Chapter XXI: Part 21

_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 £14,000, while over £18,000 had been paid into the building societies. There are a dozen other "adult schools" in the town which have sprung from Severn Street.

_Spring Hill College_.--For the education and training of Independent ministers, was first opened in 1838, in the mansion of Mr. George Storer Mansfield, at Spring Hill, that gentleman giving certain landed property towards its future support. The present edifice, near Moseley, to which the old name was given, was opened in June, 1857, the cost of the building, &c., nearly £18,000, being raised by voluntary contributions. It has room for 36 students.

_Sunday Schools_.--Sunday classes for the teaching of the Catechism, &c., date from a very early period of Church history, but Sunday Schools as they are now known seem to have been locally organised about a hundred years ago, the Sunday after Michaelmas Day in 1784 being marked as a red-letter-day on account of there being twenty-four schools then opened, though the course of instruction went no further than teaching the children to read. In 1789 some young men formed the "Sunday Society" as an addition thereto, the object being to teach writing and arithmetic to boys and youths of the artisan class. In 1796 the society was extended, other classes being formed, lectures delivered, &c., and it was then called the "Brotherly Society." Mr. James Luckcock and Mr. Thos. Carpenter were the leaders, and this is claimed to have been the origin of Mechanics' Institutes. The Unitarians date their Sunday Schools from 1787: the Baptists and Methodists from 1795. Deritend Sunday School was opened by Mr. Palmer in 1808, with but six scholars; in a month they were so numerous that part had to be taught in the street. The first prizes given to the children were new Boulton pennies. On Emancipation Day (August 1, 1838) there was a procession of over 3,000 scholars from the Baptist Sunday Schools. In 1812 the Birmingham Sunday School Union was organised. The medallists of this town sent out about 800,000 commemoration medals in 1880, when the Sunday School Centenary was kept. Nearly 2,000 teachers attend the Church schools and about 2,500 attend Dissenting and other schools, the number of children on the books of Sunday Schools in Birmingham being estimated at--

14 years and Under 14
over. years. Total.
Church of England
schools 5,500 16,500 22,000
Sunday School
Union 7,312 13,660 20,972
Wesleyan and others 2,745 6,627 9,372
Roman Catholic 1,200 1,950 3,150
Unitarian 692 1,359 1,961
Other schools 550 750 1,250
------- ------- -------
17,859 40,846 58,705

_Wesleyan College_.--The five memorial stones of a College for training Wesleyan ministers, at the corner of Priory and College Roads, Handsworth, were laid June 8, 1880. The site includes 17-1/2 acres, and cost over £7,000, the total cost of the College when completed and furnished being estimated at £40,000. About fifty students are accommodated at present, but there is room for thirty more.

~Scraps of Local History.~--A foreign visitor here in the reign of James II., wrote that our tradesmen were in the habit of spending their evenings in public-houses, and were getting into lazy habits, so that their shops were often not opened before 7 a.m.

Another intelligent foreigner (_temp_ Charles II.) has left it on record that not only was smoking common among women here, but that the lads took a pipe and tobacco with them to school, instead of breakfast, the schoolmaster teaching them at the proper hour how to hold their pipes and puff genteelly.

Hutton believed that the scythe-blades attached to the wheels of Queen Boadicea's war chariots (A.D. 61), as well as the Britons' swords, were made in this neighbourhood.

When escaping from Boscobel, in the guise of Miss Lane's servant, Charles II. had to appeal to a blacksmith at Erdington to re-shoe his horse. The knight of the hammer was a republican, and his majesty chimed in with the man's views so readily, that the latter complimented his customer on "speaking like an honest man." Miss Lane afterwards married Sir Clement Fisher, of Packington, and her portrait may be still seen at the Hall.

During the battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington saw a little fellow in plain clothes riding about on a cob, and, beckoning him up, told him he was in danger. The litlle man, however, said he had come to see a fight, and meant to stop it out. Shortly after, the Duke wanting a messenger, employed the rider of the cob to take a message across the field, directing a certain regiment to charge the enemy. This was done, and the Duke took his messenger's card and saw no more of him at that time; but afterwards, finding that the little man was the traveller to a Birmingham button maker, he appointed him to a situation in the Mint, at £800 a year.

In 1766, it was necessary to have 25 constables ready to protect the farmers coming to market with their corn, the times were so hard with the poor. In the following year large quantities of rice were purchased by subscription, and one gentleman, it is said, himself gave away half-a-ton per day for ten days.

