1824. Admirers of the Philosopher Priestley chose All Fools' Day, 1831, as the fitting day to celebrate the anniversary of his birth. The Centenary of the Protestant Dissenting Charity Schools was worthily celebrated by the raising of a special sum amounting to £1,305, as an addition to the funds. In January, 1859, Robert Burns' anniversary was remembered by the holding a supper in Aston Hall, at which only half-a-dozen Scotchmen were present out of half-a-hundred guests. The Dissenting Ministers of this and the neighbouring counties, who, for a hundred years, have met together once a month, celebrated the event by a quiet luncheon-dinner, December 13, 1882. The Tercentenary of the Free Grammar School was celebrated with learned speeches April 16, 1852; that of Good Queen Bess, by a public prayer meeting, November 16, 1858; and that of Shakespeare, April 23, 1864, by the founding of a Shakespeare Memorial Library. The thousandth anniversary of Alfred the Great, October 29, 1849, was made much of by the Political Knowledge Association, which had not been in existence it thousand days. The fact of John Bright being M.P. for Birmingham for a quarter of a century, was celebrated in June, 1883, by the Liberal Association, who got up a "monster" procession in imitation of the celebrated Attwood procession of the old days of Reform. The holiday was most thoroughly enjoyed by the public generally, and immense numbers of people thronged the streets to hear the bands and see what was to be seen.

Chamber of Commerce.—In 1783 there was a "Standing General Commercial Committee," composed of the leading merchants and Manufacturers, who undertook the duty of looking after the public interests of the town (not forgetting their own peculiarly private ditto). That they were not so Liberal as their compeers of to-day may be gathered from the fact of their strongly opposing the exportation of brass, and on no account permitting a workman to go abroad.

Chamber of Manufacturers.—When Pitt, in 1784, proposed to tax coal, iron, copper, and other raw materials, he encountered a strong opposition from the manufacturers, prominent among whom were Boulton (Soho), Wilkinson (Bradley), and Wedgwood (Potteries), who formed a "Chamber," the first meeting of which was held here in February, 1785. The Minister was induced to alter his mind.

Chandeliers.—Many beautiful works of art have been manufactured in this town, which, though the wonder and admiration of strangers, receive but faint notice here, and find no record except in the newspaper of the day or a work like the present. Among such may be ranked the superb brass chandelier which Mr. R.W. Winfield sent to Osborne in 1853 for Her Majesty, the Queen. Designed in the Italian style, this fine specimen of the brassworkers' skill, relieved by burnishing and light matted work, ornamented with figures of Peace, Plenty, and Love in purest Parian, masks of female faces typical of night, and otherwise decorated in the richest manner, was declared by the late Prince Consort as the finest work he had ever seen made in this country and worthy to rank with that of the masters of old. Not so fortunate was Mr. Collis with the "Clarence chandelier" and sideboard he exhibited at the Exhibition of 1862. Originally made of the richest ruby cut and gilded glass for William IV., it was not finished before that monarch's death, and was left on the maker's hand. Its cost was nearly £1,000, but at the final sale of Mr. Collis's effects in Dec. 1881 it was sold for £5.

Charity.—Charitable collections were made in this neighbourhood in 1655, for the Redmontese Protestants, Birmingham giving £15 11s. 2d., Sutton Coldfield £14, and Aston £4 14s. 2d. On the 6th of June, 1690, £13 18s. 1-1/2d. were collected at St. Martin's "for ye Irish Protestants." In 1764 some Christmas performances were given for the relief of aged and distressed housekeepers, and the charitable custom thus inaugurated was kept up for over seventy years. In the days of monks and monasteries, the poor and needy, the halt and lame, received charitable doles at the hands of the former and at the gates of the latter, but it would be questionable how far the liberality of the parsons, priests, and preachers of the present day would go were the same system now in vogue. It has been estimated that nearly £5,000 is given every year in what may be called the indiscriminate charity of giving alms to those who ask it in the streets or from door to door. By far the largest portion of this amount goes into the hands of the undeserving and the worthless, and the formation of a central relief office, into which the charitably-disposed may hand in their contributions, and from whence the really poor and deserving may receive help in times of distress, has been a long felt want. In 1869 a "Charity Organisation Society" was established here, and it is still in existence, but it does not appear to meet with that recognised support which such an institution as suggested requires. In 1882 a special fund was started for the purpose of giving aid to women left with children, and about £380 was subscribed thereto, while the ordinary income was only £680. The special fund can hardly be said as yet to have got into working order, but when the cost of proving the property of the recipients, with the necessary expenses of office rent, salaries, &c., have been deducted from the ordinary income, the amount left to be distributed among the persons deemed by the officials deserving of assistance is small indeed, the expenses reaching about £330 per year. In 1880 it cost £329 18s. 4d. to give away food, cash, and clothing, &c., valued at £386 16s. 6d., an apparent anomally which would not be so glaring if the kind-hearted and charitable would only increase the income of the Society, or re-organise it upon a wider basis.—For statistics of poverty and the poor see "Pauperism" and "Poor Rates."

Chartism.—Following the great Reform movement of 1832, in which Birmingham led the van, came years of bad harvests, bad trade, and bitter distress. The great Chartist movement, though not supported by the leaders of the local Liberal party, was taken up with a warmth almost unequalled in any other town in the Kingdom, meetings being held daily and nightly for months in succession, Feargus O'Connor, Henry Vincent, and many other "orators of the fiery tongue," taking part. On the 13th of August, 1838, a monstre demonstration took place on Holloway Head, at which it was reckoned there were over 100,000 persons present, and a petition in favour of "The Charter" was adopted that received the signatures of 95,000 people in a few days. The Chartist "National Convention" met here May 13, 1839, and noisy assemblages almost daily affrighted the respectable townsmen out of their propriety. It was advised that the people should abstain from all exciseable articles, and "run for gold" upon the savings banks—very good advice when given by Attwood in 1832, but shockingly wicked in 1839 when given to people who could have had but little in the savings or any other banks. This, and the meetings which ensued, so alarmed the magistrates for the safety of property that, in addition to swearing in hundreds of special constables, they sent to London for a body of police. These arrived on July 4, and unfortunately at the time a stormy meeting was being held in the Bull Ring, which they were at once set to disperse, a work soon accomplished by the free use they made of their staves. The indignant Brums, however, soon rallied and drove the police into the Station, several being wounded on either side. The latent fury thus engendered burst out in full force on the 15th when the notorious Chartist Riots commenced, but the scenes then enacted, disgraceful as they were, may well be left in oblivion, especially as the best of "the points" of the Charter are now part of the laws of the land. Besides many others who were punished more or less, two of the leaders, Wm. Lovett and John Collins, were sentenced to one year's imprisonment for a seditious libel in saying that "the people of Birmingham were the best judges of their own rights to meet in the Bull Ring, and the best judges of their own power and resources to obtain justice." On the 27th July, 1849, Lovett and Collins were accorded a public welcome on their release from prison, being met at the Angel by a crowd of vehicles, bands of music, &c., and a procession (said to have numbered nearly 30,000), accompanied them to Gosta Green where speeches were delivered; a dinner, at which 800 persons sat down, following on the site of "The People's Hall of Science," in Loveday Street. In 1841, Joseph Sturge gave in his adhesion to some movement for the extension of the franchise to the working classes, and at his suggestion a meeting was held at the Waterloo Rooms (Feb. 25th, 1842), and a memorial to the Queen drawn up, which in less than a month received 16,000 signatures. On the 5th of April, 87 delegates from various parts of England, Ireland, and Scotland, assembled here, and after four days' sitting formed themselves into "The National Complete Suffrage Union," whose "points" were similar to those of the Charter, viz., manhood suffrage, abolition of the property qualification, vote by ballot, equal electoral districts, payment of election expenses and of members, and annual Parliaments. On the 27th of December, another Conference was held (at the Mechanics' Institute), at which nearly 400 delegates were present, but the apple of discord had been introduced, and the "Complete Suffrage Union" was pooh-poohed by the advocates of "the Charter, the whole Charter, and nothing but the Charter," and our peace-loving townsman, whom The Times had dubbed "the Birmingham Quaker Chartist," retired from the scene. From that time until the final collapse of the Chartist movement, notwithstanding many meetings were held, and strong language often used, Birmingham cannot be said to have taken much part in it, though, in 1848 (August 15th), George J. Mantle, George White, and Edward King, three local worthies in the cause, found themselves in custody for using seditious language.

Chauntries.—In 1330 Walter of Clodeshale, and in 1347 Richard of Clodeshale, the "Lords of Saltley," founded and endowed each a Chauntry in old St. Martin's Church, wherein daily services should be performed for themselves, their wives, and ancestors, in their passage through purgatory. In like manner, in 1357, Philip de Lutteley gave to the Lutteley chantry in Enville Church, a parcel of land called Morfe Woode, "for the health of his soul, and the souls of all the maintained of the said chantry;" and in 1370 he gave other lands to the chantry, "for the priest to pray at the altar of St. Mary for the health of his soul, and Maud his wife, and of Sir Fulke de Birmingham," and of other benefactors recited in the deed. It is to be devoutly hoped that the souls of the devisees and their friends had arrived safely at their journeys' end before Harry the Eighth's time, for he stopped the prayers by stopping the supplies.

Cherry Street took its name from the large and fruitful cherry orchard which we read of as being a favourite spot about the year 1794.

Chicago Fire.—The sum of £4,300 was subscribed and sent from here towards relieving the sufferers by this calamity.

Children.—A society known as "The Neglected Children's Aid Society," was founded in 1862, by Mr. Arthur Ryland, for the purpose of looking after and taking care of children under fourteen found wandering or begging, homeless or without proper guardianship. It was the means of rescuing hundreds from the paths of dishonesty and wretchedness, but as its work was in a great measure taken up by the School Board, the society was dissolved Dec. 17, 1877. Mr. Thos. Middlemore, in 1872, pitying the condition of the unfortunate waifs and strays known as "Street Arabs," took a house in St. Luke's Road for boys, and one in Spring Road for girls, and here he has trained nearly a thousand poor children in ways of cleanliness and good behaviour prior to taking the larger part of them to Canada. A somewhat similar work, though on a smaller scale, is being carried on by Mr. D. Smith, in connection with the mission attached to the Bloomsbury Institution. In both instances the children are found good homes, and placed with worthy people on their arrival in Canada, and, with scarcely an exception all are doing well. The total cost per head while at the Homes and including the passage money is about £16, and subscriptions will be welcomed, so that the work of the Institutions may be extended as much as possible.

Chimes.—The earliest note we can find respecting the chimes in the tower of St. Martin's is in a record dated 1552, which states there were "iiij belles, with a clocke, and a chyme."

Chimnies.—Like all manufacturing towns Birmingham is pretty well ornamented with tall chimnies, whose foul mouths belch forth clouds of sooty blackness, but the loftiest and most substantial belongs to the town itself. At the Corporation Wharf in Montague Street the "stack" is 258 feet in height, with a base 54 feet in circumference, and an inside diameter of 12 feet. About 250,000 bricks were used in its construction, which was completed in September, 1879.—Householders of an economical turn must remember it is not always the cheapest plan to clean their chimnies by "burning them out," for in addition to the danger and risk of damage by so doing, the authorities of Moor Street have the peculiar custom of imposing a penalty (generally 10s.) when such cases are brought before them. Should such an event occur by mischance keep all doors and windows shut, and do not admit the sweeps who may come knocking at your door, unless fully prepared with the half-crowns they require as bribes not to tell the police. As a rule it is cheaper to trust to "Robert" not seeing it.

China Temple Field was a noted place for amusements about the year 1820, and was situate where Cattell Road is now. Originally it formed part of the grounds of Bordesley Hall, which was wrecked in the riots of 1791.

Choral Society.—This Society held its first Choral Concert, August 2, 1836. The Festival Choral Society was established in 1845.

Cholera.—This dreadful epidemic has never yet been felt in severity in this town, though several fatal cases were reported in August, 1832. In July, 1865, great alarm was caused by the fact of 243 inmates of the Workhouse being attacked with choleraic symptoms, but they all recovered.

Church Pastoral Aid Society.—There is a local branch of this Society here, and about £1,300 per annum is gathered in and forwarded to the parent society, who in return grant sums in aid of the stipends of thirty Curates and as many Scripture readers, amounting to nearly £4,700 per year.

Churchrates.—Prior to 1831, Churchrates had been regularly levied, and, to a great extent, cheerfully paid, but with the other reforms of that Reforming age came the desire to re-form this impost, by doing away with it altogether, and at a meeting held on August 7, 1832, the ratepayers assembled not only denounced it, but petitioned Parliament for its entire abolition. Between that year and 1837, Churchrates of 6d. to 9d. in the £ were not at all infrequent, but in the latter year there was a sweet little row, which led to an alteration. At a vestry meeting held March 28, the redoubtable George Frederick Muntz, with George Edmonds, and other "advanced" men of the times, demanded a personal examination of the books, &c., &c., with the result doubtless anticipated and wished for—a general shindy, free fight, and tumult. For his share in the riot, G.F.M. was put on his trial in the following year (March 30 to April 1) and had to pay over £2,000 in the shape of costs, but he may be said to have won something after all, for a better feeling gradually took the place of rancour, and a system of "voluntary" rates—notably one for the rebuilding of St. Martin's—was happily brought to work. The Bill for the abolition of Churchrates was passed July 13, 1868.

Church Street.—In 1764 at Warwick a legal battle was fought as to a right of way through the New Hall Park, the path in dispute being the site of the present Church Street.

Circuses.—The first notice we have of any circus visiting Birmingham is that of Astley's which came here October 7, 1787. In 1815 Messrs. Adams gave performances in a "new equestrian circus on the Moat," and it has interest in the fact that this was the first appearance locally of Mr. Ryan, a young Irishman, then described as "indisputably the first tight-rope dancer in the world of his age." Mr. Ryan, a few years later, started a circus on his own account, and after a few years of tent performances, which put money in his pocket, ventured on the speculation of building a permanent structure in Bradford-street, opening his "New Grand Arena" there in 1827. Unfortunately, this proved a failure, and poor Ryan went to the wall. The circus (known now as the Circus Chapel), long lay empty, but was again re-opened May 19, 1838, as an amphitheatre, but not successfully. In 1839 the celebrated Van Amburgh, whose establishment combined the attractions of a circus and a menagerie, visited this town, and his performances were held, rather strangely, at the Theatre Royal. On the night of the Bull Ring Riots, July 15th, when there was "a full house," the startling news that a number of buildings were on fire, &c., was shouted out just at the moment that Van Amburgh was on the stage with a number of his well-trained animals. He himself was reclining on the boards, his head resting on the sides of a tawny lion, while in his arms was a beautiful child, four or five years old, playing with the ears of the animal. The intelligence naturally caused great excitement, but the performer went quietly on, hoisting the little darling to his shoulder, and putting his animals through their tricks as calmly as if nothing whatever was the matter. In 1842, Ducrow's famous troupe came, and once again opened Ryan's Circus in the Easter week, and that was the last time the building was used for the purpose it was originally erected for. Cooke's, Hengler's, Newsome's, and Sanger's periodical visits are matters of modern date. The new building erected by Mr. W.R. Inshaw, at foot of Snow Hill, for the purposes of a Concert Hall, will be adaptable as a Circus.

Climate.—From the central position in which Birmingham is situated, and its comparative elevation, the town has always been characterised as one of the healthiest in the kingdom. Dr. Priestley said the air breathed here was as pure as any he had analysed. Were he alive now and in the habit of visiting the neighbourhood of some of our rolling mills, &c., it is possible he might return a different verdict, but nevertheless the fact remains that the rates of mortality still contrast most favourably as against other large manufacturing towns.

Clocks.—One of Boulton's specialties was the manufacture of clocks, but it was one of the few branches that did not pay him. Two of his finest astronomical clocks were bought by the Empress of Russia, after being offered for sale in this country in vain. His friend, Dr. Small, is said to have invented a timepiece containing but a single wheel. The "town clocks" of the present day are only worth notice on account of their regular irregularity, and those who wish to be always "up to the time o' day," had best set their watches by the instrument placed in the wall of the Midland Institute. The dome of the Council House would be a grand position in which to place a really good clock, and if the dials were fitted with electric lights it would be useful at all hours, from near and far.

Clubs.—No place in the kingdom can record the establishment of more clubs than Birmingham, be they Friendly Clubs, Money Clubs (so-called), or the more taking Political Clubs, and it would be a hard task to name them all, or say how they flourished, or dropped and withered. In the years 1850-60 it was estimated that at publichouses and coffeehouses there were not less than 180 Money Clubs, the members paying in weekly or fortnightly subscriptions of varying amount for shares £5 to £100, and though there cannot be the slightest doubt that many of our present mastermen owe their success in life to this kind of mutual help, the spirit of gambling in money shares proved, on the whole, to be disastrous to the members who went in for good interest on their deposits. Of Friendly Clubs we shall have something to say under another beading. Respecting the Political Clubs and those of a general nature we may say that the earliest we have note of is the "Church and King Club," whose first meeting was held at the Royal Hotel, Nov. 27, 1792. Of a slightly different nature was the "Hampden Club," established in 1815, but which was closed by the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act in 1817. During the troublous times of 1830-40, many clubs, or "smoke-room palavers," existed, but, perhaps the only one that really showed results was the Branch Club (or local agency), connected with the Land Scheme of Feargus O'Connor [see "Land Societies"], and that ultimately dwindled to naught. On July 5, 1847, a club on the plan of the London "Whittington" was started here, but when or why it ended deponent knoweth not.—The Union Clubhouse, corner of Newhall Street and Colmore Row, which cost £16,000, was built in 1868-9, being opened May 3rd of the latter year. This must be considered as the chief neutral ground in local club matters, gentlemen of all shades of politics, &c., being members. The number of members is limited to 400, with 50 "temporary" members, the entrance fee being £15 15s., and the annual subscription £7 7s.—The Town and District Club, opened at the Shakespeare Rooms, in August, 1876, also started on the non-political theory: the town members paying £3 3s per annum, and country members a guinea or guinea and half, according to their residence being within 25 or 100 miles.—A Liberal Club was founded October 16, 1873, under the auspices of Mr. Joseph Chamberlain and took possession of its present rooms in Corporation Street, January 20, 1880, pending the completion of the palatial edifice now in course of erection in Edmund Street, at the corner of Congreve Street. The "Forward Liberal Club," opened in Great Hampton Street, October 30, 1880. A "Junior Liberal Club" celebrated their establishment by a meeting in the Town Hall, November 16, 1880. The Conservatives, of course, have not been at all backward in Club matters, for there has been some institution or other of the kind connected with the party for the last hundred years. The Midland Conservative Club was started July 4, 1872, and has its head-quarters now in Waterloo-street, the old County Court buildings being remodelled for the purpose. A Junior Conservative Club opened in Castle Street, June 25, 1874; a Young Men's Conservative Club commenced July 26, 1876; the Belmont Conservative Club, July 30, 1877; and the Hampton Conservative Club, August 21st of same year. In fact, every ward in the borough, and every parish and hamlet in the suburbs now has its Conservative and Liberal Club; the workingmen having also had their turn at Club-making, the Birmingham Heath working men opening up shop, August 25, 1864; the Saltley boys in October, 1868; the St. Albanites following suit December 1, 1873; and the Ladywood men, November 30, 1878. A Club of more pretentious character, and called par excellence "The Working-man's Club," was begun July 20, 1863, but the industriously-inclined members thereof did not work together well, and allowed the affair to drop through. Backed by several would-be-thought friends of the working class, another "Working Men's Club" sprung into existence April 29, 1875, with a nominal capital of £2,500 in 10s. shares. Rooms were opened in Corn Exchange Passage on the 31st of May, and for a time all promised well. Unfortunately the half-sovereigns did not come in very fast, and the landlord, though he knew "Nap" to be a very favourite game, did not choose, to be caught napping, and therefore "took his rest" at the end of the fifth half-year, and in so doing rent the whole fabric of the club.—The Edgbaston Art Club was organised in 1878; the Chess Club in 1841; the Germania Club in 1856; the Gymnastic Club in 1866; the Dramatic Club in May, 1865; the Farmer's Club in May, 1864, the Pigeon flying Club at Quilter's in 1875, &c., &c. Club law has great attractions for the Brums—every profession and every trade hath its club, and all the "fanciers" of every sort and kind club by themselves, till their name is "Legion."

