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

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_The Shakespeare Memorial Library_, though to all intents and purposes
part and parcel of the Reference Library, has a separate and distinct
history. Mr. Sam. Timmins, who is generally credited with having (in
1858) first suggested the formation of a library, which should consist
solely of Shakespeare's works, and Shakespeareana of all possible kinds,
said, at the tercentenary meeting, that the idea originated with George
Dawson, but perhaps the honour should be divided, as their mutual
appreciation of the greatest poet whose genius has found utterance in
our language is well known. The first practical step taken was the
meeting, held (July 10, 1863) of gentlemen interested in the
tercentenary, for the purpose of considering a proposal to celebrate
that event by the formation of a Shakespearean library. The Rev. Charles
Evans, head master of King Edward's School, presided. The following
resolution, moved by Mr. G. Dawson, and seconded by the Rev. S. Bache,
was adopted:--"That it is desirable to celebrate the tercentenary of the
birth of Shakespeare by the formation of a Shakespearean library,
comprising the various editions of the poet's works, and the literature
and works of art connected therewith, and to associate such library with
the Borough Central Reference Library, in order that it may be
permanently preserved." A hundred pounds were subscribed at this
meeting, and a committee formed to proceed with the project. In a very
few months funds rolled in, and Shakespeareans from all parts of the
world sent willing contributions to this the first Shakespearean library
ever thought of. It was determined to call it a "Memorial" library, in
honour of the tercentenary of 1864, and on the poet's day of that year,
the library was formally presented to the town at a breakfast given at
Nock's Hotel by the Mayor (Mr. W. Holliday). Dr. Miller, George Dawson,
M.D. Hill (Recorder), T.C.S. Kynnersley, R.W. Dale, Sam. Timmins, and
others took part in the proceedings, and the Mayor, on behalf of the
Free Libraries Committee, accepted the gift on the terms agreed to by
the Town Council, viz., that the Library should be called "The
Shakespearean Memorial Library," that a room should be specially and
exclusively appropriated for the purposes thereof; that the library
should be under the same regulations as the Reference Library; and that
the Free Libraries' Committee should maintain and augment it, and accept
all works appertaining to Shakespeare that might be presented, &c. As
George Dawson prophesied on that occasion, the library in a few years
become the finest collection of Shakespearean literature in Europe
therein being gathered from every land which the poet's fame had
reached, not only the multitudinous editions of his works, but also
every available scrap of literature bearing thereon, from the massive
folios and quaint quartoes of the old times to the veriest trifle of
current gossip culled from the columns of the newspapers. Nothing was
considered too rare or too unimportant, so long as it had connection
even remote to Shakespeare; and the very room (opened April 23, 1888),
in which the books were stored itself acquired a Shakespearean value in
its carved and elaborately-appropriate fittings. When started, it was
hoped that at least 5,000 volumes would be got together, but that number
was passed in 1874, and at the end of 1878 there were more than 8,700,
in addition to the books, pictures, documents, and relics connected with
Stratford-on-Avon and her gifted son contained in the Staunton
collection. How all the treasures vanished has already been told. Much
has been done to replace the library, and many valuable works have been
secured; but, as the figures last published show, the new library is a
long way behind as yet. It now contains 4,558 volumes, valued at L1,352
9s. 3d., classified as follows:--English, 2,205 volumes; French, 322;
German, 1,639; Bohemian, 14; Danish, 25; Dutch, 68; Finnish, 4; Frisian,
2; Greek, 9; Hebrew, 2; Hungarian, 44; Icelandic, 3; Italian, 94;
Polish, 15; Portuguese, 3; Roumanian, 1; Roumelian, 1; Russian, 56;
Spanish, 18; Swedish, 30; Ukraine, 1; Wallachian, 1; and Welsh, 1.

