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

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~School Board.~--The first election took place Nov. 28, 1870, there
being the following twenty-eight candidates, the first fifteen named
being the chosen elected by the number of votes attached to their names,
viz., Canon O'Sullivan, 35,120; S.S. Lloyd, 30,799; Dr. Burges, 21,925;
Dr. Wilkinson, 19,829; John Gough, 17,481; Rev. F.S. Dale, 17,365; G.
Dawson. 17,103; G. Dixon, M.P., 16,897; W. Dale, 16,387; C. Vince,
15,943; J.S. Hopkins, 15,696; W.L. Sargant, 15,683; J. Chamberlain,
15,090; J.S. Wright, 15,007; A.J. Elkington, 14,925; G. Baker, J.A.
Cooper, Jesse Collings, Rev. H.W. Crosskey, Dr. Sebastian Evans, Rev.
H.W. Holland, ---- Kirkwood, G.B. Lloyd, Dr. Merson, W. Middlemore, W.
Radford, ---- Raffles, and Archdeacon Sandford. 29,183 voters, out of
52,340, recorded their votes. A considerable amount of party feeling was
shown in the contest, the candidates being divided (with one or two
exceptions) into two distinct classes, the Liberals who wanted the Bible
read in the schools without explanation or comment, and the Churchmen
who went in for Scriptural teaching. The latter party obtained the
majority by electing the whole of the eight they put in nomination, the
Liberals, who thought they could run the whole fifteen, find that by
grasping at too much they had lost all the power they had fondly hoped
to acquire. The first meeting of the Board was held Dec. 15, Mr. Sargant
being elected chairman and Mr. S.S. Lloyd vice-chairman. During the
three years' reign of this Board the religious question was a continual
bone of contention, the payment of school fees for the teaching of the
Bible in denominational schools being denounced in the strongest of
terms in and out of the Board-room by the "Irreconcileables," as the
Nonconforming minority were termed. The practical results of the Board's
proceedings may be summed up thus: The Education Department decided that
school accommodation was required for 15,000 children; the School Board
borrowed L40,000, received L20,500 from the rates, built five schools
(in Lingard-street, Jenkins-street, Farm-street, Garrison-lane, and
Steward-street), which would hold about 6,000 children, boys, girls, and
infants, and engaged fifteen teachers, 52 pupil teachers, and two
assistants. They also allowed the sum of 1s. per week for every child
detained in a certified industrial school, committed by the borough
magistrates, enforced in some measure the compulsory clauses of the
Education Act, entered into negotiations for the building of four other
schools, quarrelled with the Town Council, and dissolved without
thanking their chairman.--The second election of the School Board took
place Nov. 17, 1873, when eighteen persons were nominated, as follow
(the three last being the unsuccessful candidates):--G. Dixon, M.P.,
39,447 votes; J. Chamberlain, 38,901; Miss Sturge, 37,260; C. Vince,
36,505; J.S. Wright, 36,417; R.W. Dale, 34,986; G. Dawson, 34,301; Jesse