Coaches.—From its being situated as it were in the very heart of the kingdom, Birmingham, in the olden days, and it is but fifty years ago, was an important converging central-point of the great mailcoach system, and a few notes in connection therewith cannot be uninteresting. Time was when even coaching was not known, for have we not read how long it took ere the tidings of Prince Rupert's attack on our town reached London. A great fear seems to have possessed the minds of the powers that were in regard to any kind of quick transmission whatever, for in the year 1673 it was actually proposed "to suppress the public coaches that ran within fifty or sixty miles of London," and to limit all the other vehicles to a speed of "thirty miles per day in summer, and twenty-five in winter"—for what might not be dreaded from such an announcement as that "that remarkable swift travelling coach, 'The Fly,' would leave Birmingham on Mondays and reach London on the Thursdays following." Prior to and about 1738, an occasional coach was put on the road, but not as a regular and periodical conveyance, the fare to London being 25 shillings, "children on lap, and footmen behind, being charged half-price." A "Flying Coach" commenced running direct to the Metropolis on May 28th, 1745, and was evidently thought to be an event of some importance, as it was advertised to do the distance in two days "if the roads permitted." In July, 1782, the same journey was accomplished in 14 hours, showing a great improvement in the arrangements of the road. The first mail coaches for the conveyance of letters was started by Mr. Palmer, of Bath, in 1784, the earliest noticed as passing through here being on August 23, 1785, but the first direct mail from this town dates only from May 25, 1812. In February, 1795, the Western mailcoaches were delayed nearly a week together in consequence of a rapid thaw rendering the roads impassable. In 1777 fifty-two coaches passed through here to London and sixteen to Bristol every week. In 1829 at least 100 departed from or passed through the town daily, 550 persons travelling between here and London. In 1832 Mr. Lecount estimated the general results of the road and canal traffic between here and London as follows: Pessengers, 233,155; goods, 62,389 tons; parcels, 46,799; beasts, 50,839; sheep, 365,000; pigs, 15,364; the amount expended in cost of transit being £1,338,217. In 1837 it was estimated that £6,789 was received per week from coach passengers on the road from here to London, £1,571 for parcels per coach, and £729 from persons posting along the same roads; and that £8,120 was received for goods by canals and waggons, not including iron, timber, cattle, minerals, or other goods at low tonnage—£17,209 per week. There was, notwithstanding the large number of coaches leaving here every day, no direct conveyance from Birmingham to Edinburgh. The best and usual route was by Walsall, Manchester, Preston, and Carlisle; distances and times being, Manchester, 78-1/2 miles, 8 hours, fare, 14s.; Manchester to Carlisle, 118 miles, 12 hours 55 minutes by the mail, including stoppage of fifty minutes at Preston for post office purposes, fare, £1 2s. 6d.; Carlisle to Edinburgh, 95 miles, 9 hours 35 minutes, fare, 18s.; coachmen and guards' fees about 15s.; all hotel charges, &c., were paid by the passenger. Total distance, 291-1/2 miles; travelling time, 30-1/2 hours; cost, £3 9s. 6d., in all. The mail coach which left the Albion reached London in 10-1/2 hours, which would be reckoned as very good travelling, even in these days. For some time after the introduction of railways, the coaching interest was still of some account, for as late as 1840 there were 54 coaches and omnibuses running from here every 24 hours.— There has been a kind of modern revival of the good old coaching days, but it has not become popular in this part of the country, though quite a summer feature on the Brighton Road. A four-in-hand, driven by the Earl of Aylesford, was put on the road from here to Coventry, at latter end of April, 1878; and another ran for part of the summer, in 1880, to Leamington. The introduction of railways set many persons to work on the making of "steam coaches" to travel on the highways. Captain Ogle coming here on one of his own inventing September 8th, 1832, direct from Oxford, having travelled at from ten to fourteen miles per hour. Our local geniuses were not behindhand, and Messrs. Heaton Bros., and the well-known Dr. Church brought out machines for the purpose. Both parties started joint-stock companies to carry out their inventions, and in that respect both parties succeeded, for such was the run for shares, that in June, 1833, when Heatons' prospectus came out, offering to the public 2,000 £10 shares, no less than 3,000 were asked for in one day. There was also a third company in the field, the "London, Birmingham, and Liverpool," with a nominal capital of £300,000; but none of them prospered; for though they could construct the engines and the coaches, they could not make receipts cover expenses. Heatons' ran theirs for some little time to Wolverhampton and back, and even to the Lickey; the Doctor came out every month with something new; and even the big Co. managed to bring one carriage all the way from London (August 28th, 1835). Others besides Captain Ogle also came here on their iron horses, and there was plenty of fun and interest for the lookers-on generally— but no trade and no interest for the speculators. For steam coaches of the present day, see "Tramways."

Coal was not in common use much before 1625, and for a long time was rather shunned by householders, more especially in the rural parts where the black diamonds were looked upon as something altogether uncanny. Prior to the opening of the first canal, the roads leading from the Black Country daily presented the curious feature of an almost unending procession of carts and waggons bringing the supplies needed by our manufacturers, and high prices were the rule of the day. The first boatload was brought in on November 6th, 1769, and soon after the price of coal at the wharf was as low as 4d. per cwt.—See "Trades."

Cobbett delivered a lecture on the Corn Laws, &c., at Beardsworth's Repository, May 10 1830.

Cobden.—There was a general closing of places of business here on April 6, 1865, the day on which Richard Cobden was buried.

Cockfighting.—Aris's Gazette of December 26, 1780, announced in one of its advertisements that "the Annual Subscription Match of Cocks" would be fought at Duddeston Hall, commonly called "Vauxhall," on the New Year's day and day after.—The same paper printed an account of another Cockfight, at Sutton, as late as April 17, 1875.

Coffeehouses.—Coffee, which takes its name from the Abyssinian province of Kaffa, was introduced into this country in the early part of the 17th century, the first coffeehouse being opened in London in 1652. Until very late years coffeehouses in provincial towns were more noted for their stuffy untidiness than aught else, those of Birmingham not excepted, but quite a change has come o'er the scene now, and with all the brave glitter of paint and glaring gas they attempt to rival the public-houses. The Birmingham Coffeehouse Company, Limited (originally miscalled The Artizan's Clubhouse Company), which came into existence March 27, 1877, with a capital of £20,000 in 10s. shares, has now near upon a score of houses open, and their business is so successful that very fair dividends are realised.

Coffins.—Excluding textile fabrics and agricultural produce, Birmingham supplies almost every article necessary for the comfort of man's life, and it is therefore not surprising that some little attention has been given to the construction of the "casket" which is to enclose his remains when dead. Coffins of wood, stone, lead, &c., have been known for centuries, but coffins of glass and coffins of brass must be ranked amongst the curiosities of our later trades. Two of the latter kind polished, lacquered, and decorated in a variety of ways, with massive handles and emblazoned shields, were made here some few years back for King Egbo Jack and another dark-skinned potentate of South Africa. "By particular request" each of these coffins were provided with four padlocks, two outside and two inside, though how to use the latter must have been a puzzle even for a dead king. The Patent Metallic Air-tight Coffin Co., whose name pretty accurately describes their productions, in 1861 introduced hermetically-sealed coffins with plate glass panels in the lid, exceedingly useful articles in case of contagious diseases, &c., &c. The trade in coffin "furniture" seems to have originated about 1760, when one ingenious "Mole" pushed it forward; and among the list of patents taken out in 1796 by a local worthy there is one for "a patent coffin," though its particular speciality could not have met with much approval, as although some thousands of bodies have been removed from our various sepultures nothing curious or rarer than rotten boards and old lead has been brought to light.

Coinage.—So far had our patriotic forefathers proceeded in the art of making money that about the middle of the last century it was estimated over one half the copper coin in circulation was counterfeit, and that nine-tenths thereof was manufactured in Birmingham, where 1,000 halfpennies could be had of the makers for 25s. Boulton's big pennies were counterfeited by lead pennies faced with copper. One of these would be a curiosity now. The bronze coinage was first issued December 1, 1860, and soon after Messrs. Ralph Heaton & Sons made 100 tons of bronze coins for the Mint. They are distinguished by the letter "H" under the date. The number, weight, and value of this issue were as follows:—

The same firm has had several similar contracts, the last being in hand at the present time. The bronze is composed of 95 parts copper, 4 tin, and 1 zinc.

Colmore Row, which now extends from the Council House to the Great Western Hotel (including Ann Street and Monmouth Street) is named after the Colmore family, the owners of the freehold. Great Colmore Street, Caroline and Charlotte Streets, Great and Little Charles Streets, Cregoe, Lionel, and Edmund Streets, all take their names from the same source.

Colonnade.—This very handsome and (for Birmingham) rather novel-looking building, was opened Jan. 10, 1883, being erected by Mr. A. Humpage, at a cost of about £70,000, from the designs of Mr. W.H. Ward. The Colonnade proper runs round the entire building, giving frontage to a number of shops, the upper portion of the block being partly occupied by the Midland Conservative Club, and the rest of the building, with the basement, fitted up as a Temperance Hotel and "Restaurant."

Comets.—The inhabitants were very much terrified by the appearance of a comet in December, 1680. At Michaelmas, 1811, an exceedingly brilliant comet appeared, supposed to have been the same which was seen at the birth of Jesus Christ. Donati's comet was first observed June 2, 1858, but was most brilliant in September and October. The comets of 1861 and 1883 were also visible here.

Commissioners.—The first local governing body of the town, though with but the merest shadow of power as compared with the Corporation of to-day, were the Street Commissioners appointed under an Act of Geo. III. in 1769, their duties being confined almost solely to repairing, cleansing, and "enlightening" the streets of the town, appointing watchmen, &c., their power of raising funds being limited to 1s. in the £. By succeeding Acts of 1773, 1801, 1812, and 1828, the powers of the Commissioners were considerably enlarged, and they must be credited with the introduction of the first set of local improvement schemes, including the widening of streets, clearing the Bull Ring of the houses round St. Martin's Church, making owners lay out proper streets for building, purchasing the market tolls, building of Town Hall and Market Hall, regulating carriages, and "suppressing the smoke nuisance arising from engines commonly called steam engines," &c., and, though they came in for their full share of obloquy and political rancour, it cannot be denied they did good and faithful service to the town. The Commissioners had the power of electing themselves, every vacancy being filled as it occurred by those who remained, and, as the Act of 1828 increased their number to no less than 89, perhaps some little excuse may be made for the would-be leading men of the day who were left out in the cold. Be that as it may, the Charter of Incorporation put them aside, and gave their power and authority into the hands of a popularly-elected representative body. The Commissioners, however, remained as a body in name until the last day of December, 1851, when, as a token of remembrance, they presented the town with the ornamental fountain formerly standing in the centre of the Market Hall, but which has been removed to Highgate Park. On the transfer of their powers to the Corporation, the Commissioners handed over a schedule of indebtedness, showing that there was then due on mortgage of the "lamp rate," of 4 per cent, £87,350; on the "Town Hall rate," at 4 per cent., £25,000; annuities, £947 3s. 4d.; besides £7,800, at 5 percent., borrowed by the Duddeston and Nechells Commissioners, making a total of £121,097 3s. 4d.

Commons.—Handsworth Common was enclosed in 1793. An Act was passed in 1798 for enclosing and allotting the commons and waste land in Birmingham. The commons and open fields of Erdington and Witton were enclosed and divided in 1801.

Concert Halls, &c.—The Birmingham Concert Hall, better known as "Holder's," was built in 1846, though for years previous the house was noted for its harmonic meetings; the present Hall has seats for 2,200 persons. Day's Concert Hall was erected in 1862 the opening night, September 17, being for the benefit of the Queen's Hospital, when £70 was realised therefor; the Hall will accommodate 1,500.—The Museum Concert Hall was opened Dec. 20, 1863, and will hold about 1,000 people.—A very large building intended for use as a Concert Hall, &c., will soon be opened in Snow Hill, to be conducted on temperance principles.—A series of popular Monday evening concerts was commenced in the Town Hall, Nov. 12, 1844, and was continued for nearly two years.—Twopenny weekly "Concerts for the People" were started at the Music Hall, Broad Street (now Prince of Wales' Theatre), March 25, 1847, but they did not take well.—Threepenny Saturday evening concerts in Town Hall, were begun in November, 1879.

Conferences and Congresses of all sorts of people have been held here from time to time, and a few dates are here annexed:—A Conference of Wesleyan ministers took place in 1836, in 1844, 1854, 1865, and 1879, being the 136th meeting of that body. Four hundred Congregational ministers met in Congress Oct. 5, 1862. A Social Science Congress was held Sept. 30, 1868. A Trades Union Conference Aug. 23, 1869. National Education League Conference, Oct. 12, 1869. National Republican Conference, May 12, 1873. Conference on Sanitary Reform, Jan. 14, 1875. A Co-operative Societies Conference, July 3, 1875. A Conference of Christians in Needless Alley, Oct. 27, 1875. The Midland Counties' Church Defence Associations met in the Exchange, Jan. 18, 1876, and on the 9th of Feb. the advocates for disestablishing and disendowing the Church said their say in the Masonic Hall, resolutions in favour of sharing the loaves and fishes being enthusiastically carried by the good people who covet not their neighbours' goods. A Domestic Economy Congress was held July 17, 1877. A Church Conference held sittings Nov. 7, 1877. The friends of International Arbitration met in the Town Hall, May 2, 1878, when 800 delegates were present, but the swords are not yet beaten into ploughshares. How to lessen the output of coal was discussed March 5, 1878, by a Conference of Miners, who not being then able to settle the question, met again June 17, 1879, to calmly consider the advisableness of laying idle all the coalpits in the country for a time, as the best remedy they could find for the continued reduction of wages. The 18th Annual Conference of the British Association of Gas Managers was held here June 14, 1881, when about 500 of those gentlemen attended. A considerable amount of gassy talk anent the wonderful future naturally arose, and an endowment fund of £323 was banked to provide a medal for "any originality in connection with the manufacture and application of gas," but the Gas Committee of Birmingham, without any vast improvement in the manufacture, still keep to their original idea of sharing profits with ratepayers, handing over £25,000 each year to the Borough rates. On Bank Holiday, August 6, 1883, a Conference of Bakers took place here, and at the same date the 49th "High Court" of Foresters assembled at the Town Hall, their last visit having been in 1849.

Conservative Associations have been in existence for at least fifty years, as the formation of one in December, 1834, is mentioned in the papers of the period. The present one, which is formed on a somewhat similar plan to that of the Liberal Association, and consists of 300 representatives chosen from the wards, held its first meeting May 18, 1877. Associations of a like nature have been formed in most of the wards, and in Balsall Heath, Moseley, Aston, Handsworth, and all the suburbs and places around.

Constables.—In 1776 it was necessary to have as many as 25 constables sworn in to protect the farmers coming to the weekly market.—See also "Police."

Consuls.—There are Consulates here for the following countries (for addresses see Directory):—Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chili, France, Germany, Greece, Liberia, Portugal, Spain and Italy, Turkey, United States, United States of Columbia, and Uruguay.

Co-operative Societies at one time were put in the same category as Chartist, Socialist, and Communistic Associations, all banned alike. Nevertheless, in the old "Reform days" the theory of co-operation was most enthusiastically taken up by the workers of this town, even more so than in any other place in the kingdom. As early as 1828 several attempts had been made to form such societies, but the one which appeared the most likely to succeed was the so-called "Labour Exchange," situated in the old Coach Yard, in Bull Street, formed on the basis so eloquently and perseveringly advocated by Robert Owen. The principle of this Exchange was to value all goods brought in at the cost of the raw material, plus the labour and work bestowed thereon, the said labour being calculated at the uniform rate of 6d. per hour. On the reception of the goods "notes" to the value were given which could be handed over as equivalent for any other articles there on sale, and for a time this rather crude plan was successful. Sharp customers, however found that by giving in an advanced valuation of their own goods they could by using their "notes" procure others on which a handsome profit was to be made outside the Labour Mart, and this ultimately brought the Exchange to grief. Mr. William Pare and Mr. George Jacob Holyoake, were foremost among the advocates of Co-operation at the period, and a most interesting history of "Co-operation in England" has been written by the latter gentleman. Other societies were also in operation from time to time, the longest-lived being the "Economic Provision Company," which was commenced at Handsworth in 1830 by some of the workers at Soho and Soho Foundry, 139 of whom clubbed 20s. each as a starting fund. After a few months' trial, the profits were allowed to accumulate until they made up £5 per share, on which capital no less than £6,000 were paid in dividends during the first thirty years. The Supply Associations of the present day are somewhat differently constituted, such establishments as the one in Corporation Street (formerly in Cannon Street) and that in High Street being on the most extensive scale, offering to the general public all the advantages derivable from the use of large capital, combined with a fair division of profits to the customer, as well as to the shareholders. The Birmingham Household Supply Association in Corporation Street supplies all the necessaries required in the household, in addition to eatables and drinkables of the very best quality, including Messrs. Walter Showell and Sons' ales, which are sent out at the same prices as from the firm's own offices, either in cask or bottle.

Cornavii.—The ancient inhabitants of this part of England, but who were subdued by the Romans. Whether the said inhabitants had any name for the particular spot now called Birmingham must for ever remain doubtful.

Corn Exchange, in High-street, was opened October 28, 1847. The original capital of the Company was £5,000, in shares of £25 each; but the total cost of erection was a little over £6,000. The length of the interior is 172 feet and the breadth 40 feet.

Corn Laws.—Long before the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League in 1838, a movement for the repeal of the obnoxious imposts had been started in this town, a petition being sent from here to Parliament in March, 1815, with 48,600 signatures attached. The doings of the League and their ultimate success is an off-told tale, the men of Birmingham of course taking their part in the struggle, which culminated on the 26th of June, 1846, in the passing of Sir Robert Peel's Bill for the total repeal of all duties levied on corn and breadstuffs.

