Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham by Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell

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~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.

~Electoral Returns.~--See "_Parliamentary_."

~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 L20,000, 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 L20,000. 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 L89,321, the various headings under which the
payments were entered, being:--Beer dealers, L2,245; beer retailers,
L7,161; spirit dealers, L1,617; spirit retailers, L8,901; wine dealers,
L874; wine retailers, L2,392; brewers, L9,518; maltsters, L408; dealers
in roasted malt, L17; manufacturers of tobacco, L147; dealers in
tobacco, L1,462; rectifiers of spirits, L11; makers of methylated
spirits, L10; retailers of methylated spirits, L33; vinegar makers, L26;
chemists and others using stills, L4; male servants, L1,094; dogs,
L1,786; carriages, L4,613; armorial bearings, L374; guns, L116; to kill
game, L1,523; to deal in game, L136; refreshment houses, L366; makers
and dealers in sweets, L18; retailers of sweets, L42; hawkers and
pedlars, L68; appraisers and house agents, L132; auctioneers, L1,210;
pawnbrokers, L1,958; dealers in plate, L1,749; gold and silver plate
duty, L17,691; medicine vendors, L66; inhabited house duty, L21,533.

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.

1877. 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 ......... L1,673 L1,997 L1,206 L1,585 L1,815 L1,665

[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 L2,400 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:

1876 1'77 1'78 1'79 1'80 1'81 1'82
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

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 L30, and at a sale by auction afterwards two prize birds were
knocked down at L40 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
L150, 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.