Collings, 33,877; Canon O'Sullivan, 32,087; S.S. Lloyd, 29,783; Dr.
Burges, 24,582; A.J. Elkington, 24,213; W.L. Sargant, 24,207; Rev. F.S.
Dale, 23,864; Dr. Wilkinson, 23,157; G. Heaton, 23,140; W.H. Greening,
22,881; and W. Warlow, 19,193. This election was fought with all the
rancour of a political contest, Tory and Liberal being pitted against
one another in the name of religion, the Book of Books being dragged
through the mire of party warfare in the most outrageous manner,
discreditable to both sides, and especially so to those teachers of the
Gospel, who delighted in the almost blasphemous alliterations of "Bible
and beer," "gin and Jesus," &c., so freely bandied about. The Liberal
party this time gained the ascendancy, their first "liberal" action
being to take away the allowance granted to the Industrial Schools, and
reversing as much as possible the policy of their predecessors. It would
be waste of space to comment upon the doings of the Board during the
past ten years otherwise than to summarise them. The Liberal party have
maintained their ascendancy, and they have provided the town with a set
of schools that cannot be equalled by any town in the kingdom, either
for number, magnificence of architecture, educational appliance,
high-class teachers, or (which is the most important) means for the
advancement of the scholars, to whom every inducement is held out for
self-improvement, except in the matter of religion, which, as nearly as
possible, is altogether banished from the curriculum. At the end of
1833, the thirty completed schools provided accommodation for 31,861
children, 10,101 boys, 9,053 girls, and 12,707 infants, but the number
of names on the books reached nearly 40,000. Other schools are being
built, and still more are intended; and, as the town increases, so must
this necessary expenditure, though, at first sight, the tax on the
ratepayers is somewhat appalling. In 1878 the "precept" was for L46,500;
in 1879, L44,000; in 1880, L39,000; in 1881, L42,000; in 1882, L48,000;
in 1883, L54,000; in 1884, L55,000. The receipts and expenditure for the
half-year ended 25th March, 1884, gives the following items:--Balance in
hand 29th September, 1883 L10,522 1s. 7-1/2d.; rates (instalment of
precept), L27,250; maintenance--grants from Committee of Council on
Education, L9,866 18s. 4d.; school fees, L4,806 3s. 8d.; books, &c.,
sold, L223 18s. 6d.; rent of Board schools, L655 9s.; needlework sold,
L215 12s. 2d.; grant from Science and Art Department, L306 Os. 3d.;
total, L16,074 1s. 11d.; scholarships, L114 13s.; sundries, L44 Os. 3d.;
total income, L54,004 16s. 9-1/2d. The following was the expenditure:
Repayment of loans, &c., L11,016 13s, 6d.; maintenance, L30,040 16s. 1d.
(including L23,300, salaries of teachers); scholarships, L126 13s. 3d.;
compulsion and management, L3,857 3s. 4d.; sundries, L28 4s.; amount
transferred from capital account, L30 1s. 10d.; balance in hand, L8,905
4s. 9-1/2d.; total, L54,004 16s. 9-1/2d.