~Libraries Suburban.~--The ratepayers of the Manor of Aston adopted the
Free Libraries Act, May 15, 1877, and their Library forms part of the
Local Board buildings in Witton Road. At the end of March, 1883, the
number of volumes in the reference library was 3,216, and the issues
during the year numbered 8,096. In the lending department the library
consists of 5,582 volumes, and the total issues during the year were
74,483; giving a daily average of 245. The number of borrowers was
3,669.--Aston and Handsworth being almost part of Birmingham, it would
be an act of kindness if local gentlemen having duplicates on their
library shelves, would share them between the two.

_Handsworth_ Free Library was opened at the Local Board Offices, of
which building it forms a part, on May 1, 1880, with a collection of
about 5,000 volumes, which has since been increased to nearly 7,500.
That the library is appreciated is shown by the fact that during last
year the issues numbered 42,234 volumes, the borrowers being 514 males
and 561 females.

_Smethwick_ Free Library and Reading Room was opened Aug. 14, 1880.

_King's Norton_.--In or about 1680, the Rev. Thomas Hall, B.D., founded
a curious old Library for the use of the parishioners, and the books are
preserved in the Grammar School, near the Church. This is the earliest
_free_ library known in the Midlands.

~Licensed Victuallers' Society.~--See "_Trade Protection Societies_."

~Licensed Victuallers' Asylum.~--See "_Philanthropical Institutions_."

~Licensed Victuallers.~--The following table shows the number of
licensed victuallers, dealers in wine, beer, &c., in the borough as well
as the holders of what are known as outdoor licenses:--

Year. Licensed Beer and Total. Population. Beer, &c., Grocers.
Victuallers. Wine On. Off.
1870 687 1166 1853 337,982 .. ..
1871 683 1165 1848 343,690 .. ..
1872 684 1117 1801 349,398 .. 23
1873 684 1083 1767 355,106 4 53
1874 680 1081 1761 360,814 4 53
1875 676 1057 1733 366,522 7 73
1876 675 1059 1734 372,230 171 73
1877 673 1054 1727 377,938 223 74
1878 672 1046 1718 383,646 334 77
1879 671 1061 1732 389,354 433 61
1880 670 1060 1730 395,063 454 63
1881 669 1054 1723 400,774 454 55
1882 670 1054 1724 406,482 459 57

~Lifeboats.~--In 1864-65 a small committee, composed of Messrs. H.
Fulford, G. Groves, J. Pearce, D. Moran, G. Williams, R. Foreshaw, and
G. Lempiere, aided by the Mayor and Dr. Miller, raised about L500 as a
contribution from Birmingham to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
Two boats were credited to us in the Society's books, one called
"Birmingham" (launched at Soho Pool, November 26, 1864), and the other
the "James Pearce." These boats, placed on the Lincolnshire and Norfolk
coasts, were instrumental in the saving of some hundreds of lives, but
both have, long since, been worn out, and it is about time that
Birmingham replaced them. Messrs. C. and W. Barwell, Pickford Street,
act as local hon. secs. The "Charles Ingleby" lifeboat, at Hartlepool,
was paid for, and the establishment for its maintenance endowed, out of
the sum of L1,700, contributed by C.P. Wragge, Esq., in memory of the
late Rev. Charles Ingleby.

~Lifford,~ in the parish of King's Norton, once boasted of a Monastic
establishment, which was squelched by Bluff King Harry, the only remains
now to be found consisting of a few more than half-buried foundations
and watercourses.

~Lighting.~--Oil lamps for giving light in the streets were in limited
use here in 1733, even before an Act was obtained to enforce payment of
a rate therefor. Deritend and Bordesley obtained light by the Act passed
in 1791. The Street Commissioners, Nov. 8, 1816, advertised for tenders
for lighting the streets with gas, but it was nearly ten years (April
29, 1826) before the lamps were thus supplied. The Lighting Act was
adopted at Saltley April 1, 1875. Lighting the streets by electricity
_may_ come some day, though, as the Gas Works belong to the town, it
will, doubtless, be in the days of our grandchildren.