In 1853, a premium of £30 was offered for the best design of an illuminated clock, to be erected on the open space in front of Christ Church.

A Queen Anne's farthing of rare type was turned up in the Bull Ring, in July, 1879.

The body of William Woodward was found (March 21, 1878) in the branches of a tree in Little Green Lane, he having climbed up there previous to death.

The giving of free breakfasts on a Sunday morning to the poor children of the streets, was commenced July 4, 1875, at Park Street Ragged Schools. A system of supplying school-children with penny dinners is the latest philanthropic movement.

The hottest day recorded in our local history was June 23, 1868.

The Orsini bombs used in Paris, January 15, 1858, were made in this town.

A hundred years back, meetings of the inhabitants were called by the tolling of one of St. Martin's bells.

The declaration of war, or cessation thereof, used to be proclaimed in the market by the High Bailiff.

The 7th Earl of Stirling officiated in this town as a Nonconformist minister, simply styling himself the Rev. John Alexander; he died Dec. 29, 1765, and was buried in the Old Meeting grave-yards. His sister, who became Countess in her own right, was married to a local manufacturer, William Humphrys.

~Sessions.~--The first of the Borough Quarter Sessions was held July 5, 1839, M.D. Bill, Esq., Recorder. On the 25th of November following the magistrates began to sit daily at Petty Sessions.

~Secular Club and Institute.~--The members having bought the remainder of lease (32 years) of No. 18, Crescent, for £340, have fitted it up for the purposes of their club and on June 1, 1877, the foundation-stone was laid of a lecture hall at the rear, 70ft. long by 19ft. wide. St. George's Hall, Upper Dean Street, was their former meeting place.

~Sewerage and Sanitary Works.~--The disposal of the sewage of a large town away from the sea or tidal rivers has at all times been a source of difficulty, and Birmingham forms no exception to the rule. When it was in reality but the little "hardware village" it has so often been called, the Rea was sufficient to carry off the surface waters taken to its channel by the many little rills and brooks of the neighbourhood, but as the town increased, and house drainage defiled that limped stream, it became necessary to construct culverts, so as to take the most offensive portion of the sewage to a distance from inhabited houses. A great improvement was looked for after the introduction of the Waterworks, allowing the use of water-flushed closets in the better class of houses, instead of the old style of accommodation usually provided at the end of the garden, but even this system became a nuisance, especially to residents near the river Tame, the receptacle of all liquid filth from our streets, closets, middens, and manufactories, and legal as well as sanitary reasons forced upon the Corporation the adoption of other plans. Our present sanitary system comprises the exclusion, as far as possible, of closet refuse and animal and vegetable matters from the sewers, and secondly, the purification by filtration, &c., of the outpourings of the sewers, after the partial separation therefrom of the more solid constituents. In 1871, when the real sanitary work of the borough may be said to have practically commenced, out of about 73,200 houses only 3,884 were provided with water-closets, the remainder being served by middens, drained and undrained, the greater part uncovered and polluting the atmosphere, while the soakage fouled the earth and contaminated the wells. From these places in 1873 there were removed 160,142 loads of ashes, &c., the number of men employed being 146, and the cost, allowing for sales, over £20,000, or £55 10s. per 1,000 of the Population. In the following year the Council approved of "the Rochdale system," closet-pans and ash-tubs taking the place of the old style with middens, the contents being removed weekly instead of being left to accumulate for months. At first the new system was far from perfect, and met with much opposition, notwithstanding the certainty of its being a more healthy plan than the old one; but improvements have been made, and it is now generally confessed that the pans and tubs are the right things in the right places. The number of pans in use in 1874 was 3,845; in 1875, 7,674; in 1876, 15,992; in 1877, 22,668; in 1883, 37,287, equal to a collection of 1,900,000 pans per year. The sanitary force now numbers 622 men, who, in addition to the above, removed in 1883, from tubs, middens, &c., 128,966 loads of ashes. The chief depot for this accumulation of refuse and rubbish is at the Corporation's wharf, in Montague Street, where over £52,000 has been laid out in buildings and machinery for its due disposal. At first, nearly two thirds of the mass had to be taken by canal into the country, where it was "tipped," the expense being so heavy that it entailed a loss of about 6s. 6d. per ton on the whole after allowing for that part which could be sold as manure. Now, however, the case is different. Extensive machinery has been introduced, and the contents of the pans are dried to a powder, which finds a good market; the ashes, &c., are used in the furnaces for the drying process, and the residue therefrom, or clinkers, forms a valuable substance for roadmaking or building purposes, &c., in the shape of concrete, paving flags, mantelpieces, tabletops, and even sepulchral monuments being constructed with it, so that in a short time the receipts will, it is expected, more than balance the expenditure in this department of local sanitary work. The pollution of the river Tame in past years led to continuous litigation until the year 1877, when, as the result of an exhaustive inquiry, it was determined to form a United Drainage District Board, with powers to construct and maintain intercepting sewers sufficient for carrying the drainage of the whole district, comprising Aston, Aston Manor, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, Handsworth, Harborne, King's Norton, Northfield, Perry Barr, Saltley, and Smethwick. The first meeting of this Board was held December 6, 1877, when it took over the sewage farm at Saltley belonging to the Corporation (about 262 acres), the plant and stock, &c. Up to the present time (end of 1884), nearly half a million sterling has been spent by the Board, whose "farm" of 1,500 acres, extends from Saltley to Tyburn, two and a half miles, and who have now to deal with the sewage brought there from 188 miles of main sewers, extending as far as King's Norton and Selly Oak, Harborne, Smethwick, &c. The whole of the black and turgid stream of liquid filth brought down by the sewers is utilised upon the farm, some 200 cubic yards of mud being lifted daily from the settling tanks, to be dug in, while the overflow is taken by carriers to the most distant parts, and allowed to filtrate through the soil, until the resulting effluent is as clear as crystal, while immense crops are gathered yearly from the land so treated. An analysis made a little time back of a natural deposit from the town sewerage, formed near the embouchure of several sewers emptying into one of the great arterial mains, showed the absence of all ammoniacal salts and a scarcity of phosphates, particularly alkaline phosphates, and at the same time the presence of a large quantity of protoxide of iron, also of zinc, copper, and other metals in the state of oxides and sulphurets. These metallic salts absorb the sulphuretted hydrogen and ammonia generated by decaying vegetable, and animal matter, and doubtless so contributes to promote the health of the town, but nevertheless every precaution should be taken against the possible admission to the house of "sewer gas," which at all times is injurious to health. The analysed deposit contained when dried only 1.4 per cent. of nitrogen (not as ammonia) and 3.5 of earthy phosphates; but about 11.7 of protoxide of iron, besides zinc, copper, and other metals to the extent of 2 or 3 per cent. The latter-named proportions may in some measure account for "what becomes of the pins?" as in the deposit named (which was nearly solid) those useful little articles were exceedingly conspicuous.