Coroners.—The first borough coroner, the late Dr. Birt Davies, was appointed May 15, 1839, and he held the office till July, 1875, when Mr. Henry Hawkes was chosen as his successor, only one member of the Town Council voting against him. The preent coroner has introduced several improvements on the old system, especially in the matters of holding inquests at public-houses, and the summoning of jurors. Formerly the latter were chosen from the residents nearest to the scene of death, some gentlemen being continually called upon, while the occasional exhibition of a dead body in the back lumberroom of an inn yard, among broken bottles and gaping stablemen, was not conductive to the dignity of a coroner's court or particularly agreeable to the unfortunate surgeon who might have to perform a post mortem. Thanks to the persevering tenacity of Mr. Hawkes we have a proper court in Moor-street, and a mortuary at every police station to which bodies can at once be taken. The jurors are now chosen by rotation, so that having been once called upon to act as a good citizen in such a capacity no gentleman need fear a fresh summons for some years to come. Mr. Hooper, the coroner for South Staffordshire, received his appointment in 1860.

Corporation.—The Charter of Incorporation of the Borough of Birmingham, authorising the formation of a Governing body, consisting of Mayor, Aldermen, and Councillors, duly elected by the Burgesses, dates from October 31, 1838. The elections took place in December, the first meeting being held on the 27. The borough was originally divided into 13 wards, but has since been, by Order in Council, made into 16, though the number of Aldermen (16) and Councillors (48) has not been increased. The Mayor is elected for one year, the Councillors for three, and the Aldermen for six. The first Mayor chosen was William Schofield, Esq., who was succeeded by P.H. Muntz, Esq., in 1839 and 1840, the election taking place at the November sitting in each year. Since 1840, the Mayoral chair has been successively filled by:—

1841, S. Beale; 1842, J. James; 1843, T. Weston; 1844, T. Phillips; 1845, H. Smith; 1846, R. Martineau; 1847, C. Geach; 1848, S. Thornton; 1849, W. Lucy; 1850, W. Lucy; 1851, H. Smith; 1852, H. Hawkes; 1853, J. Baldwin; 1854, J. Palmer; 1855, T. R, T. Hodgson; 1856, J. Ratcliff; 1857, J. Ratcliff; 1858, Sir J. Ratcliff, Kt.; 1859, T. Lloyd; 1860, A. Ryland; 1861, H. Manton; 1862, C. Sturge; 1863, W. Holliday; 1864, H. Wiggin; 1865, E. Yates; 1866, G. Dixon; 1867, T. Avery; 1868, H. Holland; 1869, T. Prime; 1870, G. B. Lloyd; 1871, J. Sadler; 1872, A. Biggs; 1873, J. Chamberlain; 1874, J. Chamberlain; 1875, J. Chamberlain; 1876, G. Baker; 1877, W. Kenrick; 1878, J. Collings; 1879, R. Chamberlain; 1880, R. Chamberlain; 1881, T. Avery; 1882, W. White; 1883, W. Cook; 1884, W. Martineau.

The members of the Council in 1862 subscribed £200 for the purchase of a "Mayor's Chain," the first to wear "the glittering gaud," strange to say, being a Quaker, Charles Sturge to wit. To this chain a valuable addition has since been made in the shape of a stone, worth £150, presented to the Town Council by Mr. W. Spencer, June 27, 1873, as being the first diamond cut in Birmingham, and which was appropriately mounted. For the names and addresses of the Aldermen and Councillors of the various wards (changes taking place yearly) reference should be made to "The Birmingham Red Book" published annually, in which will also be found a list of all the borough officials, &c.

Corporation Stock.—The balance against the Borough in the shape of loans, or mortgages on the then rates, when the Town Council took over from the Street Commissioners was £121,100. By the end of 1864 the Borough debts stood at £638,300, at varying rates of interest. After the purchase of the Gas and Water Works, and the commencement of the Improvement Scheme, this amount was vastly increased, the town's indebtedness standing in 1880 at no less than £6,226,145. The old system of obtaining loans at the market price of the day, and the requirement of the Local Government Board that every separate loan should be repaid in a certain limited number of years, when so large an amount as 6-1/4 millions came to be handled necessitated a consolidation scheme, which has since been carried out, to the relief of present ratepayers and a saving to those who will follow. The whole of the liabilities in the Borough on loans were converted into Corporation three and a half per cent. stock at the commencement of 1881, the operation being performed by the Bank of England. The tenders for same were opened Jan. 18th, when it was found that £1,200,000 had been applied for at and slightly over the minimum rate of £98 per £100. The remaining £800,000 was allotted to a syndicate, who afterwards applied for it at the minimum price. Persons having money to invest cannot do better than visit the Borough Treasurer, Mr. Hughes, who will give every information as to the mode of investing even a £10 note in the Birmingham Corporation Stock.

County Areas.—The total areas of this and adjoining counties are:— Warwickshire 566,458 acres, Worcestershire 472,453, Staffordshire 732,434, and Shropshire 841,167.

County Court.—First opened in Birmingham at the Waterloo Rooms, Waterloo Street, April 28th, 1847. R. G. Welford, Esq., Q.C., acting as judge until September, 1872. He was followed by H. W. Cole, Esq., Q.C., who died in June, 1876; James Motteram, Esq., Q.C., who died Sept. 19, 1884: the present judge being W. Chambers, Esq., Q.C. The Circuit (No. 21) includes the towns and places of Aston, Atherstone, Balsall Heath, Curdworth, Castle Bromwich, Erdington, Gravelly Hill, Handsworth, Harborne, King's Heath, King's Norton, Lea Marston, Little Bromwich, Maxstoke, Minworth, Moseley, Nether Whitacre, Perry Barr, Saltley, Selly Oak, Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Water Orton and Wishaw.

County Officials.—For names and addresses of the Lord Lieutenant, Deputy Lieutenant, High Sheriff, County Magistrates, and other official gentlemen connected with the county of Warwick, see "Red Book."

Court of Bankruptcy holden at Birmingham (at the County Court, in Corporation Street) comprises all the places within the district of the County Court of Warwickshire holden at Birmingham, Tamworth and Solihull, and all the places in the district of the County Court of Worcestershire holden at Redditch.

Court Of Judicature.—Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, and Worcester, are District Registries of the Supreme Court of Judicature.

Court Leet.—The origin of that peculiar kind of Local Government Board, known in the olden days as the Court Leet of the Manor of Birmingham, is lost in the misty shadows of our past history. Doubtless there were many onerous duties connected therewith, and very possibly the officials considered themselves as "men of high degree," but what those duties actually were, and what the remuneration for their due fulfilment, appears to have been matter of doubt, even so late as a hundred and a few odd years ago. The rights, powers, and privileges of the officers of this Court had evidently been questioned by some of our Radical-minded great-grandfathers, as we find it was deemed necessary to assemble a jury on the 20th day of October, 1779, to "ascertain and present" the same, and from a little pamphlet at that time published, we extract the following:—

The Office of Low Bailiff.—"The Jury find and present that this officer is annually elected by the Jury, and that his office is in the nature of Sheriff of the Manor; that to him all the process of the Court is to be directed, and that it is his right and duty to summon all Juries to this court. And the Low Bailiff, at each fair, is entitled to one penny for each stall or standing pitched in the said fairs."

The Office of High Bailiff.—"The Jury find and present that this Officer is annually elected by the Jury; and that it is his duty to see that the fairs be duly proclaimed, and that due order be preserved in the fairs and markets; and if he sees any person in such fairs or markets using unlawful games, to the injury of ignorant persons and thoughtless youths, he may seize them and commit them to custody, to be taken before a proper magistrate. That it is his duty to see that all persons exposing any wares for sale in the fairs or markets, or as shopkeepers within the manor, have legal weights and measures."

The other officers of the Court Leet, whose duties are also defined in the aforesaid pamphlet, are the "Constables," the "Headborough," two "Affeirers" (who looked after the rents and dues belonging to the Lord of the Manor), two "Leather Sealers" (once important officers, when there was a Leather Market, but whose duties in and about the year named seemed to be confined to attending at the yearly dinners given by the High Bailiff), two "Ale-conners, otherwise high tasters," and two "Flesh-conners, otherwise low tasters." From their name it might be thought the duties of the last named officers were limited to the inspection of meat or flesh, but it will be seen that they were of a more comprehensive character:—

As we are now officered, inspectored and policed, and generally looked after as to our eating and drinking, &c., in the most improved modern style possible, it is not necessary to further fill space by saying what the "Headborough" had to do, or how many "Constables" assisted him. The last meeting of the Court Leet, long shorn of all its honours and privileges, was held October 28, 1851.

Court Of Record.—This was also called the "Mayor's Court," and was authorised in the Charter of Incorporation for the recovery of small debts under £20, the officers consisting of a Judge, Registrar, and two Sergeants-at-Mace. In 1852 (Oct. 26) the Town Council petitioned the Queen to transfer its powers to the County Court, which was acceded to in the following spring.

Court of Requests.—Constituted by Act of Parliament in 1752 this Court for "the more easy and speedy recovery of small debts within the town of Birmingham and the adjoining hamlet of Deritend" continued in operation until the present County Court system became the law of the land. Its powers were originally limited to debts not exceeding 40s. in amount (which was increased to £5 by an Act passed in 1807), the periods of imprisonment to which defaulting debtors were liable being apportioned out at the rate of one day in durance for each shilling due, except in special cases, wherein an addition (not to exceed three months) might be the reward for fraudulent concealment of property from creditors. The "Court" consisted of no less than six dozen judges, or, as the Act styled them, "Commissioners," from whose decisions there was no appeal whatever. These Commissioners were at first chosen from the ratepayers in a haphazard style, no mental or property qualification whatever being required, though afterwards it was made incumbent that they should be possessed of an income from real estate to value of £50 per year, or be worth £1,000 personalty. From the writings of William Hutton, himself one of the Commissioners, and other sources, we gather that justice, or what was supposed to be equivalent thereto, was administered in a rough-and-ready fashion of the rudest kind, the cases being frequently disposed of at the rate of thirty to forty per hour, and when we consider that imprisonment resulted at an average of one case in ten the troubles attendant upon impecuniosity in those days may be better imagined then described. The Court House, which is now occupied by sundry tradesmen, lay a little back from High-street, nearly opposite New-street, and in itself was no mean structure, having been (it is said), erected about the year 1650, as the town house of John Jennens, or Jennings, one of the wealthy family, the claims to whose estates have been unending, as well as unprofitable, barring, of course, to the long-robed and bewigged fraternity. A narrow passage from the right of the entrance hall leads by a dark winding staircase to the cellars, now filled with merchandise, but which formerly constituted the debtors' prison, or, as it was vulgarly called, "The Louse Hole," and doubtless from its frequently-crowded and horribly-dirty condition, with half-starved, though often debauched and dissipated, occupants, the nasty name was not inappropriately given. Shocking tales have been told of the scenes and practices here carried on, and many are still living who can recollect the miserable cry of "Remember the poor debtors," which resounded morning, noon, and night from the heavily-barred windows of these underground dungeons. The last batch of unfortunates here confined were liberated August 16, 1844.

Creche.—An institution which has been open in Bath Row for several years, and a great blessing to many poor mothers in its neighbourhood, but it is so little known that it has not met with the support it deserves, and is therefore crippled in its usefulness for want of more subscribers. The object of the institution is to afford, during the daytime, shelter, warmth, food, and good nursing to the infants and young children of poor mothers who are compelled to be from home at work. This is done at the small charge of 2d. per day—a sum quite inadequate to defray the expenses of the charity. The average number of children so sheltered is about 100 per week, and the number might be greatly increased if there were more funds. Gifts of coal, blankets, linen, perambulators, toys, pictures, &c., are greatly valued, and subscriptions and donations will be gladly received by the hon. treasurer.

Crescent, Cambridge Street.—When built it was thought that the inhabitants of the handsome edifices here erected would always have an extensive view over gardens and green fields, and certainly if chimney pots and slated roofs constitute a country landscape the present denizens cannot complain. The ground belongs to the Grammar School, the governors of which leased it in 1789 to Mr. Charles Norton, for a term of 120 years, at a ground rent of £155 10s. per year, the lessee to build 34 houses and spend £12,000 thereon; the yearly value now is about £1,800. On the Crescent Wharf is situated the extensive stores of Messrs. Walter Showell & Sons, from whence the daily deliveries of Crosswells Ales are issued to their many Birmingham patrons. Here may be seen, stacked tier upon tier, in long cool vistas, close upon 6,000 casks of varying sizes containing these celebrated ales, beers, and stouts. This stock is kept up by daily supplies from the brewery at Langley Green, many boats being employed in the traffic.

Crime.—A few local writers like to acknowledge that Birmingham is any worse than other large towns in the matter of crime and criminals, and the old adage respecting the bird that fouls its own nest has been more than once applied to the individuals who have ventured to demur from the boast that ours is par excellence, a highly moral, fair-dealing, sober, and superlatively honest community. Notwithstanding the character given it of old, and the everlasting sneer that is connected with the term "Brummagem," the fast still remains that our cases of drunkenness are far less than in Liverpool, our petty larcenies fewer than in Leeds, our highway robberies about half compared with Manchester, malicious damage a long way under Sheffield, and robberies from the person not more than a third of those reported in Glasgow; while as to smashing and coining, though it has been flung at us from the time of William of Orange to the present day; that all the bad money ever made must be manufactured here, the truth is that five-sixths of the villainous crew who deal in that commodity obtain their supplies from London, and not from our little "hardware village." But alas! there is a dark side to the picture, indeed, for, according to the Registrar-General's return of June, 1879 (and the proportionate ratio, we are sorry to say, still remains the same), Birmingham holds the unenviable position of being the town where most deaths from violence occur, the annual rate per 1,000 being 1.08 in Birmingham, 0.99 in Liverpool, 0.38in Sheffield, 0.37 in Portsmouth, the average for the kingdom being even less than that—"the proportional fatality from violence being almost invariably more than twice as large in Birmingham as in Sheffield."

Cross.—In the Bull Ring, when Hutton first came here, a poor wayfarer seeking employ, there was a square building standing on arches called "The Cross," or "Market Cross," the lower part giving a small shelter to the few countrywomen who brought their butter and eggs to market, while the chamber above provided accommodation for meetings of a public character. When the Corn Cheaping, the Shambles, and all the other heterogeneous collection of tumbledown shanties and domiciles which in the course of centuries had been allowed to gather round St. Martin's were cleared away, the Market Cross was demolished, and its exact site is hardly ascertainable. At Dale End there was a somewhat similar erection known as the "Welsh Cross," taking its peculiar name, says Hutton, from the locality then called "Welsh End," on account of the number of Welsh people living on that side of the town; though why the "Taffies" were honoured with a distinct little market house of their own is not made clear. This building was taken down in 1803, the 3-dial clock, weathercock, &c., being advertised for sale, October 12, 1802.

Crown.—The old Crown Inn, Deritend, is one of the very few specimens we have of the style of architecture adopted in the days of old, when timber was largely used in place of our modern bricks. Leland mentions the Crown Inn as existing in 1538, and a much longer history than that is claimed for it. In 1817 there was another Old Crown Inn in New Street, on the spot where Hyam's now stands, access to the Cherry Orchard being had through its yard, the right of way thus obtained being the origin of the present Union Passage.

Crystal Palaces.—It was proposed in August, 1853, that the Corporation should join with the Midland Railway Co. and the Corporation of Sutton in the erection of a "Sydenham Palace" in Sutton Park: Birmingham to lease 250 acres for 999 years, at 1s. per acre, find from £20,000 to £30,000 for the building and divide profits, the Midland Railway Co. being willing to make branch from Bromford and run cheap trains. The scheme was highly approved, but the Suttonites killed the goose that was to lay them such golden eggs by refusing to lease the land for more than ninety-nine years and wanting 20s. per acre rent. In July, 1877, a "Sutton Park Crystal Palace Co. (Lim.)" was registered, with a capital of £25,000 in £5 shares, for buying Mr. Cole's Promenade Gardens, erecting Hotel, Aquarium, Skating Rink, Concert Hall, Winter Gardens, &c., and the shares were readily taken up. Additional grounds were purchased, and though the original plans have not yet been all carried out, a very pleasant resort is to be found there. Day's, in Smallbrook Street, is also called a "Crystal Palace," on account of the style of decoration, and the immense mirror the proprietor purchased from the Hyde Park Exhibition of 1851.

Curzon Hall, built originally for the purposes of the Dog Shows, was opened in 1865. It is the property of a company, and cost about £7,500. The building is well suited and has been often used for exhibitions, panoramas, circus entertainments, &c., the hall being 103 ft. long by 91 ft. wide; the stage is of the fullest width, with a depth of 45 ft. There is room for 3,000 seats.

Danielites.—A tribe who eschew fish, flesh, and fowl, and drink no alcohol; neither do they snuff, smoke, or chew tobacco. At a fruit banquet, held on August, 1877, it was decided to organise a "Garden of Danielites" in Birmingham.

Dates.—The most complete work giving the dates of all the leading events in the world's history is "Haydn's Book of Dates," the latest edition bringing them down to 1882. For local events, the only "Local Book of Dates" published is that of 1874, but "Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham" (by the same author), will be found to contain more reliable data than any book hitherto issued. For information of a general character, respecting the immediate neighbourhood and adjoining counties, our readers cannot do better than refer to the files of Birmingham newspapers, preserved in the Reference Library, or write to the present editors of the said papers, gentlemen noted for their urbanity, and readiness to tell anybody anything.

Debating Societies.—From time immemorial the Brums have had their little Parliaments, mostly in public-house parlours and clubrooms, and certain Sunday nights gathering at "Bob Edmonds" and other well-known houses have acquired quite an historical interest; but the regularly-constituted "Spouting Clubs" of the present day cannot claim a very long existence, the Birmingham Debating Society having held their first palaver on the 3rd of Dec., 1846. In 1855 they joined the Edgbastonians. The latest of the kind started in 1884, is known as the Birmingham Parliamentary Debating Society, and has its premier, parties, and political fights, in proper Parliamentary style.

Deer Stealers.—There was a taste for venison in more classes than one in 1765, for it was found necessary to offer rewards for the detection of those persons who stole the deer from Aston Park.

Deodands.—Prior to the passing of 9 and 10 Vict., 1846, Coroner's Juries had the power of imposing a "deodand" or penalty on any article or animal which had been instrumental in causing the death of a human being, the said animal or article being forfeited if the owner did not pay.

Deritend.—In some antique records the name has been spelt "Duratehend." For this and other reasons it has been thought to have had its origin rather from the ancient British, as "dur" is still the Welsh word for water, and its situation on the Rea (a Gaelic word signifying a running stream) seems to give a little foundation therefor. Mr. Tonlmin Smith, in whose family the "Old Crown House" has descended from the time it was built, and who, therefore, is no mean authority, was of opinion that the name was formerly "Der-yat-end," or "Deer-Gate-End," from the belief that in ancient days there was here an ancient deer forest. Leland said he entered the town by "Dirtey," so perhaps after all Deritend only means "the dirty end." Like the name of the town itself, as well as several other parts of it, we can only guess at the origin.

Deritend Bridge.—Old records show that some centuries back there was a bridge here of some sort, and occasionally we find notes of payments made for repairs to the roads leading to the gates of the bridge, or to the watchmen who had charge thereof, who appear to have been in the habit of locking the gates at night, a procedure which we fear our "Dirtyent" neighbours of to-day would be inclined to resent. The Act for building the present bridge was obtained in 1784; the work was commenced in 1789, but not completed till 1814.