~Lighting by Electricity.~--After the very successful application of the
electric light in the Town Hall on the occasion of the Festival in 1882,
it is not surprising that an attempt should be made to give it a more
extended trial. A scheme has been drawn out by the Crompton-Winfield
Company for this purpose, and it has received the sanction of the Town
Council, and been confirmed by the Board of Trade, shopkeepers in the
centre of the town may soon have a choice of lights for the display of
their wares. The area fixed by the scheme is described by the following
boundaries:--Great Charles Street to Congreve Street; Congreve Street to
Edmund Street; Edmund Street to Newhall Street; Newhall Street to
Colmore Row; Colmore Row to Bull Street; Bull Street, High Street, New
Street, Stephenson Place, Paradise Street, and Easy Row. The streets to
be supplied with electric mains within two years are as follows:--Great
Charles Street (to Congreve Street), Congreve Street, New Street,
Stephenson Place, Easy Row, and Paradise Street. The Corporation are to
have powers of purchasing the undertaking at the end of sixteen years--
that is, fourteen years after the expiration of the two-years' term
allowed for the experimental lighting of the limited area. The order,
while fully protecting the rights of the public and of the Corporation,
justly recognises the experimental character of the project of
electric-lighting from a common centre, and is much more favourable, in
many ways, to the promoters than the legislation under which gas
undertakings are conducted. Whether this will tend towards reducing the
price of gas remains to be seen.

~Lightning Conductors~ were introduced here in 1765.

~Lindon.~--The Minerva, in Peck Lane, was, circa 1835, kept by "Joe
Lindon," a host as popular then as our modern "Joe Hillman," up at "The
Stores," in Paradise Street.

~Literary Associations.~--The Central Literary Association first met
Nov. 28, 1856. The Moseley and Balsall Heath, Oct. 11, 1877.

~Livery Street.~--So called from the Livery stables once there, opposite
Brittle street, which is now covered by the Great Western Railway
Station.

~Livingstone.~--Dr. Livingstone, the African traveller, delivered an
address in the Town Hall, October 23, 1857.

~Loans.~--According to the Registrar-General's late report, there were
380 loan societies in the kingdom, who had among them a capital of
L122,160, the members of the said societies numbering 33,520, giving an
average lending capital of L3 12s. 10-1/2d. each. That is certainly not
a very large sum to invest in the money market, and it is to be hoped
that the score or two of local societies can show better funds. What the
profits of this business are frequently appear in the reports taken at
Police Courts and County Courts, where Mr. Cent.-per-Cent. now and then
bashfully acknowledges that he is sometimes satisfied with a profit of
200 per cent. There _are_ respectable offices in Birmingham where loans
can be obtained at a fair and reasonable rate, but _Punch's_ advice to
those about to marry may well be given in the generality of cases, to
anyone thinking of visiting a loan office. Young men starting in
business may, under certain conditions, obtain help for that purpose
from the "Dudley Trust."--See "_Philanthropical Trusts_."

~Loans, Public.~--England, with its National Debt of L776,000,000, is
about the richest country in the world, and if the amount of
indebtedness is the sign of prosperity, Birmingham must be tolerably
well off. Up to the end of 1882 our little loan account stood thus:--