~Shambles.~--The name given to the meat market in Jamaica Row. In the map of 1731, "The Shambles" are marked as a long block of buildings, a little higher than opposite the end of Bell Street, and in 1765 they still remained there, forming a kind of "middle row," among the incongruous collection of tenements, stallages, &c., that encumbered our Bull Ring, down to the gates of the church itself.

~Ship Inn.~--The old Ship Inn, at Camp Hill, where Prince Rupert had his headquarters in 1643, was pulled down in 1867; the present Ship Hotel being opened February 6, 1868. It was sold in July, 1882, for £12,050.

~Shirley.~--Situated in the parish of Solihull, though but a village with some half hundred cottages, has of late become a favorite spot for those fond of a Sunday drive.

~Shoeblacks.~--An attempt was made in 1875 to form a shoeblack brigade, but only ten gentlemen attended the meeting (called June 21), and the business was left to the irregulars.

~Smallbrook Street.~--A small stream, formerly ran its course along part of this site, proceeding by way of Smithfield Passage to the moat, and thence through the mill-pool, back of Bradford Street, to the Rea. The ancient family of the Smallbrokes held considerable lands in the neighbourhood, but whether the street's name came from the small brook or the Smallbrokes is a matter of doubt.

~Smallpox.~--From the opening of the Smallpox Hospital in May, 1882, to July 10, 1884, the duration of the late epidemic, there were 1,591 cases admitted. Among the 1,384 patients who had been vaccinated there occurred 59 deaths; among the 207 unvaccinated, 90 deaths. No re-vaccinated person died.

~Snow Hill.~--There is a difference of 60ft. between the top level next Bull Street and the Bottom of Snow Hill.