Dickens, Charles, made his first appearance amongst us at a Polytechnic Conversazione held February 28, 1844, his last visit being to distribute prizes to students of the Midland Institute, January 6, 1870. In December, 1854, he gave the proceeds of three "Readings," amounting to £227, to the funds of the Institute, in which he always took great interest.—See also "Theatrical Notes," &c.

Digbeth, or Dyke Path, or Ducks' Bath, another puzzle to the antiquarians. It was evidently a watery place, and the pathway lay low, as may be seen at "Ye Olde Leather Bottel."

Dining Halls.—Our grandfathers were content to take their bread and cheese by the cosy fireside of a public-house kitchen; this was followed by sundry publicans reserving a better room, in which a joint was served up for their "topping customers." One who got into trouble and lost his license, conceived the idea of opposing his successor, and started dining-rooms, sending out for beer as it was required, but not to his old shop. This innovation took, and when the railways began bringing in their streams of strangers, these dining-rooms paid well (as several of the old ones do still). The next step was the opening of a large room in Slaney Street (June 8, 1863), and another in Cambridge Street, with the imposing title of "Dining Halls," wherein all who were hungry could be fed at wholesale prices—provided they had the necessary cash. Our people, however, are not sufficiently gregarious to relish this kind of feeding in flocks, barrackroom fashion, and though the provisions were good and cheap, the herding together of all sorts spoilt the speculation, and Dining Halls closed when "Restaurants" opened.—See "Luncheon Bars."

Diocese.—Birmingham is in the diocese of Worcester, and in the Archdeaconry of Coventry.

Directories.—The oldest Birmingham Directory known was printed in 1770, but there had been one advertised a few years earlier, and every now and then, after this date one or other of our few printers ventured to issue what they called a directory, but the procuring a complete list of all and every occupation carried on in Birmingham appears to have been a feat beyond their powers, even sixty years back. As far as they did go, however, the old directories are not uninteresting, as they give us glimpses of trade mutations and changes compared with the present time that appear strange now even to our oldest inhabitants. Place for instance the directory of 1824 by the side of White's directory for 1874 (one of the most valuable and carefully compiled works of the kind yet issued). In the former we find the names of 4,980 tradesmen, the different businesses under which they are allotted numbering only 141; in 1874 the trades and professions named tot up to 745, under which appears no less than 33,462 names. In 1824, if we are to believe the directory, there were no factors here, no fancy repositories, no gardeners or florists, no pearl button makers, no furniture brokers or pawnbrokers (!), no newsagents, and, strange to say, no printer. Photographers and electro-platers were unknown, though fifty years after showed 68 of the one, and 77 of the latter. On the other hand, in 1824, there were 78 auger, awlblade and gimlet makers, against 19 in 1874; 14 bellows makers, against 5; 36 buckle and 810 button makers, against 10 and 265; 52 edge tool makers and 176 locksmiths, against 18 of each in 1874; hinge-makers were reduced from 53 to 23; gilt toy makers, from 265 to 15. (Considering the immense quantity of gilt trifles now sent out yearly, we can only account for these figures by supposing the producers to have been entered under various other headings). Among the trades that have vanished altogether, are steelyard makers, of whom there were 19 in 1824; saw-makers, of whom there were 26; tool-makers, of whom there were 79, and similorers, whatever they might have been. Makers of the time-honoured snuffers numbered 46 in 1824, and there were even half-a-dozen manufacturers left at work in 1874. The introduction of gas-lighting only found employ, in the first-named year, for three gasfitters; in 1874, there were close upon 100. Pewterers and manufacturers of articles in Britannia metal numbered 75 in 1824, against 19 in 1874, wire-drawers in the same period coming down from 237 to 56. The Directories of the past ten years have degenerated into mere bulky tomes, cataloguing names certainly, but published almost solely for the benefit (?) of those tradesmen who can be coaxed into advertising in their pages. To such an extent has this been carried, that it is well for all advertisers to be careful when giving their orders, that they are dealing with an established and respectable firm, more than one bogus Directory having come under the notice of the writer during the past year or two. The issue of a real Post Office Directory for 1882, for which the names, trades, and addresses were to be gathered by the letter-carriers, and no body of men could be more suitable for the work, or be better trusted, was hailed by local tradesmen as a decided step in advance (though little fault could be found with the editions periodically issued by Kelly), but unfortunately the proposed plan was not successfully carried out, and in future years the volume will be principally valued as a curiosity, the wonderfully strange mistakes being made therein of placing the honoured name of Sir Josiah Mason under the head of "Next-of-Kin Enquiry Agents," and that, too, just previous to the exposure of the numerous frauds carried out by one of the so-called agents and its curiousness is considerably enhanced by the fact that a like error had been perpetrated in a recent edition of Kelly's Directory.

Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society in 1882 gave assistance to 642 persons, at an average cost of 9s. 9-1/2d. each—£315 19s. 4d. £161 16s. 5d. of this amount came from the convicts' gratuities, while the cost of aiding and helping them took £192 2s.

Dispensary.—Established in 1794; the first stone of the building in Union Street was laid December 23, 1806, and it was opened for the reception of patients early in 1808, the cost being about £3,000. It has been one of the most valuable institutions of the town, thousands receiving medical assistance every year, and is supported by voluntary subscriptions. A branch Dispensary was opened in Monument Road, Feb. 27, 1884. Provident Dispensaries, to which members pay a small monthly sum for medicine and attendance, were organised in 1878, the first branch being opened at Hockley in October of that year. In the first fifteen months 3,765 individuals, paid subscriptions, and about £577 was paid for drugs and doctors fees. There are also branches at Camp Hill and Small Heath.

Dissenters.—In 1836 there were 45 places of worship belonging to various denominations of Dissenters here; there are now about 145.—See "Places of Worship."

Distances from Birmingham to neighbouring places, county towns, trade centres, watering places, &c. Being taken from the shortest railway routes, this list may be used as a guide to the third-class fares— Reckoned at 1d. per mile:—

Dogs.—A 5s. duty on dogs came into force April 5, 1867; raised to 7s. 6d. in June, 1878; This was not the first tax of the kind, for a local note of the time says that in 1796 "the fields and waters near the town were covered with the dead carcases of dogs destroyed by their owners to avoid payment of the tax." The amount paid per year at present for "dog licenses" in Birmingham is about £1,800. The using of dogs as beasts of burden (common enough now abroad) was put a stop to in London at the end of Oct. 1840, though it was not until 1854 that the prohibition became general. Prior to the passing of the Act in that year, dogs were utilised as draught animals to a very great extent in this neighbourhood by the rag-and-bone gatherers, pedlars, and little merchants, as many as 180 of the poor brutes once being counted in five hours as passing a certain spot on the Westbromwich Road. There have been one or two "homes" for stray dogs opened, but it is best in case of a loss of this kind to give early information at the nearest police station, as the art of dog stealing has latterly been much cultivated in this town, and it should be considered a duty to one's neighbour to aid in putting a stop thereto.

Dog Shows.—The first local Dog Show was held in 1860, but it was not until the opening in Curzon Hall, December 4, 1865, that the Show took rank as one of the "yearly institutions" of the town.—See "Exhibitions."

Domesday Books.—The so-called Domesday Book, compiled by order of William the Norman Conqueror, has always been considered a wonderful work, and it must have taken some years compiling. Some extracts touching upon the holders of land in this neighbourhood have already been given, and in a sense they are very interesting, showing as they do the then barrenness of the land, and the paucity of inhabitants. Though in Henry VIII.'s reign an inventory of all properties in the hands of Churchmen was taken, it did not include the owners of land in general, and it was not till Mr. John Bright in 1873 moved for the Returns, that a complete register of the kind was made. It would not be easy, even if space could be given to it, to give the list of individuals, companies, and corporation who claim to be possessors of the land we live on in Birmingham and neighbourhood; but a summary including the owners in this and adjoining counties may be worth preserving. As will be seen by the annexed figures, Warwick and Stafford rank high in the list of counties having large numbers of small owners (small as to extent of ground, though often very valuable from the erections thereon). There can be no doubt that the Freehold Land and Building Societies have had much to do with this, and as Birmingham was for years the headquarters of these Societies, the fact of there being nearly 47,000 persons in the county (out of a total population of 634,189) who own small plots under one acre, speaks well for the steady perseverance of the Warwickshire lads. That we are not wrong in coming to this conclusion is shown by the fact that leaving out the Metropolitan Counties, Warwick heads, in this respect, all the shires in the kingdom.

Duddeston Hall, and the Holte Family.—The first record of this family we have is towards the close of the thirteenth century when we find mention of Sir Henry Holte, whose son, Hugh del Holte, died in 1322. In 1331 Simon del Holte, styled of Birmingham, purchased the manor of Nechells "in consideration of xl li of silver." In 1365 John atte Holte purchased for "forty marks" the manor of Duddeston, and two years later he became possessed by gift of the manor of Aston. For many generations the family residence was at Duddeston, though their burial place was at Aston, in which church are many of their monuments, the oldest being that of Wm. Holte, who died September 28, 1514. That the Holtes, though untitled, were men of mark, may be seen by the brass in the North Aisle of Aston Church to the memory of Thomas Holte, "Justice of North Wales, and Lord of this town of Aston," who died March 23, 1545. His goods and chattels at his death were valued at £270 6s. 2d.—a very large sum in those days, and from the inventory we find that the Hall contained thirteen sleeping apartments, viz., "the chambur over the buttrie, the chappel chambur, the maydes' chambur, the great chambur, the inner chambur, to the great chambur, the yatehouse chambur, the inner chambur to the same, the geston chambur, the crosse chambur, the inner chambur to the same, the clark's chambur the yoemen's chambur, and the hyne's chambur." The other apartments were "the hawle, the plece, the storehouse, the galarye, the butterye, the ketchyn, the larderhowse, the dey-howse, the bakhowse, the bultinge howse, and the yeling howse," —the "chappell" being also part of the Hall. The principal bedrooms were hung with splendid hangings, those of the great chamber being "of gaye colors, blewe and redde," the other articles in accordance therewith, the contents of this one room being valued at xiij li. xiv. s. iiijd. (£13 14s. 4d.) The household linen comprised "22 damaske and two diapur table clothes" worth 4s.; ten dozen table napkins (40s.); a dozen "fyne towells," 20s.; a dozen "course towells" 6s. 8d.; thirty pair "fyne shetes" £5; twenty-three pair "course shetes" £3; and twenty-six "pillow beres" 20/-. The kitchen contained "potts, chafornes, skymmers, skellets, cressets, gredires, frying pannys, chfying dishes, a brazon morter with a pestell, stone morters, strykinge knives, broches, racks, brandards, cobberds, pot-hangings, hocks, a rack of iron, bowles, and payles." The live stock classed among the "moveable goods, consisted of 19 oxen, 28 kyne, 17 young beste, 24 young calves, 12 gots, 4 geldings, 2 mares, 2 naggs and a colte, 229 shepe, 12 swyne, a crane, a turkey cok, and a henne with 3 chekyns"—the lot being valued at £86 0s. 8d. Sir Thomas's marriage with a daughter of the Winnington's brought much property into the family, including lands, &c., "within the townes, villages, and fields of Aston, next Byrmyngham, and Wytton, Mellton Mowlberye (in Leicestershire), Hanseworthe (which lands did late belonge to the dissolved chambur of Aston), and also the Priory, or Free Chappell of Byrmyngham, with the lands and tenements belonging thereto, within Byrmyngham aforesaid, and the lordship or manor of the same, within the lordship of Dudeston, together with the lands and tenements, within the lordship of Nechells, Salteley, sometime belonging to the late dissolved Guild of Derytenne," as well as lands at "Horborne, Haleshowen, Norfielde and Smithewicke." His son Edward, who died in 1592, was succeeded by Sir Thomas Holte (born in 1571; died December, 1654), and the most prominent member of the family. Being one of the deputation to welcome James I. to England, in 1603, he received the honour of knighthood; in 1612 he purchased an "Ulster baronetcy," at a cost of £1,095 [this brought the "red hand" into his shield]; and in 1599 he purchased the rectory of Aston for nearly £2,000. In April, 1618, he commenced the erection of Aston Hall, taking up his abode there in 1631, though it was not finished till April, 1635. In 1642 he was honoured with the presence of Charles I., who stopped at the Hall Sunday and Monday, October 16 and 17. [At the battle of Edge Hill Edward Holt, the eldest son, was wounded—he died from fever on Aug. 28, 1643, during the siege of Oxford, aged 43] The day after Christmas, 1643, the old squire was besieged by about 1,200 Parliamentarians from Birmingham (with a few soldiers), but having procured forty musketeers from Dudley Castle, he held the Hall till the third day, when, having killed sixty of his assailants and lost twelve of his own men, he surrendered. The Hall was plundered and he was imprisoned, and what with fines, confiscations, and compounding, his loyalty appears to have cost him nearly £20,000. Sir Thomas had 15 children, but outlived them all save one. He was succeeded in his title by his grandson, Sir Robert, who lived in very straightened circumstances, occasioned by the family's losses during the Civil War, but by whose marriage with the daughter of Lord Brereton the Cheshire property came to his children. He died Oct. 3, 1679, aged 54, and was followed by Sir Charles, who had twelve children and lived till June 15, 1722, his son, Sir Clobery, dying in a few years after (Oct. 24, 1729). Sir Lister Holte, the next baronet, had no issue, though twice married, and he was succeeded (April 8, 1770), by his brother, Sir Charles, with whom the title expired (March 12, 1782), the principal estates going with his daughter and only child, to the Bracebridge family, as well as a dowry of £20,000. In 1817, an Act of Parliament was obtained for the settlement and part disposal of the whole of the property of this time-honoured and wealthy family—the total acreage being 8,914a. 2r. 23p, and the then annual rental £16,557 Os. 9d.—the Aston estate alone extending from Prospect Row to beyond Erdington Hall, and from Nechells and Saltley to the Custard House and Hay Mill Brook. Several claims have been put forward by collateral branches, both to the title and estates, but the latter were finally disposed of in 1849, when counsel's opinion was given in favour of the settlements made by Sir Lister Holte, which enabled the property to be disposed of. The claimants to the title have not yet proved their title thereto, sundry registers and certificates of ancient baptisms and marriages being still wanting.

Duddeston Ward Hall.—The name tells what it is for. The first stone was laid Dec. 15, 1877; it was opened June 1, 1878; will seat about 300, and cost £3,500, which was found by a limited Co.

Dungeon.—This very appropriate name was given to the old gaol formerly existing in Peck Lane. A writer, in 1802, described it as a shocking place, the establishment consisting of one day room, two underground dungeons (in which sometimes half-a-dozen persons had to sleep), and six or seven night-rooms, some of them constructed out of the Gaoler's stables. The prisoners were allowed 4d. per day for bread and cheese, which they had to buy from the keeper, who, having a beer license, allowed outsiders to drink with his lodgers. This, and the fact that there was but one day room for males and females alike, leaves but little to be imagined as to its horrible, filthy condition. Those who could afford to pay 2s. 6d. a week were allowed a bed in the gaoler's house, but had to put up with being chained by each wrist to the sides of the bedsteads all night, and thus forced to lie on their backs. The poor wretches pigged it in straw on the floors of the night rooms. See also "Gaols" and "Prisons."

Dwarfs.—The first note we have of the visit here of one of these curiosities of mankind is that of Count Borulawski, in 1783: though but 39 inches high it is recorded that he had a sister who could stand under his arm. The next little one, Manetta Stocker, a native of Austria, came here in 1819, and remained with us, there being a tombstone in St. Philip's churchyard bearing this inscription:—

General Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton) was exhibited at Dee's Royal Hotel, in September, 1844, when he was about ten years old, and several times after renewed the acquaintance. He was 31 inches high, and was married to Miss Warren, a lady of an extra inch. The couple had offspring, but the early death of the child put an end to Barnum's attempt to create a race of dwarfs. Tom Thumb died in June 1883. General Mite who was exhibited here last year, was even smaller than Tom Thumb, being but 21 inches in height. Birmingham, however, need not send abroad for specimens of this kind, "Robin Goodfellow" chronicling the death on Nov. 27, 1878, of a poor unfortunate named Thomas Field, otherwise the "Man-baby," who, though twenty-four years of age, was but 30 inches high and weighed little over 20lbs., and who had never walked or talked. The curious in such matters may, on warm, sunny mornings, occasionally meet, in the neighbourhood of Bromsgrove Street, a very intelligent little man not much if any bigger than the celebrated Tom Thumb, but who has never been made a show of.

Earthquakes are not of such frequent occurrence in this country as to require much notice. The first we find recorded (said to be the greatest known here) took place in November, 1318; others were felt in this country in May, 1332; April, 1580; November, 1775; November, 1779; November, 1852, and October, 1863.

Easy Row, or Easy Hill, as Baskerville delighted to call the spot he had chosen for a residence. When Mr. Hanson was planning out the Town Hall, there were several large elm trees still standing in Easy Row, by the corner of Edmund Street, part of the trees which constituted Baskerville's Park, and in the top branches of which the rooks still built their nests. The entrance to Broad Street had been narrow, and bounded by a lawn enclosed with posts and chains, reaching to the elm trees, but the increase of traffic had necessitated the removal (in 1838) of the grassplots and the fencing, though the old trees were left until 1847, by which time they were little more than skeletons of trees, the smoky atmosphere having long since stopped all growth.

Eccentrics.—There are just a few now to be found, but in these days of heaven-sent artists and special-born politicians, it would be an invidious task to chronicle their doings, or dilate on their peculiar idiosyncracies, and we will only note a few of the queer characters of the past, leaving to the future historian the fun of laughing at our men of to-day. In 1828 the man of mark was "Dandie Parker," a well-to-do seedsman, who, aping Beau Brummel in gait and attire, sought to be the leader of fashion. He was rivalled, a little while after, by one Meyers, to see whom was a sight worth crossing the town, so firm and spruce was he in his favourite dress of white hat and white trousers, dark green or blue coat with gilt buttons, buff waistcoat, and stiff broad white neckcloth or stock, a gold-headed cane always in hand. By way of contrast to these worthies, at about the same period (1828-30) was one "Muddlepate Ward," the head of a family who had located themselves in a gravel pit at the Lozells, and who used to drive about the town with an old carriage drawn by pairs of donkeys and ponies, the harness being composed of odd pieces of old rope, and the whip a hedgestake with a bit of string, the whole turnout being as remarkable for dirt as the first-named "dandies" were for cleanliness.—"Billy Button" was another well-known but most inoffensive character, who died here May 3, 1838. His real name was never published, but he belonged to a good family, and early in life he had been an officer in the Navy (some of his biographers say "a commander"), but lost his senses when returning from a long voyage, on hearing of the sudden death of a young lady to whom he was to have been married, and he always answered to her name, Jessie. He went about singing, and the refrain of one of his favourite songs—

"Oysters, sir! Oysters, sir!
Oysters, sir, I cry;
They are the finest oysters, sir,
That ever you could buy."

was for years after "Billy Button's" death the nightly "cry" of more than one peripatetic shellfishmonger. The peculiarity that obtained for the poor fellow his soubriquet of "Billy Button" arose from the habit he had of sticking every button he could get on to his coat, which at his death, was covered so thickly (and many buttons were of rare patterns), that it is said to have weighed over 30lbs.—"Jemmy the Rockman," who died here in September, 1866, in his 85th year, was another well-known figure in our streets for many years. His real name was James Guidney, and in the course of a soldier's life, he had seen strange countries, and possibly the climates had not in every case agreed with him, for, according to his own account, he had been favoured with a celestial vision, and had received angelic orders no longer to shave, &c. He obtained his living during the latter portion of his existence by retailing a medicinal sweet, which he averred was good for all sorts of coughs and colds.—Robert Sleath, in 1788, was collector at a turnpike gate near Worcester, and, 'tis said, made George III. and all his retinue pay toll. He died here in November, 1804, when the following appeared in print:—

"On Wednesday last, old Robert Sleath
Passed thro' the turnpike gate of Death,
To him Death would no toll abate
Who stopped the King at Wor'ster-gate."