A Central Seventh Standard Technical School has been originated through
the offer of Sir. George Dixon to give the use of premises in Bridge
Street, rent free for five years, he making all structural alterations
necessary to fit the same for the special teaching of boys from the
Board Schools, who have passed the sixth standard, and whose parents are
willing to keep their sons from the workshops a little longer than
usual. The course of the two years' further instruction proposed,
includes (besides the ordinary code subjects, the three R's) mathematic,
theoretical, and practical mechanics, freehand, geometry, and model
drawing, machine construction and drawing, chemistry and electricity,
and the use of the ordinary workshop tools, workshops being fitted with
benches, lathes, &c., for the lads' use. The fee is 3d. per week, and if
the experiment succeeds, the School Board at the end of the five years
will, no doubt, take it up on a more extended scale.

_Aston School Board_.--The first election took place July 29, 1875, and,
as in Birmingham, it was fought on the usual political basis, the
Liberals gaining the day. The Board has nine Schools, with an average
attendance of 11,500 children, out of nearly 15,000 on the registers;
187 teachers, and a debt of L110,000

_King's Norton Board_.--The first election took place March 19, 1876.
Eight Schools have been built since that date.

~Schools and Colleges.~--What with thirty board schools, about sixty
church and chapel schools, and nearly 300 private enterprise schools,
Birmingham cannot be said to be short of educational establishments,
even for the 100,000 children we have amongst us. At the end of 1881
there were 93,776 children in the borough between the ages of three and
thirteen. Next to the Free Grammar School, the oldest public school in
the town must be the Lancasterian School, which was opened September 11,
1809, and was rebuilt in 1851. The National School in Pinford Street was
opened in 1813, the Governors of the Free Grammar School having the
privilege of sending sixty children in lieu of rent for the site. The
Madras school was formerly at the bottom of King Street. The first
Infant Schools we read of were opened in 1825. The first stone of the
Industrial School in Gem Street was laid April 13, 1849. Ragged Schools
were opened in Vale Street, September 11, and in connection with Bishop
Ryder's, September 17, 1862, and in Staniforth Street, January 11, 1868.
The schools in the Upper Priory were erected in 1860; those in Camden
Drive in 1869. The Unitarian Schools, Newhall Hill, were opened in 1833;
the New Meeting Street Schools in 1844. Winfield's in one sense must be
called a public school, though connected with a factory and built (at a
cost of over L2,000) for the education of the young people there
employed. The respected owner of the Cambridge Street Works, like many
other Conservatives, was one of the most liberal-minded men, and
hundreds owe not only their education, but their present position in
life to the care bestowed upon them at this school.--A Roman Catholic
School was opened in Bartholomew Street, October 1, 1872; in Brougham
Street, December 27, 1872; and new Schools in Shadwell Street, (costing
about L4,500), June 25, 1883--The Palmer Street Congregational Schools,
which cost L2,500, were opened February 12, 1877. The old Wesleyan
chapel, in Martin Street, was fitted up for schools in 1865. The same
body opened schools at Summer Hill, in 1874; in Icknield Street West,
January 1, 1875; and laid the first stone of another school in Sterling
Road, September 22, 1884.--the Hebrew National Schools, Hurst Street,
were opened May 21, 1844.

The Birmingham and Edgbaston Proprietary School, Hagley Road, was the
property of a company constituted by deed of settlement, dated February
28, 1839. The cost of the land chosen to build upon and the handsome
edifice erected was L10,500, the school being opened in 1841. In 1874
there was originated a Birmingham Higher Education Society, and in 1876
a scheme was adopted for a High School for Girls in conjunction with the
Proprietary School, a company being formed, with a nominal capital of
L20,000, for the purchase of the property; but the days of the School's
prosperity seem to have passed away, and in August,1881, it was bought
over by the Governors of the Free Grammar School.

_Blue Coat School_ (facing St. Phillip's Churchyard) founded in 1721,
and was erected in 1724, provision having been made in the Act for
building St. Philip's Church for securing the necessary land required
for the school for a term of 1,000 years at 10s. per year. The first
cost of the building was about L3,000, but many alterations and
extensions have since been made thereto, the quaint little statues in
the front being put up in 1770; they are the work of Mr. Edward Grubb,
and are said to have been portraits of two of the children then actually
in the school. The first bequest recorded is that of Mrs. Elizabeth
White, who in 1722 left nearly 30 acres of land worth about L250 per
year for the support of the school. In 1726 Benjamin Salusbury left 30s.
per year for the preaching of a sermon at St. Martin's and St. Philip's,
and a further 40s. per year as a subscription; as did also Thomas
Dunscombe in 1729. In 1795 the Lord of the Manor presented the school
with a slice of Birmingham Heath, above five acres in extent, which is
now let on a long lease at L96 10s. per year. In 1806 other land was
devised, and from time to time considerable sums have been invested in
like manner and in consols, so that a fair income is derived from these
sources, in addition to the voluntary and annual subscriptions, but
judging from the past and the admirable way in which the funds have been
administered it may be truly said that if the income were doubled or
trebled so would be the benefits in like proportion. At first opening 22
boys and 10 girls were admitted, and 10 others of each sex were taught
and clothed; the latter system, however, had many inconveniences, and
was soon discontinued. At present the average number is 150 boys and 100
girls on the original foundation, 20 being paid for out of Fentham's
Trust.

_Bourne College_ is situated at Quinton, and is an institution for the
education of the sons of friends belonging to the Primitive Methodist
denomination. The memorial stones were laid June 6, 1881, and the
College was opened October 24, 1882, with accommodation for 70 boys.