Borrowd Repaid Owing.
Baths .. .. .. .. L62,425 L27,743 L34,682
Cemetery .. .. .. 46,500 19,316 27,184
Closed Burial Gr'nds 10,000 41 9,959
Council House .. .. 135,762 10,208 125,554
Fire Brigade Station 6,000 53 5,947
Free Libraries.. .. 56,050 7,534 48,516
Gaol .. .. .. .. 92,350 79,425 12,925
Industrial School .. 13,710 2,310 11,400
Asylum, Winson Gn... 100,000 97,020 2,980
" Rubery Hill.. 100,012 5,887 94,125
Markt Hall & Markts 186,942 73,463 113,479
Mortuaries.. .. .. 700 103 597
Parks .. .. .. .. 63,210 12,347 50,863
Paving roads .. .. 158,100 30,088 128,012
Paving footways .. 79,950 8,113 71,837
Police Stations .. 25,231 9,839 15,392
Public Office .. .. 23,400 14,285 9,115
Sewers & Sewerage .. 366,235 81,338 284,897
Tramways .. .. .. 65,450 17,125 48,325
Town Hall .. .. .. 69,521 37,885 31,636
Town Improvements .. 348,680 134,156 214,524
------------------------------
2,010,227 668,278 1,341,949
Improvem't scheme .. 1,534,731 31,987 1,502,744
Gasworks .. .. .. 2,184,186 142,359 2,041,827
Waterworks.. .. .. 1,814,792 5,086 1,809,706
-----------------------------
Totals.. .. .. .. 7,543,936 847,710 6,696,226

The above large total, however, does not show all that was owing. The
United Drainage Board have borrowed L386,806, and as Birmingham pays
L24,722 out of the year's expenditure of L33,277 of that Board, rather
more than seven-tenths of that debt must be added to the Borough
account, say L270,000. The Board of Guardians have, between June, 1869,
and January, 1883, borrowed on loan L130,093, and during same period
have repaid L14,808, leaving L115,285 due by them, which must also be
added to the list of the town's debts.

~Local Acts.~--There have been a sufficient number of specially-local
Acts of Parliament passed in connection with this town to fill a law
library of considerable size. Statutes, clauses, sections, and orders
have followed in rapid succession for the last generation or two. Our
forefathers were satisfied and gratified if they got a regal of
parliamentary notice of this kind once in a century, but no sooner did
the inhabitants find themselves under a "properly-constituted" body of
"head men," than the lawyers' game began. First a law must be got to
make a street, another to light it, a third to pave it, and then one to
keep it clean. It is a narrow street, and an Act must be obtained to
widen it; when widened some wiseacre thinks a market should be held in
it, and a law is got for that, and for gathering tolls; after a bit,
another is required to remove the market, and then the street must be
"improved," and somebody receives more pounds per yard than he gave
pence for the bit of ground wanted to round off the corners; and so the
Birmingham world wagged on until the town became a big town, and could
afford to have a big Town Hall when other big towns couldn't, and a
covered Market Hall and a Smithfield of good size, while other places
dwelt under bare skies. The Act by which the authority of the Street
Commissioners and Highway Surveyors was transferred to the Corporation
was passed in 1851; the expenses of obtaining it reaching nearly L9,000.
It took effect on New Year's Day following, and the Commissioners were
no longer "one of the powers that be," but some of the Commissioners'
bonds are effective still. Since that date there have been twenty local
statutes and orders relating to the borough of Birmingham, from the
Birmingham Improvement Act, 1851, to the Provisional Order Confirmation
Act, passed in 1882, the twenty containing a thousand or more sections.
All this, however, has recently been altered, the powers that are now
having (through the Town Clerk, Mr. Orford Smith) rolled all the old
Acts into one, eliminating useless and obsolete clauses, and inserting
others necessitated by our high state of advanced civilisation. The new
Act, which is known as the Birmingham Corporation Consolidation Act,
came into force January 1, 1884, and all who desire to master our local
governing laws easily and completely had better procure a copy of the
book containing it, with notes of all the included statutes, compiled by
the Town Clerk, and published by Messrs. Cornish, New Street.

~Local Epitaphs.~--Baskerville, when young, was a stone cutter, and it
was known that there was a gravestone in Handsworth churchyard and
another in Edgbaston churchyard which were cut by him. The latter was
accidentally broken many years back, but was moved and kept as a
curiosity until it mysteriously vanished while some repairs were being
done at the church. It is believed that Baskerville wrote as well as
carved the inscription which commemorated the death of Edward Richards
who was an idiot, and died Sept. 21st, 1728, and that it ran thus:--

"If innocents are the fav'rites of heaven,
And God but little asks where little's given,
My great Creator has for me in store
Eternal joys--What wise man can ask more?"