Eclipses, more or less partial, are of periodical occurrence, though many are not observed in this country. Malmesbury wrote of one in 1410, when people were so frightened that they ran out of their houses. Jan. 12, 1679, there was an eclipse so complete that none could read at noonday when it occurred. May 3, 1715, gave another instance, it being stated that the stars could be seen, and that the birds went to roost at mid-day. The last total eclipse of the sun observed by our local astronomers (if Birmingham had such "plants") occurred on May 22, 1724. An account of the next one will be found in the Daily Mail, of August 12, 1999. On August 17, 1868, there was an eclipse of the sun (though not noticeable here) so perfect that its light was hidden for six minutes, almost the maximum possible interval, and it may be centuries before it occurs again.

Economy.—Our grandfathers, and their fathers, practised economy in every way possible, even to hiring out the able-bodied poor who had to earn the cost of their keep by spinning worsted, &c., and they thought so much of the bright moonlight that they warehoused the oil lamps intended for lighting the streets for a week at a time when the moon was at its full, and never left them burning after eleven o'clock at other times.

Edgbaston.—The name as written in the earliest known deeds, was at first Celbaldston, altered as time went on to Eggebaldston, Eggebaston, and Edgbaston. How long the family held the manor before the Conquest is unknown; but when Domesday Book was written (1086), the occupying tenant was one Drogo, who had two hides of land and half a mile of wood, worth 20s.; 325 acres were set down as being cultivated, though there were only ten residents. The Edgbastons held it from the lords of Birmingham, and they, in turn, from the lords of Dudley. Further than the family records the place has no history, only 100 years ago Calthorpe Road being nothing but a fieldpath, and Church Road, Vicarage Road, and Westbourne Road merely narrow lanes. After the opening up of these and other roads, building sites were eagerly sought by the more moneyed class of our local magnates, and the number of inhabitants now are sufficient to people a fair-sized town. In 1801 the population was under 1,000; in 1811, just over that number; in 1851, it was 9,269; in 1861, 12,900; in 1871, 17,442, and on last census day, 29,951; showing an increase of more than 1,000 a year at the present time; while what the rentals may amount to is only known inside "the estate office." Some writers say that the parish church dates from about the year 775. The earliest register book is that for 1635, which escaped the notice of Cromwell's soldiers, who nearly destroyed the church in 1648; and from an entry in the register of St. Sepulchre's Church, Northampton, for 1659, it would appear that there were collections made towards repairing the damage done by those worthies. This entry quaintly states that "seven shillings and sixpence" was received towards the repairs of the church of Edge Barston, in the county of Warwick, adding also that there was "never a minister in the said parish."

Edgbaston Hall.—The last of the Edgbastons was a lady by whose marriage the Middlemores came into possession, and for nearly three hundred years the old house echoed the footsteps of their descendants. In the troublous times of the Commonwealth, Edgbaston House and Church were seized by Colonel John Fox, the latter building being used as a stable for his horses, and the former garrisoned by the soldiers kept there to over-awe the gentry and loyal subjects of the country, to whom "Tinker Fox," as he was dubbed, was a continual terror. This worthy carried on so roughly that even the "Committee of Safety" (never particularly noted for kindness or even honesty) were ashamed of him, and restored the place to its owner, Robert Middlemore, the last of the name. By the marriages of his two grand-daughters the estate was divided, but the portion including the manor of Edgbaston was afterwards purchased by Sir Richard Gough, Knight, who gave £25,000 for it. In the meantime the old house had been destroyed by those peace-loving Brums, who, in December, 1688, razed to the ground the newly-built Catholic Church and Convent in Masshouse Lane, their excuse being that they feared the hated Papists would find refuge at Edgbaston. Sir Richard (who died February 9, 1727) rebuilt the Manor House and the Church in 1717-18, and enclosed the Park. His son Henry was created a Baronet, and had for his second wife the only daughter of Reginald Calthorpe, Esq., of Elvetham, in Hampshire. Sir Henry Gough died June 8, 1774, and his widow on the 13th of April, 1782, and on the latter event taking place, their son, who succeeded to the estates of both his parents, took his mother's family name of Calthorpe, and in 1796 was created a peer under the title of Baron Calthorpe, of Calthorpe, county Norfolk. Edgbaston Hall has not been occupied by any of the owners since the decease of Lady Gough, 1782.

Edgbaston Pool covers an area of twenty-two acres, three roods, and thirty-six poles.

Edgbaston Street.—One of the most ancient streets in the Borough, having been the original road from the parish church and the Manor-house of the Lords de Bermingham to their neighbours at Edgbaston. It was the first paved street of the town, and the chosen residence of the principal and most wealthy burgesses, a fact proved by its being known in King John's reign as "Egebaston Strete," the worde "strete" in those days meaning a paved way in cities or towns. This is further shown by the small plots into which the land was divided and the number of owners named from time to time in ancient deeds, the yearly rentals, even in Henry VIII's time being from 3s. to 5s. per year. At the back of the lower side of Edgbaston Street, were several tanneries, there being a stream of water running from the moat round the Parsonage-house to the Manor-house moat, the watercourse being now known as Dean Street and Smithfield Passage.

Electric Light.—The light of the future. The first public exhibition of lighting by electricity, was introduced by Maccabe, a ventriloquial entertainer of the public, at the entrance of Curzon Hall, September 30, 1878. On the 28th of the following month, the novelty appeared at the Lower Grounds, on the occasion of a football match at night, the kick-off and lighting-up taking place at seven o'clock. At the last Musical Festival, the Town Hall was lit up by Messrs. Whitfield, of Cambridge-street, and the novelty is no longer a rarity, a company having been formed to supply the houses, shops, and public buildings in the centre of the town.

Electro Plate.—As early as 1838, Messrs. Elkington were in the habit of coating ornaments with gold and silver by dipping them in various solutions of those metals, and the first patent taken out for the electro process appears to be that of July 6, 1838, for covering copper and brass with zinc. Mr. John Wright, a surgeon, of this town, was the first to use the alkaline cyanides, and the process was included in Elkington's patent of March 25, 1840. The use of electricity from magnets instead of the voltaic battery was patented by J.S. Wolrich, in August, 1842. His father was probably the first person who deposited metals for any practical purpose by means of the galvanic battery. Mr. Elkington applied the electro-deposit process to gilding and silverplating in 1840.—See "Trades," &c.

Emigration.—In August, 1794, Mr. Russell, of Moor Green, and a magistrate for the counties of Warwick and Worcester, with his two brothers and their families, Mr. Humphries, of Camp Hill Villa, with a number of his relatives, and over a hundred other Birmingham families emigrated to America. Previous to this date we have no record of anything like an emigration movement from this town, though it is a matter of history how strenuously Matthew Boulton and other manufacturers exerted themselves to prevent the emigration of artisans and workpeople, fearing that our colonies would be enriched at the expense of the mother country. How sadly the times were changed in 1840, may be imagined from the fact that when free passages to Australia were first being offered, no less than 10,000 persons applied unsuccessfully from this town and neighbourhood alone. At the present time it is calculated that passages to America, Canada, Australia, &c., are being taken up here at an average of 3,000 a year.

Erdington.—Another of the ancient places (named in the Domesday Book as Hardingtone) surrounding Birmingham and which ranked as high in those days of old, though now but like one of our suburbs, four miles on the road to Sutton Coldfield. Erdington Hall, in the reign of Henry II., was the moated and fortified abode of the family of that name, and their intermarriages with the De Berminghams, &c., connected them with our local history in many ways. Though the family, according to Dugdale and others, had a chapel of their own, the hamlet appertained to the parish of Aston, to the mother church of which one Henry de Erdington added an isle, and the family arms long appeared in the heraldic tracery of its windows. Erdington Church (St. Barnabas) was built in 1823, as a chapel of ease to Aston, and it was not until 1858 that the district was formed into a separate and distinct ecclesiastical parish, the vicar of Aston being the patron of the living. In addition to the chapel at Oscott, the Catholics have here one of the most handsome places of worship in the district, erected in 1850 at a cost of over £20,000, a Monastery, &c., being connected therewith. Erdington, which has doubled its population within the last twenty years, has its Public Hall and Literary Institute, erected in 1864, Police Station, Post Office, and several chapels, in addition to the almshouses and orphanage, erected by Sir Josiah Mason, noticed in another part of this work. See also "Population Tables," &c.

Estate Agents.—For the purposes of general business, Kelly's Directory will be found the best reference. The office for the Calthorpe estate is at 65 Hagley Road; for the William Dudley Trust estates, at Imperial Chambers B, Colmore Row; for the Great Western Railway properties at 103, Great Charles Street; for the Heathfield Estate in Heathfield Road, Handsworth; for the Horton (Isaac) properties at 41, Colmore Row; Sir Joseph Mason's estate at the Orphanage, Erdington.

Exchange.—Corner of Stephenson Place and New Street, having a frontage of 64 feet to the latter, and 186 feet to the former. The foundation stone was laid January 2, 1863, the architect being Mr. Edward Holmes, and the building was opened January 2, 1865, the original cost being a little under £20,000. It has since been enlarged (1876-78) to nearly twice the original size, under the direction of Mr. J.A. Chatwin. The property and speculation of a private company, it was (December 2, 1880) incorporated, under the Joint Stock Companies' Act, and returns a fair dividend on the capital expended. In addition to the Exchange and Chamber of Commerce proper, with the usual secretarial and committee rooms appertaining thereto, refreshment, billiard, and retiring rooms, &c., there is a large assembly-room, frequently used for balls, concerts, and entertainments of a public character. The dimensions of the principal hall are 70 feet length, 40 feet width, with a height of 23 feet, the assembly-room above being same size, but loftier. The central tower is 110 feet high, the turret, in which there was placed a clock made by John Inshaw, to be moved by electro-magnetic power (but which is now only noted for its incorrectness), rising some 45 feet above the cornice. Other portions of the building are let off in offices.

Excise.—It is but rarely the Inland Revenue authorities give the public any information showing the amount of taxes gathered in by the officials, and the return, therefore, for the year ending March 31, 1879, laid before the House of Commons, is worth preserving, so far as the Birmingham collection goes. The total sum which passed through the local office amounted to £89,321, the various headings under which the payments were entered, being:—Beer dealers, £2,245; beer retailers, £7,161; spirit dealers, £1,617; spirit retailers, £8,901; wine dealers, £874; wine retailers, £2,392; brewers, £9,518; maltsters, £408; dealers in roasted malt, £17; manufacturers of tobacco, £147; dealers in tobacco, £1,462; rectifiers of spirits, £11; makers of methylated spirits, £10; retailers of methylated spirits, £33; vinegar makers, £26; chemists and others using stills, £4; male servants, £1,094; dogs, £1,786; carriages, £4,613; armorial bearings, £374; guns, £116; to kill game, £1,523; to deal in game, £136; refreshment houses, £366; makers and dealers in sweets, £18; retailers of sweets, £42; hawkers and pedlars, £68; appraisers and house agents, £132; auctioneers, £1,210; pawnbrokers, £1,958; dealers in plate, £1,749; gold and silver plate duty, £17,691; medicine vendors, £66; inhabited house duty, £21,533.

The Excise (or Inland Revenue) Offices are in Waterloo Street, and are open daily from 10 to 4.

Excursions.—The annual trip to the seaside, or the continent, or some other attractive spot, which has come to be considered almost an essential necessary for the due preservation of health and the sweetening of temper, was a thing altogether unknown to the old folks of our town, who, if by chance they could get as far as Lichfield, Worcester, or Coventry once in their lives, never ceased to talk about it as something wonderful. The "outing" of a lot of factory hands was an event to be chronicled in Aris's Gazette, whose scribes duly noted the horses and vehicles (not forgetting the master of the band, without whom the "gipsy party" could not be complete), and the destination was seldom indeed further than the Lickey, or Marston Green, or at rarer intervals, Sutton Coldfield or Hagley. Well-to-do tradesmen and employers of labour were satisfied with a few hours spent at some of the old-style Tea Gardens, or the Crown and Cushion, at Perry Barr, Aston Cross or Tavern, Kirby's, or the New Inn, at Handsworth, &c. The Saturday half-holiday movement, which came soon after the introduction of the railways, may be reckoned as starting the excursion era proper, and the first Saturday afternoon trip (in 1854) to the Earl of Bradford's, at Castle Bromwich, was an eventful episode even in the life of George Dawson, who accompanied the trippites. The railway trips of the late past and present seasons are beyond enumeration, and it needs not to be said that anyone with a little spare cash can now be whisked where'er he wills, from John-o'-Groats to the Land's End, for a less sum than our fathers paid to see the Shrewsbury Show, or Lady Godiva's ride at Coventry. As it was "a new departure," and for future reference, we will note that the first five-shilling Saturday-night-to-Monday-morning trip to Llandudno came off on August 14, 1880. The railway companies do not fail to give ample notice of all long excursions, and for those who prefer the pleasant places in our own district, there is a most interesting publication to be had for 6d., entitled "The Birmingham Saturday Half-holiday Guide," wherein much valuable information is given respecting the nooks and corners of Warwick and Worcester, and their hills and dales.

Executions.—In 1729 a man was hung on Gibbett Hill, site of Oscott College, for murder and highway robbery. Catherine Evans was hung February 8, 1742, for the murder of her husband in this town. At the Summer Assizes in 1773, James Duckworth, hopfactor and grocer, of this town, was sentenced to death for counterfeiting and diminishing the gold coin. He was supposed to be one of the heaviest men in the county, weighing over twenty-four stone. He died strongly protesting his innocence, On the 22nd Nov., 1780, Wilfrid Barwick, a butcher, was robbed and murdered near the four mile stone on the Coleshill Road. The culprits were two soldiers, named John Hammond (an American by birth) and Thomas Pitmore (a native of Cheshire) but well known as "Jack and Tom," drummer and fifer in the recruiting service here. They were brought before the magistrates at the old Public Office in Dale End; committed; and in due course tried and sentenced at Warwick to be hanged and gibbeted on Washwood Heath, near the scene of the murder. The sentence was carried out April 2, 1781, the bodies hanging on the gibbet in chains a short time, until they were surreptitiously removed by some humanitarian friends who did not approve of the exhibition. What became of the bodies was not known until the morning of Thursday, Jan. 20, 1842, when the navvies employed on the Birmingham and Derby (now Midland) railway came upon the two skeletons still environed in chains when they were removing a quantity of earth for the embankment. The skeletons were afterwards reinterred under an apple-tree in the garden of the Adderley Arms, Saltley, and the gibbet-irons were taken as rarities to the Aston Tavern, where, possibly, inquisitive relic-mongers may now see them. Four persons were hung for highway robbery near Aston Park, April 2, 1790. Seven men were hung at Warwick, in 1800, for forgery, and one for sheep-stealing. They hung people at that time for crimes which are now punished by imprisonment or short periods of penal servitude, but there was little mercy combined with the justice then, and what small portion there happened to be was never doled out in cases where the heinous offence of forgery had been proved. On Easter Monday (April 19), 1802, there was another hanging match at Washwood Heath, no less than eight unfortunate wretches suffering the penalty of the law for committing forgeries and other crimes in this neighbourhood. There would seem to have been some little excitement in respect to this wholesale slaughter, and perhaps fears of a rescue were entertained, for there were on guard 240 of the King's Dragoon Guards, then stationed at our Barracks, under the command of Lieut.-Col. Toovey Hawley, besides a detachment sent from Coventry as escort with the prisoners. The last public execution here under the old laws was that of Philip Matsell, who was sentenced to be hanged for shooting a watchman named Twyford, on the night of July 22, 1806. An alibi was set up in defence, and though it was unsuccessful, circumstances afterwards came to light tending to prove that though Matsell was a desperado of the worst kind, who had long kept clear of the punishments he had deserved, in this instance he suffered for another. There was a disreputable gang with one of whom, Kate Pedley, Matsell had formed an intimate connection, who had a grudge against Twyford on account of his interfering and preventing several robberies they had planned, and it is said that it was his paramour, Kit Pedley, who really shot Twyford, having dressed herself in Matsell's clothes while he was in a state of drunkenness. However, he was convicted and brought here (Aug. 23), from Warwick, sitting on his coffin in an open cart, to be executed at the bottom of Great Charles Street. The scaffold was a rough platform about ten feet high, the gallows rising from the centre thereof, Matsell having to stand upon some steps while the rope was adjusted round his neck. During this operation he managed to kick his shoes off among the crowd, having sworn that he would never die with his shoes on, as he had been many a time told would be his fate. The first execution at Winson Green Gaol was that of Henry Kimberley (March 17, 1885) for the murder of Mrs. Palmer.

Exhibitions.—It has long been matter of wonder to intelligent foreigners that the "Toyshop of the World" ("Workshop of the World" would be nearer the mark) has never organised a permanent exhibition of its myriad manufactures. There is not a city, or town, and hardly a country in the universe that could better build, fit up, or furnish such a place than Birmingham; and unless it is from the short-sighted policy of keeping samples and patterns from the view of rivals in trade—a fallacious idea in these days of commercial travellers and town agencies—it must be acknowledged our merchants and manufacturers are not keeping up with the times in this respect. Why should Birmingham be without its Crystal Palace of Industry when there is hardly an article used by man or woman (save food and dress materials) but what is made in her workshops? We have the men, we have the iron, and we have the money, too! And it is to be hoped that ere many years are over, some of our great guns will see their way to construct a local Exhibition that shall attract people from the very ends of the earth to this "Mecca" of ours. As it is, from the grand old days of Boulton and his wonderful Soho, down to to-day, there has been hardly a Prince or potentate, white, black, copper, or coffee coloured, who has visited England, but that have come to peep at our workshops, mayor after mayor having the "honour" to toady to them and trot them round the back streets and slums to where the men of the bench, the file, and the hammer have been diligently working generation after generation, for the fame and the name of our world-known town. As a mere money speculation such a show-room must pay, and the first cost, though it might be heavy, would soon be recouped by the influx of visitors, the increase of orders, and the advancement of trade that would result. There have been a few exhibitions held here of one sort and another, but nothing on the plan suggested above. The first on our file is that held at the Shakespeare rooms early in 1839, when a few good pictures and sundry specimens of manufactures were shown. This was followed by the comprehensive Mechanics' Institute Exhibition opened in Newhall Street, December 19th, same year, which was a success in every way, the collection of mechanical models, machinery, chemical and scientific productions, curiosities, &c., being extensive and valuable; it remained open thirteen weeks. In the following year this exhibition was revived (August 11, 1840), but so far as the Institute, for whose benefit it was intended, was concerned, it had been better if never held, for it proved a loss, and only helped towards the collapse of the Institute, which closed in 1841. Railway carriages and tramcars propelled by electricity are the latest wonders of 1883; but just three-and-forty years back, one of our townsmen, Mr. Henry Shaw, had invented an "electro-galvanic railway carriage and tender," which formed one of the attractions of this Exhibition. It went very well until injured by (it is supposed) some spiteful nincompoop who, not having the brain to invent anything himself, tried to prevent others doing so. The next Exhibition, or, to be more strictly correct, "Exposition of Art and Manufactures," was held in the old residence of the Lloyd's family, known as Bingley House, standing in its own grounds a little back from Broad Street, and on the site of the present Bingley Hall. This was in 1849, and from the fact of its being visited (Nov. 12) by Prince Albert, who is generally credited with being the originator of International Exhibitions, it is believed that here he obtained the first ideas which led to the great "World's Fair" of 1851, in Hyde Park.—Following the opening of Aston Hall by Her Majesty in 1858, many gentlemen of position placed their treasures of art and art manufacture at the disposal of the Committee for a time, and the result was the collecting together of so rich a store that the London papers pronounced it to be after the "Great Exhibition" and the Manchester one, the most successful, both as regarded contents and attendance, of any Exhibition therebefore held out of the Metropolis. There were specimens of some of the greatest achievements in the arts of painting, sculpture, porcelain and pottery, carving and enamelling; ancient and modern metalwork, rich old furniture, armour, &c, that had ever been gathered together, and there can be little doubt that the advance which has since taken place in the scientific and artistic trade circles of the town spring in great measure from this Exhibition.—On the 28th of August, 1865, an Industrial Exhibition was opened at Bingley Hall, and so far as attendance went, it must take first rank, 160,645 visitors having passed the doors.