~Soho.~--Prior to 1756 the country on the Handsworth side of Birmingham was little better than barren heath, the home of conies and a few beggarly squatters, until Mr. Edward Ruston leased from the Lord of the Manor the whole of the piece of common that lay between Nineveh and Hockley on the left of the West Bromwich Road. He deepened the channel of Hockley brook, and built a small mill by its side, which being purchased from him in 1764 by Matthew Boulton (who soon acquired the freehold also) formed the site of the once world-renowned Soho Works. In 1774, according to "Swinney's Birmingham Directory," these works consisted of four squares of buildings, with workshops, &e., for more than a thousand workmen. Many more than that number, however, were afterwards employed on the grounds, and for long years Soho House, as Boulton's residence was called, was the resort of lords and ladies, princes and philosophers, savants and students, to a far greater extent than many of the European courts. Of this home of the steam engine, and the birthplace of inventions too numerous to count, there is now no vestige left, the foundry being removed to Smethwick in 1848, the celebrated Mint, with the warehouses and shopping, being cleared out early in 1850, and the walls razed to the ground in 1853.

~Soho Hill.~--The top is 177ft. higher than at Hockley Bridge, the foot of the hill.

~Soho Pool~ was formed by the make of an embankment (1756-60) impounding the waters of Hockley brook, and for some years after the demolition of the Soho Works it was a favourite place for boating, &c.. The pool was drained in 1866, and, having been filled up, its site will ere long be covered with streets of houses.

~Solihull.~--This very pleasant village, but a few miles distant, could boast of a Free School for its children at a very early date, for we read of the buildings being repaired in 1573. In 1882 the School was rebuilt, at a cost of about £5,700, and its endowments, some of which were given in the reign of Richard II., are yearly becoming of greater value as building progresses. The present population is nearly 6,000, the rateable value of property being £45,202, from an area of 12,000 acres. The parishes in the Union comprise Baddesley, Balsall, Barston, Bushwood, Elmdon, Knowle, Lapworth, Nuthurst, Packwood, Solihull, Tanworth, and Yardley, including an area of 46,302 acres, a population of 21,000, with a rateable value amounting to £157,000.

~Spanish Armada.~--The nobility and gentry of this and adjoining counties, at the time of the threatened invasion by the Spaniards, contributed sums of money sufficient to hire and equip no less than 43 ships of war. Among the names we note the following local subscribers of £25 each:--William Kinge and William Collmer (Colmore), of Burmingham; Richard Middlemore, Edgbaston; Mrs. Margarett Knowlys, Nuneton; Gabriell Powltney, Knowle; Richard Corbett, Meryden, &c.

~Speaking Stile Walk.~--In a footpath leading from Holloway Head to Edgbaston Church, there was a stile at a spot from which an exceedingly clear echo, could be raised, and the footpath being partly thrown into a lane the latter became "Speaking Stile Lane." The short street or road at present existing preserves the name, but that is all, the echo, the stile, and the footpath having vanished long, long ago.

~Spelling Bee.~--The first "Spelling Bee" held in Birmingham took place January 17th, 1876. Like many other Yankee notions, it did not thrive here, and the humming of those bees soon ceased.

~Springs.~--In Hutton's time there was, "a short distance from Birmingham, in the manor of Duddeston, and joining the turnpike road to Coleshill," a chalybeate spring of which he speaks very highly, though even then it was neglected and thought but little of. In 1849 Mr. Robert Rawlinson making inquiries, was told by the Town Clerk that "the chalybeate spring in Duddeston was turned into a culvert by the railway people when the Birmingham and Liverpool Railway was constructed," to the great regret of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood who spoke strongly of the virtues of the water in diseases of the eye. It was suggested in 1862 that an attempt should be made to reopen the spring for public use, but as it was nobody's business nobody did it. There was (sixty years ago) a spring a little below Saturday Bridge opposite Charlotte Street, which always give forth a constant stream of beautifully clear soft water. Another in Coventry Road, where 25 years or so ago an old man stooping to quench his thirst fell head foremost, and not being able to recover his equilibrium, was drowned, leading to the spring being covered up. Several mineralised springs existed in Gooch Street, and thereabouts, and there was one that sprung out close to where Kent Street Baths are now. The spring which gives name to Spring Street and Spring Vale, and which has been turned so that its waters run into the sewers, is estimated to discharge 20,000 gallons of pure limpid water per hour. The little stream arising from this spring constituted part of the boundary line between the Birmingham and Edgbaston parishes and at far less cost than it has taken to waste its water it could have been utilised for the above-named Baths, less than a thousand yards off, and with a natural fall of 6ft. or 8ft. Spring Hill takes its name from a spring now non-existent, but which was once a favourite with the cottagers who lived near to it.