The gravestone at Handsworth was "under the chancel window," sixty years
ago, overgrown with moss and weeds, but inscription and stone have long
since gone. Baskerville's own epitaph, on the Mausoleum in his grounds
at Easy Hill, has often been quoted:--

'Stranger,
Beneath this cone, in unconsecrated ground,
A friend to the liberties of mankind directed his body to be inurned.
May the example contribute to emancipate thy mind
From the idle fears of Superstition,
And the wicked Act of Priesthood!

Almost as historical as the above, is the inscription on the tombstone
erected over Mary Ashford, at Sutton Coldfield:--

As a Warning to Female Virtue,
And a humble Monument of Female Chastity,
This Stone marks the Grave
of
MARY ASHFORD,
Who, in the 20th year of her age,
Having incautiously repaired
To a scene of amusement
Without proper protection,
Was brutally violated and murdered,
On the 27th May, 1817.

Lovely and chaste as is the primrose pale,
Rifled of virgin sweetness by the gale,
Mary! The wretch who thee remorseless slew,
Will surely God's avenging wrath pursue.

For, though the deed of blood be veiled in night,
"Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
Fair, blighted flower! The muse, that weeps thy doom,
Rears o'er thy sleeping dust this warning tomb!

The following quaint inscription appears on the tombstone erected in
memory of John Dowler, the blacksmith, in Aston churchyard:--

Sacred to the Memory of
JOHN DOWLER,
Late of Castle Bromwich, who
Departed this life December 6th, 1787,
Aged 42,
Also two of his Sons, JAMES and CHARLES,
Who died infants.

My sledge and hammer lie reclined,
My bellows, too, have lost their wind
My fire's extinct, my forge decayed,
And in the dust my vice is laid;
My coal is spent, my iron gone,
My nails are drove, my work is done.

The latter part of the above, like the next four, has appeared in many
parts of the country, as well as in the local burial grounds, from which
they have been copied:--

From St. Bartholomew's:

"The bitter cup that death gave me
Is passing round to come to thee."

From General Cemetery:

"Life is a city full of crooked streets,
Death is the market-place where all men meets;
If life were merchandise which men could buy,
The rich would only live, the poor would die."

From Witton Cemetery:

"O earth, O earth! observe this well--
That earth to earth shall come to dwell;
Then earth in earth shall close remain,
Till earth from earth shall rise again."

From St. Philip's:

"Oh, cruel death, how could you be so unkind
To take him before, and leave me behind?
You should have taken both of us, if either,
Which would have been more pleasing to the survivor."

The next, upon an infant, is superior to the general run of this class
of inscription. It was copied from a slab intended to be placed in Old
Edgbaston Churchyard:

"Beneath this stone, in sweet repose,
Is laid a mother's dearest pride;
A flower that scarce had waked to life,
And light and beauty, ere it died.
God and His wisdom has recalled
The precious boon His love has given;
And though the casket moulders here,
The gem is sparkling now in heaven."

Ramblers may find many quaint epitaphs in neighbouring village
churchyards. In Shustoke churchyard, or rather on a tablet placed
against the wall of the church over the tomb of a person named Hautbach,
the date on which is 1712, there is an inscription, remarkable not only
for lines almost identical with those over Shakespeare's grave, but for
combining several other favourite specimens of graveological literature,
as here bracketed:

"When Death shall cut the thread of life,
Both of Mee and my living Wife,
When please God our change shall bee,
There is a Tomb for Mee and Shee,
Wee freely shall resign up all
To Him who gave, and us doth call.

{Sleep here wee must, both in the Dust,
{Till the Resurrection of the Just.