_Church Schools_.--St. Alban's Schools were commenced in 1865. Bishop
Ryder's Schools were opened in December 1860, and for girls in March
1866. Christ Church Schools were built in 1837 at a cost of nearly
L4,000 St. George's Schools were built in 1842; St. John's (Sparkhill)
in 1884; St. Mary's, Bath Street, in 1824, the present schools dating
from January, 1847. St. Martin's Church Schools were opened Nov. 1,
1846, but were transferred to the School Board, July 9, 1879; St.
Matthew's, Lupin Street, October 20, 1841; St. Paul's, December 18,
1845; the Legge Lane Schools being erected in 1869. St. Anne's School,
Deritend, was opened May 31, 1870; St. Mary's, Aston Brook, April 16,
1872.

_King Edward the VIth's Schools_.--For 300 years known as the Free
Grammar School, having been founded in 1551, the fifth year of the reign
of Edward VI., and endowed with part of the property taken by his
reforming father Henry VIII., in 1536, from the religious foundation
known as the "Guild of the Holy Cross." At the time the charter was
granted (Jan. 2, 1552) these lands were valued at about L20 per annum,
and so little was it imagined that Birmingham would ever be more than
the small hamlet it then was, that a funny tale has come down to the
effect that the good people of King's Norton, when offered their choice
of similar lands or a sum equal thereto, wisely as they thought chose
the "bird in hand" and asked for the L20 per year for their school,
leaving the Brums to make what they could out of the bare fields once
belonging to the brotherhood of the Holy Cross. Like the majority of
so-called charity schools, this foundation was for many generations so
managed that the funds went into almost any channel except the purpose
for which it was designed--the free education of the poor--and even now
it would be an interesting question to find out how many boys are
receiving the advantages thereof whose parents are well able to pay for
their learning elsewhere. The property of the charity is widely
scattered over the town, here a piece and there a piece, but it is
rapidly increasing in value from the falling in of leases the rentals,
which in 1827 were about L3,000 per annum, being in 1840 L8,400, in 1860
L12,600, and now L25,000; by the expiration of this century it will be
at least L50,000. The earliest existing statutes are dated October 20,
1676, one of the most comical being that the assistant masters were not
to marry. The head master's salary in 1676 was fixed at L68 15s., with a
house and land; in 1738 he was allowed L20 in lieu of the house, in 1788
the salary was increased to L150; in 1726 to L200; in 1816 to L400; and
now it is about L1,200. The second master at first received L34 6s. 8d.;
in 1874 he received L300. The first school was the old Guildhall of the
Holy Cross, which was pulled down at the commencement of the 18th
century, a new school being erected in 1707, and removed in 1833, to
make way for the present edifice, which was erected in 1840, from the
designs of Mr. Barry, at a cost of L67,000. The school has a frontage of
174 feet, with a depth of 125 feet, being 60 feet high. The "schoolroom"
proper is 120 feet, by 30 feet and 45 feet high. In the last century the
governors "set up" branch schools in Shut Lane, Dudley Street, Freeman
Street, London 'Prentice Street, and other localities; and in 1838
elementary schools were erected in Gem Street, Edward Street, and
Meriden Street, as preparatory adjuncts to the New Street School.
Extensive changes have lately been made in the government and management
of the Grammar School, which can no longer be called a "Free School."
Formerly the governors were self-elected, but by the new scheme, which
was approved by the Queen in Council, March 26, 1878, the number is
limited to twenty-one, eight of them being appointed by the Town
Council, one by the school teachers, one each by the Universities of
Oxford, Cambridge, and London, and the remaining nine to be chosen by
the Governors themselves. The first meeting of the new Board of
Governors was held May 15, 1878. The New Street School is divided into a
High School for boys, a High School for girls, and a Middle School, the
other schools being respectively called Grammar Schools. The fees now
payable at the Five Ways School (formerly the Proprietary School), and
at the new schools at Camp Hill and Albert Road, Aston are 2s. 6d. on
admission, and L3 annually; to the High Schools the entrance fee is
10s., and the tuition fees L9 per annum; to the Middle Schools, 5s., and
L3 per annum. The number of children in all the schools is about 2,000,
and the fees amount to about L4,000 per annum. There are a number of
foundation scholarships, which entitle the successful competitors from
the Grammar Schools to free tuition at the High Schools, and ten
exhibitions arising out of the Milward's, and Joanna Leuch's Trusts, for
the Universities, besides yearly class prizes of considerable value.