~Sporting Notes.~--It is not for a moment to be admitted that the men of Birmingham in past years were one whit more brutal in their "sports" than others of their countrymen, but it must be confessed they somehow managed to acquire a shocking bad name to that effect. This of course must be laid to the credit of the local supporters of "the noble art of self-defence," the Brummagem bruisers. Bullbaiting and cockfighting were no more peculiar to this neighbourhood than parson-pelting or woman ducking at Coventry, where the pillory and ducking-stool were in use long after they had been put aside in Birmingham.

_Archery_ at one period of history was so little of a sporting nature that laws were passed for the erection of shooting-butts, the provision of bows and arrows, and the enforcement of constant practice by all young men and apprentices. The monk's mixture of brimstone, charcoal, and salt-petre, however, in course of time left the old English clothyard shaft with its grey goose feather and the accompanying six-foot bow of yew to be playthings only, or but fit to use in shooting squirrels or other small deer. The "Woodmen of Arden" is the oldest society (in this county) of toxopholites as the modern drawers of the long bow are called, which society was "revived" in 1785, the Earl of Aylesford giving a silver bugle horn and his lady a silver arrow as first and second prizes. The members of a local society may in summer months be sometimes seen pacing their measured rounds on an allotted portion of the Edgbaston Botanical Gardens.

_Athletics_--The Birmingham Athletic Club opened the Gymnasium in King Alfred's Place, in Aug 1866, and hold their annual display and assault-at-arms in the Town Hall in the month of March. Certain hours are allotted to the ladies' classes, and special terms are made for young men and schoolboys.

_Bowling Greens_ and Quoit Grounds were once favourite places of amusement, many even of the town taverns having them attached. There was one at the Salutation, bottom of Snow Hill, in 1778, and at an earlier date at the Hen and Chickens, in High Street. In 1825 a bowling green was laid out at the corner of Highfield Road and Harborne Road, for "a very select party" of Edgbastonians. There was also one at the Plough and Harrow, and several may stil be found in the neighbourhood.

_Chess_, aristocratic game as it is, is far from being unknown here, a Chess Club having been established half-a-century back, which has nearly a hundred members. Its present headquarters are at the Restaurant, 1, Lower Temple Street.

_Cock-fighting_.--Early numbers of _Aris's Gazette_ frequently contained notices of "mains" fought at Duddeston Hall.

_Cricket_.--There was a Cricket Club in existence here in 1745, and it has been chronicled that a match was being played on the same day on which the battle of Culloden was fought. Of modern clubs, whose name is Legion, the oldest is the Birmingham C.C., started in 1819, the members including the young _élite_ of the town, who had their field opposite the Monument at Ladywood. The Birchfield C.C. was organised in 1840. Among the noteworthy matches of late years are those of the All England Eleven against a local twenty-two, at the Lower Grounds, June 5, 1871, the visitors winning; the Australian Eleven _v_. Pickwick and District Twenty-two, at Bournbrook, June 24 to 26, 1878, the game not being finished, the first innings showing 105 runs for the Eleven, against 123; the Australians _v_. Eleven of England, at Lower Grounds, May 26, 1884, when the Colonials put together 76 against 82 in the first innings, the second innings of 33 against England's 26 being won with five players left to bat.

_Croquet_ was introduced in 1867; the first code of laws being published in October, 1869.

_Cycling_, though quite the rage at the present time, is by no mems a modern amusement, as running a race with "dandy-horses" was considered good sport in the days of the fourth Royal George. These vehicles consisted of two wheels united tandem fashion, the bar being fitted with saddle-shaped seat as in the first bicycles, but the motive power was applied through the contact of the riders' feet with the ground.--The "track" at the Lower Grounds measures 501 yards.

_Football_ is a game as old as the hills, and there are hundreds of clubs in the town and district, the best meadow for the purpose (at the Lower Grounds) being about 125 yards long by 75 yards broad. The Aston Villa is the chief club.

_Hare and Hounds_.--Every suburb and district has its club of Harriers or Hare and Hounds, an annual cross-country amateur championship contest being started in 1879. At the last (Feb. 9, 1884) the Birchfield Harriers scored their fourth victory against the Moseley Harriers twice.

_Hunting_.--Time was when the sight of scarlet coats and hounds was no novelty in Birmingham, but those who would now join in the old English sport of hunting must go farther afield, the nearest kennels being at Atherstone. The announcements of the meets in this and adjoining counties appear regularly in the _Midland Counties' Herald_.

