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

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

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~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 L1,800. 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.

WARWICKSHIRE.
Extent Gross
of estimated
lands. rental.
Owners of Numbr. Acres L
Less than 1 acre ....... 46894 5883 1808897
1 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.

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.

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

~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 L270 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. (L13 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" L5; twenty-three pair "course shetes" L3; 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 L86 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 L1,095 [this brought the "red hand" into his shield]; and in
1599 he purchased the rectory of Aston for nearly L2,000. 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 L20,000. 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 L20,000. 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 L16,557
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 L3,500, 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:--

In Memory of MANETTA STOCKER,
Who quitted this life the fourth day of May, 1819,
at the age of thirty-nine years.
The smallest woman in this kingdom,
and one of the most accomplished.
She was not more than thirty-three inches high.
She was a native of Austria.

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.

~Dynamite Manufacture.~--See "_Notable Offences_."

~Ear and Throat Infirmary.~--See "_Hospitals_."

~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 L25,000 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.