Agricultural Exhibitions.—The Birmingham Agricultural Exhibition Society, who own Bingley Hall, is the same body as the old Cattle Show Society, the modern name being adopted in 1871. As stated elsewhere, the first Cattle Show was held in Kent Street, Dec. 10, 1849; the second in Bingley Hall, which was erected almost solely for the purposes of this Society, and here they have acquired the name of being the best in the kingdom. To give the statistics of entries, sales, admissions, and receipts at all the Shows since 1849, would take more space than can be afforded, and though the totals would give an idea of the immense influence such Exhibitions must have on the welfare and prosperity of the agricultural community, the figures themselves would be but dry reading, and those for the past few years will suffice.

[Transcriber's note: No figures are given in the original for 1883 in this table.]

In addition to the Christmas Cattle Show, the Society commenced in March, 1869, a separate exhibition and sale of pure-bred shorthorns, more than 400 beasts of this class being sent every year. Indeed, the last show is said to have been the largest ever held in any country. The value of the medals, cups, and prizes awarded at these cattle shows averages nearly £2,400 per year, many of them being either subscribed for or given by local firms and gentlemen interested in the breeding or rearing of live stock. One of the principal of these prizes is the Elkington Challenge Cup, valued at 100 guineas, which, after being won by various exhibitors during the past ten years, was secured at the last show by Mr. John Price, who had fulfilled the requirements of the donors by winning it three times. Messrs. Elkington & Co. have most liberally given another cup of the same value. In 1876, for the first time since its establishment in 1839, the Royal Agricultural Society held its exhibition here, the ground allotted for its use being seventy acres at the rear of Aston Hall, twenty-five acres being part of the Park itself. That it was most successful may be gathered from the fact that over 265,000 persons visited the show, which lasted from July 19th to 24th.

Poultry forms part of the Bingley Hall Exhibition, and numerically the largest portion thereof, as per the table of entries, which is well worth preserving also for showing when new classes of birds have been first penned:

Fanciers give wonderfully strange prices sometimes. Cochin China fowls had but lately been introduced, and were therefore "the rage" in 1851-2. At the Poultry Show in the latter year a pair of these birds were sold for £30, and at a sale by auction afterwards two prize birds were knocked down at £40 each: it was said that the sellers crowed louder than the roosters.

Fine Art.—The first exhibition of pictures took place in 1814, and the second in 1827. In addition to the Spring and Autumn Exhibitions at the New Street Rooms, there is now a yearly show of pictures by the members of the "Art Circle," a society established in 1877, for promoting friendship among young local artists; their first opening was on Nov. 28, at 19, Temple Row. On Nov. 17, 1879, Mr. Thrupp commenced a yearly exhibition of China paintings, to which the lady artists contributed 243 specimens of their skill in decorating porcelain and china.

Horses and hounds.—The first exhibition of these took place at the Lower Grounds, Aug. 12, 1879. There had been a Horse Show at Bingley Hall for several years prior to 1876, but it had dropped out for want of support.

Birds.—An exhibition of canaries and other song birds, was held Aug. 18, 1874. Another was held in 1882, at the time of the Cattle Show.

Pigeons.—The first exhibition of pigeons in connection with the Birmingham Columbarian Society, took place in Dec., 1864. The annual Spring pigeon show at the Repository, opened March 20,1878. There have also been several at St. James' Hall, the first dating Sept. 24, 1874.

Dogs.—Like the Cattle Show, the original Birmingham Dog Show has extended its sphere, and is now known as the National Exhibition of Sporting and other Dogs. The show takes place in Curzon Hall, and the dates are always the same as for the agricultural show in Bingley Hall. There is yearly accommodation for 1,000 entries, and it is seldom that a less number is exhibited, the prizes being numerous, as well as valuable. At the meeting of the subscribers held July 19, 1883, it was resolved to form a new representative body, to be called the National Dog Club, having for its object the improvement of dogs, dog shows, and dog trials, and the formation of a national court of appeal on all matters in dispute. It was also resolved to publish a revised and correct stud book, to include all exhibitions where 400 dogs and upwards were shown, and to continue it annually, the Council having guaranteed £150, the estimated cost of the publication of the book. This step was taken in consequence of the action of certain members of the Kennel Club, who passed what had been called "The Boycotting Rules," calling upon its members to abstain from either exhibiting or judging at shows which were not under Kennel Club rules, and excluding winning dogs at such shows from being entered in the Kennel Club Stud Book, many of the principal exhibitors being dissatisfied with such arbitrary proceedings, evidently intended to injure the Birmingham shows. At each show there are classes for bloodhounds, deerhounds, greyhounds, otterhounds, beagles, fox terriers, pointers, English setters, black-and-tan setters, Irish setters, retrievers, Irish spaniels, water spaniels (best Irish), Clumber spaniels, Sussex spaniels, spaniels (black), ditto (other than black), dachshunds, bassett hounds, foreign sporting dogs, mastiffs, St. Bernards, Newfoundlands, sheep dogs, Dalmatians, bulldogs, bull-terriers, smooth-haired terriers, black-and-tan terriers (large), small ditto black-and-tan terriers with uncut ears, Skye-terriers, Dandie Dinmonts, Bedlington terriers, Irish terriers, Airedale or Waterside terriers, wire-haired terriers, Scotch terriers (hard haired), Yorkshire terriers, Pomeranians, pugs, Maltese, Italian greyhounds, Blenheim spaniels, King Charles spaniels, smooth-haired toy spaniels, broken-haired ditto, large and small sized foreign dogs.

In 1879, the exhibition of guns and sporting implements was introduced, an additional attraction which made no difference financially, or in the number of visitors.

Sporting.—An exhibition of requisites and appliances in connection with sports and pastimes of all kinds was opened in Bingley Hall, Aug 28, 1882. In addition to guns and ammunition, bicycles and tricycles, there were exhibited boats, carriages, billiard tables, &c.

Dairy Utensils.—The first of these exhibitions, June, 1880, attracted considerable attention for its novelty. It is held yearly in Bingley Hall.

Bees.—An exhibition of bees, beehives, and other apiary appliances took place at the Botanical Gardens, in Aug., 1879.

Food and Drinks.—A week's exhibition of food, wines, spirits, temperance beverages, brewing utensils, machinery, fittings, stoves and appliances, was held in Bingley Hall, December 12-20, 1881.

Building.—A trades exhibition of all kinds of building material, machinery, &c., was held in 1882.

Bicycles, &c.—The Speedwell Club began their annual exhibition of bicycles, tricycles, and their accessories in February, 1882, when about 300 machines were shown. In the following year the number was nearly 400; in 1884, more than 500; in 1885, 600.

Roots.—Messrs. Webb, of Wordsley, occupied Curzon Hall, November 20, 1878, with an exhibition of prize roots, grown by their customers.

Fruit, Flowers, &c.—The first flower show we have note of was on June 19, 1833. The first chrysanthemum show was in 1860. The first Birmingham rose show in 1874 (at Aston); the second, five years later, at Bingley Hall. The Harborne gooseberry-growers have shown up every year since 1815, and the cultivators of pommes de terre in the same neighbourhood first laid their tables in public in Sept., 1879.

Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862.—Even as Birmingham may be said to have given the first idea for the "Great Exhibition" of 1851, so it had most to do with the building thereof, the great palace in Hyde Park being commenced by Messrs. Fox, Henderson & Co., July 26, 1850, and it was finished in nine months at a total cost of £176,031. In its erection there were used 4,000 tons of iron, 6,000,000 cubic feet of woodwork, and 31 acres of sheet glass, requiring the work of 1,800 men to put it together. 287 local exhibitors applied for space amounting to 22,070 sup. feet, namely, 10,183 feet of flooring, 4,932 feet of table area, and 6,255 feet of wall space. The "glory" of this exhibition was the great crystal fountain in the centre, manufactured by Messrs. Osler, of Broad Street, a work of art till then never surpassed in the world's history of glass-making and glass cutting, and which now pours forth its waters in one of the lily tanks in Sydenham Palace. Many rare specimens of Birmingham manufacture besides were there, and the metropolis of the Midlands had cause to be proud of the works of her sons thus exhibited. Fewer manufacturers sent their samples to the exhibition of 1862, but there was no falling off in their beauty or design. The Birmingham Small Arms trophy was a great attraction.

Explosions.—That many deplorable accidents should occur during the course of manufacturing such dangerous articles as gun caps and cartridges cannot be matter of surprise, and, perhaps, on the whole, those named in the following list may be considered as not more than the average number to be expected:—Two lives were lost by explosion of fulminating powder in St. Mary's Square, Aug. 4. 1823.—Oct. 16, same year, there was a gunpowder explosion in Lionel Street.—Two were killed by fireworks at the Rocket Tavern, Little Charles Street, May 2, 1834.— An explosion at Saltley Carriage Works, Dec. 20, 1849.—Two injured at the Proof House, Sept. 23, 1850.—Five by detonating powder in Cheapside, Feb 14, 1852.—Thirty-one were injured by gas explosion at Workhouse, Oct. 30, 1855.—Several from same cause at corner of Hope Street, March 11, 1856.—A cap explosion took place at Ludlow's, Legge Street, July 28, 1859.—Another at Phillips and Pursall's, Whittall Street, Sept. 27, 1852, when twenty-one persons lost their lives.— Another in Graham Street June 21, 1862, with eight deaths.—Boiler burst at Spring Hill, Nov. 23, 1859, injuring seven.—An explosion in the Magazine at the Barracks, March 8, 1864, killed Quartermaster McBean.— At Kynoch's, Witton, Nov. 17, 1870, resulting in 8 deaths and 28 injured.—At Ludlow's ammunition factory, Dec. 9, 1870, when 17 were killed and 53 injured, of whom 34 more died before Christmas.—At Witton, July 1, 1872, when Westley Richards' manager was killed.—At Hobb Lane, May 11, 1874.—Of gas, in great Lister Street, Dec. 9, 1874. —Of fulminate, in the Green Lane, May 4, 1876, a youth being killed.— Of gas, at St. James's Hall, Snow Hill, Dec. 4, and at Avery's, Moat Row, Dec. 31, 1878.—At a match manufactory, Phillip Street, Oct. 28, 1879, when Mr. Bermingham and a workman were injured.

Fairs.—The officers of the Court Leet, whose duty it was to walk in procession and "proclaim" the fairs, went through their last performance of the kind at Michaelmas, 1851. It was proposed to abolish the fairs in 1860, but the final order was not given until June 8th, 1875. Of late years there have been fairs held on the open grounds on the Aston outskirts of the borough, but the "fun of the fair" is altogether different now to what it used to be. The original charters for the holding of fairs at Whitsuntide and Michaelmas were granted to William de Bermingham by Henry III. in 1251. These fairs were doubtless at one time of great importance, but the introduction of railways did away with seven-tenths of their utility and the remainder was more nuisance than profit. As a note of the trade done at one time we may just preserve the item that in 1782 there were 56 waggon loads of onions brought into the fair.

Family Fortunes.—Hutton in his "History," with that quaint prolixity which was his peculiar proclivity gives numerous instances of the rise and fall of families connected with Birmingham. In addition to the original family of De Birmingham, now utterly extinct he traced back many others then and now well-known names. For instance he tells us that a predecessor of the Colmores in Henry VIII.'s reign kept a mercer's shop at No. 1, High Street; that the founder of the Bowyer Adderley family began life in a small way in this his native town in the 14th century; that the Foxalls sprang from a Digbeth tanner some 480 years ago; and so of others. Had he lived till now he might have largely increased his roll of local millionaires with such names as Gillott, Muntz, Mason, Rylands, &c. On the other hand he relates how some of the old families, whose names were as household words among the ancient aristocracy, have come to nought; how that he had himself charitably relieved the descendants of the Norman Mountfourds, Middemores and Bracebridges, and how that the sole boast of a descendant of the Saxon Earls of Warwick was in his day the fact of his grandfather having "kept several cows and sold milk." It is but a few years back since the present writer saw the last direct descendant of the Holtes working as a compositor in one of the newspaper offices of this town, and almost any day there was to be seen in the streets a truck with the name painted on of "Charles Holte Bracebridge, Licensed Hawker!"

Famines.—In the year 310, it is said that 40,000 persons died in this country from famine. It is not known whether any "Brums" existed then. In 1195 wheat was so scarce that it sold for 20s. the quarter; ten years after it was only 12d. In 1438, the times were so hard that people ate bread made from fern roots. In 1565, a famine prevailed throughout the kingdom.

Fashionable Quarter.—Edgbaston is our "West End," of which Thomas Ragg (before he was ordained) thus wrote:—

—Glorious suburbs! long
May ye remain to bless the ancient town
Whose crown ye are; rewarder of the cares
Of those who toil amid the din and smoke
Of iron ribbed and hardy Birmingham.
And may ye long be suburbs, keeping still
Business at distance from your green retreats.

Feasts, Feeds, and Tea-fights.—Like other Englishmen, when we have a good opinion of people we ask them to dinner, and the number of public breakfasts, dinners, teas, and suppers on our record is wonderful. We give a few of the most interesting:—3,800 persons dined with our first M.P.'s., Attwood and Scholefield, at Beardsworth's Repository, Sept. 15, 1834.—A Reform banquet was the attraction in the Town Hall, Jan. 28, 1836.—Members and friends of the 'Chartist Church' kept their Christmas festival, by 'taking tea' in Town Hall, Dec.28, 1841.—1,700 Anti-Cornlawites (John Bright among them) did ditto Jan. 22, 1843.—The defeat of an obnoxious Police Bill led 900 persons to banquet together April 9, 1845.—A banquet in honour of Charles Dickens opened the year 1853—The first anniversary of the Loyal and Constitutional Association was celebrated by the dining of 848 loyal subjects, Dec. 17, 1855.— dinner was given to 1,200 poor folks in Bingley Hall, Jan. 25, 1858, to make them remember the marriage of the Princess Royal. Those who were not poor kept the game alive at Dee's Hotel.—John Bright was dined in Town Hall, Oct. 29, 1858.—A party of New Zealand chiefs were stuffed at same place, March 16, 1864—To celebrate the opening of a Dining Hall in Cambridge Street, a public dinner was given on All Fools' Day, 1864.—On the 23rd April following, about 150 gentlemen breakfasted with the Mayor, in honour of the Shakespeare Library being presented to the town.—The purchase of Aston Park was celebrated by a banquet, Sept. 22, 1864.—Over a hundred bellringers, at Nock's Hotel, 1868, had their clappers set wagging by Blews and Sons, in honour of the first peal of bells cast by them, and now in Bishop Ryder's Church.—The Master Bakers, who have been baking dinners for the public so long, in December, 1874, commenced an annual series of dinners among themselves, at which neither baked meats, nor even baked potatoes, are allowed.—Of political and quasi-political banquets, there have been many of late years, but as the parties have, in most cases, simply been gathered for party purposes, their remembrance is not worth keeping.—To help pay for improvements at General Hospital, there was a dinner at the Great Western Hotel, June 4, 1868, and when the plate was sent round, it received £4,000. That was the best, and there the list must close.

Females.—The fairer portion of our local community number (census 1881) 210,050, as against 197,954 males, a preponderance of 12,096. In 1871 the ladies outnumbered us by 8,515, and it would be an interesting question how this extra ratio arises, though as one half of the super-abundant petticoats are to be found in Edgbaston it may possibly only be taken as a mark of local prosperity, and that more female servants are employed than formerly.—See "Population" Tables.

Fenianism.—It was deemed necessary in Jan., 1881, to place guards of soldiers at the Tower and Small Arms Factory, but the Fenians did not trouble us; though later on a very pretty manufactory of dynamite was discovered in Ledsam Street.—See "Notable Offences."

Ferrars.—The De Ferrars were at one time Lords of the Manor, Edmund de Ferrars dying in 1438. The ancient public-house sign of "The Three Horseshoes" was taken from their coat of arms.

Festivals.—Notes of the past Triennial Musical Festivals for which Birmingham is so famous, the performances, and the many great artistes who have taken part therein, will be found further on.

Fetes were held in Aston Park July 27, and September 15, 1856, for the benefit of the Queen's and General Hospitals, realising therefore £2,330. The first to "Save Aston Hall" took place August 17, 1857, when a profit of £570 was made. There have been many since then, but more of the private speculation class, Sangers' so-called fête at Camp Hill, June 27, 1874, being the first of their outdoor hippodrome performances.