_Mason's Scientific College_.--The foundation of this College, situated
in Edmund Street, opposite the Free Library, was laid on the 23rd
February, 1875, by Sir Josiah Mason, the founder, who in that manner
celebrated his 80th birthday; and it was opened October 1, 1880. The
College, which is estimated to have cost L100,000, was built entirely by
the founder who also endowed it with an income of about L3,700 per
annum, with the intention of providing instruction in mathematics,
abstract and applied; physics, mathematical and experimental; chemistry,
theoretical, practical, and applied; the natural sciences, geology,
metallurgy and mineralogy; botany, zoology and physiology; English,
French and German, to which have since been added Greek, Latin, English
literature, civil and mechanical engineering; the chemistry, geology,
theory and practice of coal mining, &c. The entire management is in the
hands of eleven trustees, five of whom are appointed by the Town
Council, and there is no restriction on their powers, save that they
must be laymen and Protestants. The students may be male or female of
any creed, or of any birthplace, though preference is given to
candidates from Mason's Orphanage, and to persons born in Birmingham or
Kdderminster, other things being equal. The site contains a little over
an acre of land, extending through from Edmund Street, with a frontage
of 149 feet, to Great Charles Street, with a frontage of 127 feet. About
one half of the area is covered by the present buildings, which were
erected from the designs of Mr. J.A. Cossins, who chose the 13th century
style, with elaborations of a French character, its stone balconies,
lofty gables, oriel and dormer windows, picturesque turrets, and
numberless architectural enrichments, forming a contour quite unique in
the Birmingham district, though much of its beauty is lost through the
narrowness of the thoroughfare. The College is built in two blocks
communicating by corridors, and contains several lecture and other large
rooms, laboratories, class-rooms, &c., so arranged that the attendants
on one department in no way interfere with others, there being about 100
apartments altogether, in addition to library, reading-rooms, private
rooms, &c. The report for the year ending Founder's Day, February 23,
1884, showed the number of students in the day classes during the
session to have been 366--viz., 229 male and 137 female students; while
in the evening classes there were 118 male and 54 female students, 20
students attending some day as well as evening classes. The number of
individual students registered during the session 1882-3, as attending
day or evening classes, was 518, as against 462 in 1881-82, and 181 in
1880-81. The accounts showed an expenditure for the year of L8,095 12s.
2d., of which L4,258 7s. 9d. was in respect of the teaching staff. The
expenditure exceeded the income by L764 0s. 8d., principally on account
of additional buildings, repairs, &c. The trustees have lately made
provision for nine scholarships, including two entrance scholarships of
L30 each; one of L30, for students of one year's standing; two of L30
each, for two years' students; two of L20 each for honour students in
the examinations of the University of London; and two technical
scholarships of L30 each, one in the chemical and the other in the
engineering department. The two last are known as the Tangye,
Scholarships, having been given by Messrs. R. and G. Tangye, and funds
are being raised for several others.