{Good friend, within these Railes forbear
{To dig the dust enclosed here.
{Blest bee the man who spares these stones
{And Curst be he that moves our bones.

{Whilst living here, learn how to die;
{This benefit thoul't reap thereby:
{Neither the life or death will bee
{Grievous or sad, but joy to thee.

{Watch thoue, and pray; thy time well spend;
{Unknown is the hour of thy end.

{As thou art, so once were wee,
{As wee are, so must thou bee,
Dumspiramus Speramus."

It is a collection of epitaphs in itself, even to the last line, which
is to be found in Durham Cathedral on a "brass" before the altar.

~Local Landowners.~--It is somewhat a difficult matter to tell how much
of the ground on which the town is built belongs to any one particular
person, even with the assistance of the "Returns" obtained by John
Bright of "the owner" of land so called, possessing estimated yearly
rentals of L1,000 and upwards. That these "Returns" may be useful to
biassed politicians is likely enough, as Lord Calthorpe is put down as
owner of 2,073 acres at an estimated rental of L113,707, while Mr. Muntz
appears as owning 2,486 acres at an estimated rental of L3,948. His
lordship's L113,707 "estimated" rental must be considerably reduced when
the leaseholders have taken their share and left him only the ground
rents. The other large ground landlords are the Trustees of the Grammar
School, the Trustees of the Colmore, Gooch, Vyse, Inge, Digby, Gillot,
Robins, and Mason estates, &c., Earl Howe, Lench's Trust, the Blue Coat
School, &c. The Corporation of Birmingham is returned as owning 257
acres, in addition to 134 had from the Waterworks Co., but that does not
include the additions made under the Improvement Scheme, &c. The manner
in which the estates of the old Lords of the Manor, of the Guild of Holy
Cross, and the possessions of the ancient Priory, have been divided and
portioned out by descent, marriage, forfeiture, plunder, and purchase is
interesting matter of history, but rather of a private than public
nature.

~Local Notes and Queries.~--The gathering of odd scraps of past local
history, notes of men and manners of a bygone time, and the stray (and
sometimes strange) bits of folklore garnered alone in the recollections
of greybeards, has been an interesting occupation for more than one
during the past score or two of years. The first series of "Local Notes
and Queries" in our newspapers appeared in the _Gazette_, commencing in
Feb., 1856, and was continued till Sept., 1860. There was a somewhat
similar but short series running in the columns of the _Journal_ from
August, 1861, to May, 1862. The _Daily Post_ took it up in Jan., 1863,
and devoted a column per week to "Notes" up to March, 1865, resuming at
intervals from 1867 to 1872. The series now (1884) appearing in the
_Weekly Post_ was commenced on the first Saturday (Jan. 6) in 1877.

~Local Taxation.~--See "_Municipal Expenditure_."

~Locks.~--The making of locks must have been one of the earliest of our
local trades, as we read of one at Throckmorton of very quaint design,
but rare workmanship, with the name thereon of "Johannes Wilkes,
Birmingham," towards the end of the 17th century. In 1824 there were 186
locksmiths named in the Directory.

~Lodger Franchise.~--Considering the vast amount of interest taken in
all matters connected with local Parliamentary representation, and the
periodical battles of bile and banter earned on in the Revision Courts
over the lists of voters, it is somewhat curious to note how little
advantage has been taken of the clause in the last Reform Bill which
gives the right of voting to lodgers. The qualification required is
simply the exclusive occupation of lodgings which, if let unfurnished,
are of the clear yearly value of L10; and there must be many hundreds of
gentlemen in the borough residing in apartments who would come under
this head. Out of a total of 63,221 electors in 1883 there were only 72
who had claimed their right to vote. In many other boroughs the same
discrepancy exists, though here and there the political wire-pullers
have evidently seen how to use the lodger franchise to much better
effect, as in the case of Worcester for instance, where there are 59
lodger voters out of a total of 6,362.--See "_Parliamentary Elections_."