Fires.—When Prince Rupert's soldiers set fire to the town, in 1643, no less than 155 houses were burned.—Early in 1751 about £500 worth of wool was burned at Alcock's, in Edgbaston Street.—May 24, 1759, the stage waggon to Worcester was set on fire by the bursting of a bottle of aqua-fortis, and the contents of the waggon, valued at £5,000, were destroyed.—In November, 1772, Mr. Crowne's hop and cheese warehouse, top of Carr's Lane, was lessened £400 in value.—The Theatre Royal was burned August 24, 1791, and again January 6, 1820.—Jerusalem Temple, Newhall Hill, was burned March 10, 1793.—St. Peter's Church suffered January 24, 1831.—There was a great blaze at Bolton's timber yard, Broad Street, May 27, 1841.—At the Manor House, Balsall Heath, in 1848.—Among Onion's bellows, in March, 1853.—At the General Hospital, December 24, 1853.—At the Spread Eagle Concert Hall, May 5, 1855.—At a builder's in Alcester Street, October 4, 1858.—At Aston Brook Flour mill, June 1, 1862, with £10,000 damage.—At Lowden & Beeton's, High Street, January 3, 1863; the firm were prosecuted as incendiaries.—At Gameson's Tavern, Hill Street, December 25, 1863; six lives lost.—On the stage at Holder's, July 3, 1865; two ballet dancers died from fright and injuries.—At Baskerville Sawmills, September 7, 1867.—In Sutton Park, August 4, 1868.—In a menagerie in Carr's Lane, January 25, 1870. —At Dowler's Plume Works, March 16.—In Denmark Street, May 23; two children burned.—At Worcester Wharf, June 2, 1870; two men burnt.—At Warwick Castle, Dec. 3, 1871.—At Smith's hay and straw yard, Crescent, through lightning, July 25, 1872.—In Sherbourne Street, June 25, 1874, and same day in Friston Street; two men burned.—At the hatter's shop in Temple Street, Nov. 25, 1875.—At Tipper's Mystery Works, May 16, and at Holford Mill, Perry Barr, August 3, 1876.—At Icke and Co.'s, Lawley Street, May 17, 1877; £2,500 damage.—At Adam's colour warehouse, Suffolk Street, October 13, 1877; £10,000 damage.—In Bloomsbury Street, September 29, 1877; an old man burned.—In Lichfield Road, November 26, 1877; two horses, a cow, and 25 pigs roasted.—January 25, 1878, was a hot day, there being four fires in 15 hours.—At Hayne's flour mill, Icknield Port Road, Feb. 2, 1878, with £10,000 damage; first time steam fire engine was used.—At Baker Bros'., match manufactory, Freeth Street, February 11.—At Grew's and at Cund's printers, March 16, 1878; both places being set on fire by a vengeful thief; £2,000 joint damage. —At corner of Bow Street, July 29, 1878.—At Dennison's shop, opposite Museum Concert Hall, August 26, 1878, when Mrs. Dennison, her baby, her sister, and a servant girl lost their lives. The inquest terminated on September 30 (or rather at one o'clock next morning), when a verdict of "accidental death" was given in the case of the infant, who had been dropped during an attempted rescue, and with respect to the others that they had died from suffocation caused by a five designedly lighted, but by whom the jury had not sufficient evidence to say. Great fault was found with the management of the fire brigade, a conflict of authority between them and the police giving rise to very unpleasant feelings. At Cadbury's cocoa manufactory, November 23, 1878. In Legge Street, at a gun implement maker's, December 14, 1878; £600 damage.—And same day at a gun maker's, Whittall Street; £300 damage.—At Hawkes's looking-glass manufactory, Bromsgrove Street, January 8, 1879; £20,000 damage.—The Reference Library, January 11, 1879 (a most rueful day); damage incalculable and irreparable.—At Hinks and Sons' lamp works, January 30, 1879; £15,000 damage.—At the Small Arms Factory, Adderley Road, November 11, 1879; a fireman injured.—At Grimsell and Sons', Tower Street, May 5, 1880; over £5,000 damage.—Ward's cabinet manufactory, Bissell Street, April 11, 1885.

Fire Brigades.—A volunteer brigade, to help at fires, was organised here in February 1836, but as the several companies, after introducing their engines, found it best to pay a regular staff to work them, the volunteers, for the time, went to the "right about." In 1863 a more pretentious attempt to constitute a public or volunteer brigade of firemen, was made, the members assembling for duty on the 21st of February, the Norwich Union engine house being the headquarters; but the novelty wore off as the uniforms got shabby, and the work was left to the old hands, until the Corporation took the matter in hand. A Volunteer Fire Brigade for Aston was formed at the close of 1878, and its rules approved by the Local Board on Jan. 7, 1879. They attended and did good service at the burning of the Reference Library on the following Saturday. August 23, 1879 the Aston boys, with three and twenty other brigades from various parts of the country, held a kind of efficiency competition at the Lower Grounds, and being something new in it attracted many. The Birmingham brigade were kept at home, possibly on account of the anniversary of the Digbeth fire. Balsall Heath and Harborne are also supplied with their own brigades, and an Association of Midland Brigades has lately been formed which held their first drill in the Priory, April 28, 1883.

Fire Engines.—In 1839 the Birmingham Fire Office had two engines, very handsome specimens of the article too, being profusely decorated with wooden battle axes, iron scroll-work, &c. One of these engines was painted in many colours; but the other a plain drab, the latter it was laughingly said, being kept for the Society of Friends, the former for society at large. The first time a "portable" or hand engine was used here was on the occurrence of a fire in a tobacconist's shop in Cheapside Oct. 29, 1850. The steam fire engine was brought here in Oct. 1877.—See "Fire Engine Stations" under "Public Buildings."

Fire Grates.—The first oven grate used in this district was introduced in a house at "the City of Nineveh" about the year 1818, and created quite a sensation.

Fire Insurance Companies.—The Birmingham dates its establishment from March 1805. All the companies now in existence are more or less represented here by agents, and no one need be uninsured long, as their offices are so thick on the ground round Bennet's Hill and Colmore Row, that it has been seriously suggested the latter thoroughfare should he rechristened and be called Insurance Street. It was an agent who had the assurance to propose the change.

Fish.—In April, 1838, a local company was floated for the purpose of bringing fish from London and Liverpool. It began swimmingly, but fish didn't swim to Birmingham, and though several other attempts have been made to form companies of similar character, the trade has been kept altogether in private hands, and to judge from the sparkling rings to be seen on the hands of the ladies who condescend to sell us our matutinal bloaters in the Market Hall, the business is a pretty good one—and who dare say those dames de salle are not also pretty and good? The supply of fish to this town, as given by the late Mr. Hanman, averaged from 50 to 200 tons per day (one day in June, 1879, 238 tons came from Grimsby alone) or, each in its proper season, nearly as follows:—Mackerel, 2,000 boxes of about 2 cwt. each; herrings, 2,000 barrels of 1-1/2 cwt. each; salmon, 400 boxes of 2-1/2 cwt. each; lobsters, 15 to 20 barrels of 1 cwt. each; crabs, 50 to 60 barrels of 1-1/4 cwt. each; plaice, 1,500 packages of 2 cwt. each; codfish, 200 barrels of 2 cwt. each; conger eels, 20 barrels of 2 cwt. each; skate, 10 to 20 barrels of 2 cwt. each.—See "Markets."

Fishing.—There is very little scope for the practice of Isaac Walton's craft near to Birmingham, and lovers of the gentle art must go farther afield to meet with good sport. The only spots within walking distance are the pools at Aston Park and Lower Grounds, at Aston Tavern, at Bournbrook Hotel (or, as it is better known, Kirby's), and at Pebble Mill, in most of which may be found perch, roach, carp, and pike. At Pebble Mill, March 20, last year, a pike was captured 40 inches long, and weighing 22 lbs., but that was a finny rarity, and not likely to be met with there again, as the pool (so long the last resort of suicidally inclined mortals) is to be filled up. A little farther off are waters at Sarehole, at Yardley Wood, and the reservoir at King's Norton, but with these exceptions anglers must travel to their destinations by rail. There is good fishing at Sutton Coldfield, Barnt Green (for reservoir at Tardebigge), Alcester, Shustoke, Salford Priors, and other places within a score of miles, but free fishing nowhere. Anyone desirous of real sport should join the Birmingham and Midland Piscatorial Association (established June, 1878), which rents portions of the river Trent and other waters. This society early in 1880, tried their hands at artificial salmon-hatching, one of the tanks of the aquarium at Aston Lower Grounds being placed at their disposal. They were successful in bringing some thousand or more of their interesting protegees from the ova into fish shape, but we cannot find the market prices for salmon or trout at all reduced.

Fishmongers' Hall.—Not being satisfied with the accommodation provided for them in the Fish Market, the Fish and Game Dealers' Association, at their first annual meeting (Feb. 13, 1878), proposed to erect a Fishmongers' Hall, but they did not carry out their intention.

Flogging.—In "the good old days," when George the Third was King, it was not very uncommon for malefactors to be flogged through the streets, tied to the tail end of a cart. In 1786 several persons, who had been sentenced at the Assizes, were brought back here and so whipped through the town; and in one instance, where a young man had been caught filching from the Mint, the culprit was taken to Soho works, and in the factory yard, there stripped and flogged by "Black Jack" of the Dungeon, as a warning to his fellow-workmen. This style of punishment would hardly do now, but if some few of the present race of "roughs" could be treated to a dose of "the cat" now and then, it might add considerably to the peace and comfort of the borough. Flogging by proxy was not unknown in some of the old scholastic establishments, but whipping a scarecrow seems to have been the amusement on February 26th. 1842, when Sir Robert Peel, at that day a sad delinquent politically, was publicly flogged in elligy.

Floods—The milldams at Sutton burst their banks, July 24, 1668, and many houses were swept away.—On the 24th November, 1703, a three days' storm arose which extended over the whole kingdom; many parts of the Midlands being flooded and immense damage caused, farmers' live stock especially suffering. 15,000 sheep were drowned in one pan of Gloucestershire; several men and hundreds of sheep near to Worcester; the losses in Leicestershire and Staffordshire being also enormous. Though there is no local record respecting it here, there can be little doubt that the inhabitants had their share of the miseries.—July 2, 1759, a man and several horses were drowned in a flood near Meriden.— Heavy rains caused great floods here in January, 1764.—On April 13, 1792, a waterspout, at the Lickey Hills, turned the Rea into a torrent. —The lower parts of the town were flooded through the heavy rain of June 26, 1830.—There were floods in Deritend and Bordesley, Nov. 11, 1852.—June 23, 1861, parts of Aston, Digbeth, and the Parade were swamped.—Feb. 8, 1865, Hockley was flooded through the bursting of the Canal banks; and a simmilar accident to the Worcester Canal, May 25, 1872, laid the roads and gardens about Wheeley's Road under water.— There were very heavy rains in July and October, 1875, causing much damage in the lower parts of the town.—Aug. 2 and 3, 1879, many parts of the outskirts were flooded, in comparatively the shortest time in memory.

Flour Mills.—The Union Mill Co. (now known as the Old Union, &c.) was formed early in 1796, with a capital of £7,000 in £1 shares, each share-holder being required to take a given amount of bread per week. Though at starting it was announced that the undertaking was not intended for profit,—such were the advantages derived from the operations of the Company that the shareholders it is said, in addition to a dividend of 10 per cent., received in the course of couple of years a benefit equal to 600 per cent, in the shape of reduced prices. Large dividends have at times been received, but a slightly different tale is now told.—The New Union Mill was started in 1810; the Snow Hill Mill about 1781; the Britannia Mills in 1862.

Fly Vans.—"Fly Boats" to the various places connected with Birmingham by the canals were not sufficient for our townspeople seventy years ago, and an opposition to the coaches started in 1821, in the shape of Fly Vans or light Post Waggons, was hailed with glee. These Fly Vans left the Crescent Wharf (where Showell and Sons' Stores are now) three evenings a week, and reached Sheffield the following day. This was the first introduction of a regular "parcels' post," though the authorities would not allow of anything like a letter being sent with a parcel, if they knew it.

Foolish Wager.—On July 8,1758, for a wager, a man named Moraon got over the battlements of the tower at St. Martin's, and safely let himself down to the ground (a distance of 73 feet) without rope or ladder, his strength of muscle enabling him to reach from cornerstone to cornerstone, and cling thereto as he descended.

Forgeries.—The manufacture of bogus bank-notes was carried on here, at one time, to an alarming extent, and even fifty years ago, though he was too slippery a fish for the authorities to lay hold of, it was well-known there was a clever engraver in the Inkleys who would copy anything put before him for the merest trifle, even though the punishment was most severe. Under "Notable Offences" will be found several cases of interest in this peculiar line of business.

Forks.—Our ancestors did without them, using their fingers. Queen Elizabeth had several sent to her from Spain, but she seldom used them, and we may be quite sure it was long after that ere the taper fingers of the fair Brums ceased to convey the titbits to their lips. Even that sapient sovereign, James I., the Scotch Solomon, did not use the foreign invention, believing possibly with the preacher who denounced them in the pulpit that it was an insult to the Almighty to touch the meat prepared for food with anything but one's own fingers. Later on, when the coaches began to throng the road, gentlemen were in the habit of carrying with them their own knife and fork for use, so seldom were the latter articles to be found at the country inns, and the use of forks cannot be said to have become general more than a hundred years ago.

Forward.—The self-appropriated motto of our borough, chosen at one of the earliest committee meetings of the Town Council in 1839. Mr. William Middlemore is said to have proposed the use of the word as being preferable to any Latin, though "Vox populi, vox Dei," and other like appropriate mottoes, have been suggested. Like all good things, however, the honour of originating this motto has been contested, the name of Robert Crump Mason having been given as its author.

Fogs.—Bad as it may be now and then in the neighbourhood of some of our works, it there is one thing in nature we can boast of more than another, it is our comparatively clear atmosphere, and it is seldom that we are troubled with fogs of any kind. In this respect, at all events, the Midland metropolis is better off than its Middlesex namesake, with its "London particular," as Mr. Guppy calls it. But there was one day (17th) in December, 1879, when we were, by some atmospheric phenomena, treated to such "a peasouper" that we must note it as being the curiosity of the day, the street traffic being put a stop to while the fog lasted.

Folk-lore.—Funny old sayings are to be met with among the quips and quirks of "folk-lore" that tickled the fancies of our grandfathers. The following is to [**] with several changes, but it [**] good to be lost:—

"Sutton for mutton,
Tamworth for beeves,
Walsall for knockknees,
And Brummagem for thieves."

Fountains.—Messrs. Messenger and Sons designed, executed, and erected, to order of the Street Commissioners, in 1851, a very neat, and for the situation, appropriate, fountain in the centre of the Market Hall, but which has since been removed to Highgate Park, where it appears sadly out of place.

The poor little boys, without any clothes,
Looking in winter as if they were froze.

A number of small drinking-fountains or taps have been presented to the town by benevolent persons (one of the neatest being that put up at the expense of Mr. William White in Bristol Road in 1876), and granite cattle-troughs are to be found in Constitution Hill, Icknield Street, Easy Row, Albert Street, Gosta Green, Five Ways, &c. In July, 1876, Miss Ryland paid for the erection of a very handsome fountain at the bottom of Bradford Street, in near proximity to the Smith field. It is so constructed as to be available for quenching the thirst not only of human travellers, but also of horses, dogs, &c., and on this account it has been appropriately handed over to the care of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. It is composed of granite, and as it is surmounted by a gas lamp, it is, in more senses than one, both useful and ornamental.—The fountain in connection with the Chamberlain Memorial, at back of Town Hall, is computed to throw out five million gallons of water per annum (ten hours per day), a part of which is utilised at the fishstalls in the markets. The Water Committee have lately put up an ornamental fountain in Hagley Road, in connection with the pipe supply for that neighbourhood.

Foxalls.—For centuries one of the most prosperous of our local families, having large tanneries in Digbeth as far back as 1570; afterwards as cutlers and ironmongers down to a hundred years ago. They were also owners of the Old Swan, the famous coaching house, and which it is believed was the inn that Prince Rupert and his officers came to when Thomas, the ostler, was shot, through officiously offering to take their horses.

Fox Hunts.—With the exception of the annual exhibition of fox-hounds and other sporting dogs, Birmingham has not much to do with hunting matters, though formerly a red coat or two might often have been seen in the outskirts riding to meets not far away. On one occasion, however, as told the writer by one of these old inhabitants whose memories are our historical textbooks, the inhabitants of Digbeth and Deritend were treated to the sight of a hunt in full cry. It was a nice winter's morning of 1806, when Mr. Reynard sought to save his brush by taking a straight course down the Coventry Road right into town. The astonishment of the shop-keepers may be imagined when the rush of dogs and horses passed rattling by. Round the corner, down Bordesley High Street, past the Crown and Church, over the bridge and away for the Shambles and Corn Cheaping went the fox, and close to his heels followed the hounds, who caught their prey at last near to The Board. "S.D.R.," in one of his chatty gossips anent the old taverns of Birmingham, tells of a somewhat similar scene from the Quinton side of the town, the bait, however, being not a fox, but the trail-scent of a strong red herring, dragged at his stirrup, in wicked devilry, by one of the well-known haunters of old Joe Lindon's. Still, we have had fox-hunts of our own, one of the vulpine crew being killed in St. Mary's Churchyard, Feb. 26, 1873, while another was captured (Sept. 11, 1883) by some navvies at work on the extension of New Street Station. The fox, which was a young one, was found asleep in one of the subways, though how he got to such a strange dormitory is a puzzle, and he gave a quarter-hour's good sport before being secured.

Freeth, the Poet.—The first time Freeth's name appears in the public prints is in connection with a dinner given at his coffee-house, April 17, 1770, to celebrate Wilkes' release from prison. He died September 29, 1808, aged 77, and was buried in the Old Meeting House, the following lines being graved on his tombstone:—

"Free and easy through life 'twas his wish to proceed.
Good men he revered, whatever their creed.
His pride was a sociable evening to spend,
For no man loved better his pipe and his friend."

Friendly Societies are not of modern origin, traces of many having been found in ancient Greek inscriptions. The Romans also had similar societies, Mr. Tomkins, the chief clerk of the Registrar-General, having found and deciphered the accounts of one at Lanuvium, the entrance fee to which was 100 sesterces (about 15s.), and an amphora (or jar) of wine. The payments were equivalent to 2s. a year, or 2d. per mouth, the funeral money being 45s., a fixed portion, 7s. 6d. being set apart for distribution at the burning of the body. Members who did not pay up promptly were struck off the list, and the secretaries and treasurers, when funds were short, went to their own pockets.—The first Act for regulating Friendly Societies was passed in 1795. Few towns in England have more sick and benefit clubs than Birmingham, there not being many public-houses without one attached to them, and scarcely a manufactory minus its special fund for like purposes. The larger societies, of course, have many branches (lodges, courts, &c), and it would be a difficult matter to particularise them all, or even arrive at the aggregate number of their members, which, however, cannot be much less than 50,000; and, if to these we add the large number of what may be styled "annual gift clubs" (the money in hand being divided every year), we may safely put the total at something like 70,000 persons who take this method of providing for a rainy day. The following notes respecting local societies have been culled from blue books, annual reports, and private special information, the latter being difficult to arrive at, in consequence of that curious reticence observable in the character of officials of all sorts, club stewards included.

Artisans at Large.—In March, 1868, the Birmingham artisans who reported on the Paris Exhibition of 1867, formed themselves into a society "to consider and discuss, from an artisan point of view, all such subjects as specially affect the artisan class; to promote and seek to obtain all such measures, legislative or otherwise, as shall appear beneficial to that class; and to render to each other mutual assistance, counsel, or encouragement." Very good, indeed! The benefits which have arisen from the formation of this society are doubtless many, but as the writer has never yet seen a report, he cannot record the value of the mutual assistance rendered, or say what capital is left over of the original, fund of counsel and encouragement.

Barbers.—A few knights of the razor in 1869 met together and formed a "Philanthropic Society of Hairdressers," but though these gentlemen are proverbial for their gossiping propensities, they tell no tales out of school, and of their charity boast not.

Butchers.—A Butchers' Benefit and Benevolent Association was founded in 1877.

Coaldealers.—The salesmen of black diamonds have a mutual benefit association, but as the secretary declines to give any information, we fear the mutual benefit consists solely of helping each other to keep the prices up.

Cannon Street Male Adult Provident Institution was established in 1841. At the expiration of 1877 there were 8,994 members, with a balance in hand of £72,956 15s. 5d. The total received from members to that date amounted to £184,900, out of which £131,400 had been returned in sick pay and funeral benefits, the payments out varying from 4s. to 20s. a week in sickness, with a funeral benefit of £20, £8 being allowed on the death of a wife.