_Queen's College_.--Originally established in 1828 as the School of
Medicine; being patronised afterwards by William IV., it being known as
The Royal School of Medicine and Surgery, under which name it existed
until incorporated by Royal Charter in 1843, when it was rechristened as
The Queen's College. The first building erected for the use of the Royal
School was located in Snow Hill, the ceremony of laying the foundation
stone of the present handsome Gothic edifice in Paradise Street being
performed August 18, 1843, the chapel being consecrated in the following
year. At first there was but a medical department, but, at the
incorporation, a theological department was added, and for many years,
principally through the exertions of Dr. Warneford and Mr. W. Sands Cox,
it was one of the most thriving and popular Colleges in the kingdom, the
courses of study qualifying for degrees at the University of London, and
for diplomas of the Society of Apothecaries, and the Royal College of
Surgeons; while theological students, with the College certificate,
could go up for their B.A. degree, with only a twelve months' residence
at the University. A department in connection with the Arts,
Manufacture, and Commerce was opened in May, 1853, and a High School of
Trade and Commerce, for giving an education specially adapted for youths
intended for mercantile pursuits, was commenced in the autumn of 1877.
An attempt to extend the medical education to female students was made
at one time, but the ladies were refused permission to attend the
College June 27, 1873; they are still debarred from studying surgery
here, and none have as yet entered their names on the list of
theological students. In the other departments greater facilities have
been allowed the fair sex, a Central High School for girls being opened
at the College September 17, 1879, accommodation being provided for
eighty pupils. The Museum of Natural History formed at the College soon
after its opening, long one of the town attractions for visitors, was
presented to the Corporation, and formed the nucleus of the heterogenous
collection at Aston Hall. The medical students have the advantage of an
extensive Anatomical Museum, and there is, besides, a library of about
6,000 volumes of the best works and books of reference that could be
obtained.

_Oscott College_.--The old Roman Catholic College of St. Mary's, at
Oscott, was first used as such in 1808. The present building was
commenced in 1835, and opened May 31, 1838, and is considered one of the
chief English seminaries for Catholic students in theology. The chapel
is 112 ft. long by 33 ft. wide, and is richly decorated, having side
chapels and several handsome memorial windows. The College library is
very extensive, and includes many very rare, valuable, and ancient
works, some choice MSS., and a number of "old masters," the latter
having been contributed by the late Earl of Shrewsbury.

_Saltley Training College_, which covers nearly seven acres of land, was
instituted in 1847, and was opened at Easter, 1852, for the education of
future schoolmasters in connection with the Established Church. The
building cost nearly L18,000 and will accommodate 100 students who
undergo a two years' training, the College being under the inspection of
the Committee of Council on Education. Government grants amount to about
two-thirds of the income, the balance being raised by public
subscription and from fees. In addition to over fifty scholarships
tenable by students who pass their examination, there are four
exhibitions arising from a sum of L2,000 given in October, 1874, by the
late Mr. Arthur Ryland (for a donor who desired to be anonymous) to the
governing body of this College "to found a trust for promoting the
teaching of teachers the laws of health, and inducing teachers to make
that subject one of the things statedly taught in their own schools,"
and a further L1,000 for four exhibitions to students.

_Severn Street First Day Adult School_.--The name tells pretty well that
this school was commenced by some members of the Society of Friends,
though there is really nothing sectarian about it. Established in 1815,
in a simple way and with but few classes, there is hardly an institution
in the town that can be compared to it in the matter of practical
usefulness, and certainly none at which there has been exhibited such an
amount of unselfish devotedness on the part of teachers and
superintendents. The report to the end of 1883 stated that during the
year the progress of the school had been of an encouraging character.
The following statistics were given of the total attendance at all the
schools connected with the movement:--Number of teachers, 57 males, 25
females--total, 82, average attendance, 51 males, 23 females--total 74.
Elementary teachers, 173 males, 21 females--total, 194; average
attendance, 152 males, 19 females--total, 171. Number of scholars, 3,370
males, 653 females--total, 4,023; average attendance, 2,510 males, 510
females--total 3,080. The total number admitted since the men's school
commenced in 1845, and the women's in 1848, had been 40,350. In
connection with the school there are a number of organisations of great
utility, such as sick societies, building societies, savings' funds,
libraries, excursions clubs, &c. In the savings' fund the balance in
hand reached L14,000, while over L18,000 had been paid into the building
societies. There are a dozen other "adult schools" in the town which
have sprung from Severn Street.