Carr's Lane Provident Institution was commenced in 1845, and has 299 male and 323 female members, with a capital of £5,488, the amount paid in 1883 on account of sickness being £242, with £54 funeral money.

Chemistry.—A Midland Counties' Chemists' Association was formed in May, 1869.

Christ Church Provident Institution was established in 1835, and at the end of 1883, there were 646 male and 591 female members; during the year £423 had been paid among 138 members on account of sickness, besides £25 for funerals. Capital about £5,800. A junior or Sunday school branch also exists.

Church School Teachers.—The Birmingham and District Branch of the Church Schoolmaster's and Schoolmistresses' Benevolent Institution was formed in 1866, and the members contribute about £250 per year to the funds.

Druids.—The order of Druids has five Lodges here, with nearly 400 members. The United Ancient Order of Druids has twenty-one Lodges, and about 1,400 members.

Ebenezer Chapel Sick Society was established in 1828. Has 135 members, whose yearly payments average 32s. 6d., out of which 17s. dividend at Christmas comes back, the benefits being 10s. a week in sickness and £10 at death.

Foresters.—In 1745 a few Yorkshire-men started "The Ancient Order of Royal Foresters," under which title the associated Courts remained until 1834, when a split took place. The secessionists, who gave the name of "Honour" to their No. 1 Court (at Ashton-under-Lyne), declined the honour of calling themselves "Royal," but still adhered to the antique part of their cognomen. The new "Ancient Order of foresters" throve well, and, leaving their "Royal" friends far away in the background, now number 560,000 members, who meet in nearly 7,000 Courts. In the Birmingham Midland District them are 62 courts, with about 6,200 members, the Court funds amounting to £29,900, and the District funds to £2,200. The oldest Court in this town is the "Child of the Forest," meeting at the Gem Vaults, Steelhouse Lane, which was instituted in 1839. The other Courts meet at the Crown and Anchor, Gem Street; Roebuck, Lower Hurst Street; Queen's Arms, Easy Row; White Swan, Church Street; Red Cow, Horse Fair; Crown, Broad Street; White Hart, Warstone Lane; Rose and Crown, Summer Row; Red Lion, Suffolk Street; Old Crown, Deritend; Hope and Anchor, Coleshill Street; Black Horse, Ashted Row; Colemore Arms, Latimer Street South; Anchor, Bradford Street; Army and Navy Inn, Great Brook Street; Red Lion, Smallbrook Street; Union Mill Inn, Holt Street; Vine, Lichfield Road; Wellington, Holliday Street; Ryland Arms, Ryland Street; Star and Garter, Great Hampton Row; Oak Tree, Selly Oak; Station Inn, Saltley Road; Drovers' Arms, Bradford Street; Old Nelson, Great Lister Street; Ivy Green, Edward Street; Iron House, Moor Street; Green Man, Harborne; Fountain, Wrentham Street; King's Arms, Sherlock Street; Shareholders' Arms, Park Lane; Shakespeare's Head, Livery Street; Criterion, Hurst Street; Acorn, Friston Street; Hen and Chickens, Graham Street; Albion, Aston Road; Dog and Partridge, Tindal Street; White Horse, Great Colmore Street; Carpenters' Arms, Adelaide Street; Small Arms Inn, Muntz Street; Weymouth Arms, Gerrard Street; General Hotel, Tonk Street; Railway Tavern, Hockley; Noah's Ark, Montague Street; Sportsman, Warwick Road; Roebuck, Monument Road; Bull's Head, Moseley; Swan Inn, Coleshill; Hare and Hounds, King's Heath; Roebuck, Erdington; Fox and Grapes, Pensnett; Hazelwell Tavern, Stirchley Street; Round Oak and New Inn, Brierley Hill; The Stores, Oldbury; and at the Crosswells Inn, Five Ways, Langley.

General Provident and Benevolent Institution was at first (1833) an amalgamation of several Sunday School societies. It has a number of branches, and appears to be in a flourishing condition, the assets, at end of 1883, amounting to over £48,000, with a yearly increment of about £1,400; the number of members in the medical fund being 5,112.

Independent Order of Rechabites.—Dwellers in tents, and drinkers of no wine, were the original Rechabites, and there are about a score of "tents" in this district, the oldest being pitched in this town in 1839, and, as friendly societies, they appear to be doing, in their way, good service, like their friends who meet in "courts" and "lodges," the original "tent's" cashbox having £675 in hand for cases of sickness, while the combined camp holds £1,600 wherewith to bury their dead.

Medical.—A Midland Medical Benevolent Society has been in existence since 1821. The annual report to end of 1883 showed invested funds amounting to £10,937, there being 265 benefit members and 15 honorary.

Musical.—The Birmingham Musical Society consists almost solely of members of the Choral Society, whose fines, with small subscriptions from honorary members, furnishes a fund to cover rehearsal, and sundry choir expenses as well as 10s in cases of sickness.

New Meeting Provident Institution was founded in 1836, but is now connected with the Church of the Messiah. A little over a thousand members, one-third of whom are females.

Oddfellows.—The National Independent Order of Oddfellows, Birmingham Branch, was started about 1850. At the end of 1879 there were 1,019 members, with about £4,500 accumulated funds.

The Birmingham District of the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows in January, 1882, consisted of 43 lodges, comprising 4,297 members, the combined capital of sick and funeral funds being £42,210. Tho oldest Lodge in the District is the "Briton's Pride," which was opened in 1827.

The first Oddfellows' Hall was in King Street, but was removed when New Street Station was built. The new Oddfellows' Hall in Upper Temple Street was built in 1849, by Branson and Gwyther, from the designs of Coe and Goodwin (Lewisham, Kent), at a cost of £3,000. Tim opening was celebrated by a dinner on December 3rd, same year. The "Hall" will accommodate 1,000 persons. The Oddfellows' Biennial Moveable Committee met in this town on May 29th, 1871.

The M.U. Lodges meet at the following houses:—Fox, Fox Street; White Horse, Congreve Street; Swan-with-two-Necks, Great Brook Street; Albion, Cato Street North; Hope and Anchor, Coleshill Street; 13, Temple Street; Wagon and Horses, Edgbaston Street; Crystal Palace, Six Ways, Smethwick; The Vine, Harborne; Prince Arthur, Arthur Street, Small Heath; George Hotel, High Street, Solihull; Bell, Phillip Street; Bull's Head, Digbeth; Edgbaston Tavern, Lee Bank, Road; The Stork, Fowler Street, Nechells; Three Tuns, Digbeth; Town Hall, Sutton Coldfield; Coffee House, Bell Street; Coach and Horses, Snow Hill; Roe Buck, Moor Street; Drovers' Arms, Bradford Street; Co-operative Meeting Room, Stirchley Street; Black Lion, Coleshill Street; Queen's Head, Handsworth; No. 1 Coffee House, Rolfe Street, Smethwick; New Inn, Selly Oak; Wagon and Horses, Greet; Talbot, Yardley; Saracen's Head, Edgbaston Street; Dolphin, Unett Street; Grand Turk, Ludgate Hill; Roebuck, Moor Street; White Swan, Church Street; White Lion, Thorpe Street; Queen's Arms, Easy Row; Rose and Crown, Wheeler Street, Lozells.

The National Independent Order was instituted in 1845, and registered under the Friendly Societies' Act, 1875. The Order numbers over 60,000 members, but its strongholds appear to be in Yorkshire and Lancashire, which two counties muster between them nearly 40,000. In Birmingham district, there are thirteen "lodges," with a total of 956 members, their locations being at the Criterion, Hurst Street; Bricklayers' Arms, Cheapside; Ryland Arms, Ryland Street; Sportsman, Moseley Street; Iron House, Moor Street; Exchange Inn, High Street; Red Lion, Smallbrook Street; Woodman, Summer Lane; Emily Arms, Emily Street; Boar's Head, Bradford Street; Turk's Head, Duke Street; Bird-in-Hand, Great King Street; Tyburn House, Erdington.

Old Meeting Friendly Fund was commenced in 1819, and registered in 1824. Its capital at the close of the first year, was £5 14s. 10-1/2d.; at end of the tenth year (1828) it was nearly £264; in 1838, £646; in 1848, £1,609; in 1858, £3,419; 1868, £5,549; in 1878, £8,237; and at the end of 1883, £9,250 16s. 2d.;—a very fair sum, considering the numbers only numbered 446, the year's income being £877 and the out-goings £662.

Railway Guards' Friendly Fund was originated in this town in 1848. It has nearly 2,200 members; the yearly disbursements being about £6,000, and the payments £40 at death, with life pensions of 10s. and upwards per week to members disabled on the line. More than £85,000 has been thus distributed since the commencement.

Roman Catholic.—A local Friendly Society was founded in 1794, and a Midland Association in 1824.

Shepherds.—The Order of Shepherds dates from 1834, but we cannot get at the number of members, &c. August 9, 1883 (according to Daily Post), the High Sanctuary meeting of the Order of Shepherds was held in our Town Hall, when the auditor's report showed total assets of the general fund, £921 15s. 4d., and liabilities £12 6s. 9-1/2d. The relief fund stood at £292 18s. 8d., being an increase of £66 0s. 11d. on the year; and there was a balance of £6 13s. 9-1/2d. to the credit of the sick and funeral fund.

St. Patrick's Benefit Society, dating from 1865 as an offshoot of the Liverpool Society, had at end of 1882, 3,144 members, the expenditure of the year was £857 (£531 for funerals), and the total value of the society £2,030.

Unitarian Brotherly Society, registered in 1825, has about 500 members, and a capital of £8,500.

United Brothers.—There are nearly 100 lodges and 10,000 members of societies under this name in Birmingham and neighbourhood, some of the lodges being well provided for capital, No. 4 having £8,286 to 186 members.

United Family Life Assurance and Sick Benefit Society claims to have some 8,500 members, 750 of whom reside in Birmingham.

United Legal Burial Society, registered in 1846, like the above, is a branch only.

Union Provident Sick Society.—Founded 1802, enrolled in 1826 and certified in 1871, had then 3,519 members and a reserve fund of £8,269. At end of 1883 the reserve fund stood at £15,310 16s. 9d., there having been paid during the year £4,768 17s. 2d. for sick pay and funerals, besides 15s. dividend to each member.

There are 15,379 Friendly Societies or branches in the kingdom, numbering 4,593,175 members, and their funds amounted to (by last return) £12,148,602.

Friends (The Society of).—Quakerism was publicly professed here in 1654, George Fox visiting the town the following year and in 1657. The triends held their first "meetings" in Monmouth Street in 1659. The meeting-house in Bull Street was built in 1703, and was enlarged several times prior to 1856, when it was replaced by the present edifice which will seat about 800 persons. The re-opening took place January 25, 1857. The burial-ground in Monmouth Street, where the Arcade is now, was taken by the Great Western Railway Co. in 1851, the remains of over 300 departed Friends being removed to the yard of the meeting-house in Bull Street.

Froggery.—Before the New Street Railway Station was built, a fair slice of old Birmingham had to be cleared away, and fortunately it happened to be one of the unsavoury portions, including the spot known as "The Froggery." As there was a Duck Lane close by, the place most likely was originally so christened from its lowlying and watery position, the connection between ducks and frogs being self-apparent.

Frosts.—Writing on Jan. 27, 1881, the late Mr. Plant said that in 88 years there had been only four instances of great cold approaching comparison with the intense frost then ended; the first was in January, 1795; the next in December and January, 1813-14; then followed that of January, 1820. The fourth was in December and January, 1860-61; and, lastly, January, 1881. In 1795 the mean temperature of the twenty-one days ending January 31st was 24.27 degrees; in 1813-14, December 29th to January 18th, exclusively, 24.9 degrees; in 1820, January 1st to 21st, inclusively, 23.7 degrees; in 1860-61, December 20th to January 9th, inclusively, 24.5 degrees; and in 1881, January 7th to 27th, inclusively, 23.2 degrees. Thus the very coldest three weeks on record in this district, in 88 years, is January, 1881. With the exception of the long frost of 1813-4, which commenced on the 24th December and lasted three months, although so intense in their character, none of the above seasons were remarkable for protracted duration. The longest frosts recorded in the present century were as follows:—1813-14, December to March. 13 weeks; 1829-30, December, January, February, 10 weeks; 1838, January, February, 8 weeks; 1855, January, February, 7 weeks; 1878-79, December, January, February, 10 weeks.

Funny Notions.—The earliest existing statutes governing our Free Grammar of King Edward VI. bear the date of 1676. One of these rules forbids the assistant masters to marry.—In 1663 (temp. Charles II.) Sir Robert Holte, of Aston, received a commission from Lord Northampton, "Master of His Majesty's leash," to take and seize greyhounds, and certain other dogs, for the use of His Majesty!—The "Dancing Assembly," which was to meet on the 30th January, 1783, loyally postponed their light fantastic toeing, "in consequence of that being the anniversary of the martyrdom of Charles I."—In 1829, when the Act was passed appointing Commissioners for Duddeston and Nechells, power was given for erecting gasworks, provided they did not extend over more than one acre, and that no gas was sent into the adjoining parish of Birmingham.—A writer in Mechanics' Magazine for 1829, who signed his name as "A. Taydhill, Birmingham," suggested

	Area in Acres	Population in 1881	Persons to acres
Bradford	7,200	203,544	28.2
Bristol	4,452	217,185	48.3
Leeds	21,572	326,158	15.1
Leicester	3,200	134,350	42.0
Liverpool	5,210	549,834	105.6
Manchester	4,293	364,445	84.9
Nottingham	9,960	177,964	77.9
Newcastle	5,372	151,822	28.3
Salford	5,170	194,077	37.5
Sheffield	19,651	312,943	15.9
Wolverhmptn	3,396	76,850	22.6

	s.	d.
For every carriage constructed to carry four persons, for the first hour, or part of hour	3	0
For every additional 15 minutes, or part of 15 minutes.	0	2
For every carriage constructed to carry two persons, for the first hour, or part of hour	2	6
For every additional 15 minutes, or part of 15 minutes	0	6
Any person hiring any carriage otherwise than by time is entitled to detain the same five minutes without extra charge, but for every 15 minutes, or part thereof, over the first five minutes, the hirer must pay	0	6
By distance:--
Cabs or Cars to carry 2 persons not exceeding 1-1/2 miles	1	0
Per 1/2 mile after	0	4
One horse vehicles to carry 4 persons, not exceeding 1 mile	1	0
For any further distance, per 1/2 mile after
Cars or Carriages with 2 horses, to carry 4 persons, not exceeding 1 mile	1	9
Per 1/2 mile after	0	9
Double Fares shall be allowed and paid for every fare, or so much of any fare as may be performed by any carriage after 12 o'clock at night, and before 6 in the morning.

Tons		Nominal Value.
62	or 9,595,245 pennies	£25,396 17 1
28	or 5,504,382 halfpennies	11,469 10 11
10	or 3,884,446 farthings	4,096 5 4
100	or 15,484,043 pieces	£40,962 13 4

WARWICKSHIRE.
Owners of	Numbr. Acres	Extent of lands.	Gross estimated rental. £
Less than 1 acre	46894	5883	1808897
acre and under 10	1956	7727	93792
10 acres " " 50	1328	31485	114243
50 " " 100	447	31904	76178
100 " " 500	667	137372	398625
500 " " 1000	82	55542	134005
1000 " " 2000	47	67585	208718
2000 " " 5000	34	100185	275701
5000 " " 10000	8	53380	90848
10000 " " 20000	4	49953	74085
No areas given	49	--	43205

Total	51516	541021	3318303

STAFFORDSHIRE.
Owners of	Numbr. Acres	Extent of lands.	Gross estimated rental. £
Less than 1 acre	33672	4289	974133
1 acre and under 10	4062	14164	252714
10 acres " " 50	1891	44351	224505
50 " " 100	544	39015	124731
100 " " 500	557	111891	881083
500 " " 1000	90	62131	177372
1000 " " 2000	79	70637	278562
2000 " " 5000	28	90907	219792
5000 " " 10000	13	82560	136668
10000 " " 20000	7	96700	212526
20000 " " 50000	1	21433	41560
No areas given	2456	--	606552
No rentals returned	1	2	--

Total	43371	638084	3630254

WORCESTERSHIRE.
Owners of	Numbr. Acres	Extent of lands.	Gross estimated rental. £
Less than 1 acre .......160[**]	8	4733	444945
1 acre and under 10	2790	10136	151922
10 acres " 50	1305	31391	138517
50 " " 100	457	32605	92257
100 " " 500	589	118187	258049
500 " " 1000	66	46420	122817
1000 " " 2000	34	46794	89267
2000 " " 5000	25	78993	131886
5000 " " 10000	5	33353	54611
10000 " " 20000	3	38343	88703
No areas given	522	--	112107

Total	21804	441061	1685735

	1887	1878.	1879.	1880.	1881.	1882.	1883.
Cattle	113	125	152	108	161	150	101
Sheep	69	91	64	47	88	85	75
Pigs	64	73	52	60	58	67	69
Corn	27	58	29	36	55	67	66
Roots	94	112	175	182	124	131	117
Potatoes	76	116	138	88	104	96	187
Poultry	2077	2149	2197	2247	2409	2489	2816
Pigeons	629	715	702	815	902	838	1332

	3149	3439	3505	3583	3901	3923	4763

	1877.	1878.	1879.	1880.	1881.	1882.	1883.
No. of Visitors	53,501	65,830	38,536	47,321	55,361	50,226
Receipts	£1,673	£1,997	£1,206	£1,585	£1,815	£1,665

	1876	1877	1878	1879	1880	1881	1882
Brahma Pootras	407	258	366	376	362	439	429
Dorkings	167	178	220	209	194	238	277
Cochin	331	415	412	433	421	431	412
Langshans	--	--	--	49	66	49	47
Malay	63	38	49	47	48	36	43
Creve Coeur	93	117	94	38	28	33	24
Houdans	--	--	--	56	65	54	71
La Fleche	--	--	--	--	--	--	12
Spanish	48	33	45	27	32	31	37
Andalusians	--	--	--	16	23	29	43
Leghorns	--	--	--	25	12	20	17
Plymouth Rocks	--	--	--	--	--	17	20
Minorcas	--	--	7	8	6	9	3
Polish	78	76	98	91	83	98	63
Sultans	--	--	--	6	7	8	6
Silkies	--	--	--	--	--	11	7
Game	351	341	314	241	267	287	353
Aseels	--	--	--	27	28	20	11
Hamburghs	148	175	145	159	129	141	153
Other Breeds	35	47	126	20	20	21	7
Selling Classes	--	--	--	66	90	93	102
Bantams	95	63	82	70	105	96	105
Ducks	100	102	115	137	163	144	141
Geese	21	21	31	22	31	21	23
Turkeys	95	96	52	82	67	81	60
Pigeons	670	629	715	702	815	903	838

Total	2072	2569	2873	2899	3062	3316	3325

	1876.	1877.	1878.	1879.	1880.	1881.	1882.
No. of Visitors.	14981	17948	19500	14399	16796	16849	15901
Receipts at doors.	£664	£740	£820	£580	£728	£714	£648
Sales of Dogs.	£556	£367	£485	£554	£586	£474	£465