_Jumping_.--At the Lower Grounds in July, 1881, Mr. P. Davine, of Belfast, jumped 6ft. 3in. the highest previous record having been 6ft. 2-1/2in., the performance of Mr. M.J. Brookes, (Oxford U.A.C.) at Lillie Bridge, March, 1874.

_Lacrosse_, a popular Canadian game, was introduced here June 23, 1883, by a team of Canadian Amateurs and Iroquois Indians, who exhibited their prowess at the Lower Grounds.

_Lawn Tennis_, at first known as Lawn Racquet, was the invention of the late Major Gem, who played the first game in 1865 with his friend Mr. Perera. of Great Charles Street.

_Pedestrianism_.--Among the earlist noted achievements of local peds. is that of George Guest, who having wagered to walk 1,000 miles in 28 days finished his task Feb. 1, 1758, with five hours to spare, doing six miles in the last hour he footed it.--Mr. E.P. Weston, the walker _par excellence_, was at Bingley Hall in April, 1876, and at the Lower Grounds in Jan., 1884, when on his walk of 5,000 miles in 100 days.--A six days "go-as-you please" match came off at Bingley Hall in Sept., 1882, and a ridiculous exhibition of a similar nature occurred in the following year, when women were induced to walk for the sport of gaping idiots.

_Pigeon-flying_ has been for several generations the favourite amusement of numbers of our workers, and the flyers have a club of their own, which dates from August, 1875.

_Pigeon-shooting_ is a cruel sport, not much favoured in this locality, and now that a cheap clay pigeon has been invented for use in this game, instead of the live birds, it is to be hoped that the disgraceful practice will be confined to the Hurlingham boys.

_Prize-fighting_ was long the popular sport of high and low life blackguards, and Birmingham added many a redoubtable name to the long list of famous prize-fighters, whose deeds are recorded in "Fistiana" and other chronicles of the ring. Among the most conspicuous of these men of might, were Harry Preston, Davy Davis, Phil Sampson, Topper Brown, Johnny and Harry Broome, Ben Caunt, Sam Simmonds, Bob Brettle, Tass Parker, Joe Nolan, Peter Morris, Hammer Lane, and his brothers, with a host of other upholders of fisticuffs, the record of whose battles will _not_ be handed down to posterity in the pages of _Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham_, though, as a matter of history, it may be noted that the earliest account we have of a local prize-fight is of that which took place in Oct. 1782, for 100 guineas a side, between Jemmy Sargent, a professional, and Isaac Perrins, one of the Soho workmen. Jemmy knuckled under after being knocked down thirteen times, in as many rounds, by the knock-kneed hammerman fiom Soho, whose mates, it is said, won £1,500 in bets through his prowess. Attempts have lately been made to revive the old sport, but the sooner the would-be adepts learn that their occupation is gone the better it will be for them, and all men.

_Racing and Steeplechasing_ was not, unknown to the Brums of the 18th century, as the _Gentleman's Magazine_ makes note of the races at Birmingham, May 27 to 29, 1740, but where the old racecourse was situated it is impossible to tell. Indeed it is doubtful whether any special course has ever long been in existence, as at various dates we read of races being held at Aston, Bordesley, Deritend, Walmer Lane, and other places. The Four Oaks Park, adjoining Sutton Park, formerly the property of a private gentleman, was bought by a company in June, 1879, for the purpose of laying out a racecourse in this neighbourhood, of a similar nature to that of Ascot, and other great racing centres. In addition to the Hall, the buildings comprise a grand stand (the memorial stone of which was laid June 2, 1880), and a club stand, each 70ft. by 66ft., with two galleries of seats refreshment, private, and other rooms. Also a second stand for the general public, 62ft. by 31ft. and a press and jockey stand, 53ft. by 31ft. The "paddock" occupies nearly three acres, while an area of 115ft. by 72ft. is devoted to "the Ring." The cost of these various buildings and their necessary adjuncts is estimated at about £12,000, the structures themselves, which are built of red brick with stone facings, accommodating 3,000 persons. The course is about a mile and a half in circumference, and the "straight" about five furlongs in length. The Park includes an area of 130 acres, and the first race was run March 1, 1881.--No steeplechases have been run on the old Wolverhampton course since 1855, and no flat races since Aug. 1877.

_Running Records_.--Mr. W.G. George, of the Moseley Harriers, won a two mile handicap at Stamford Bridge, April 24, 1884, in 9 min. 17 2-5 secs. On May 17, same year, he ran four miles, in 19 min. 39 4-5 secs. On July 28 following, he covered, in the hour, 11 miles, 932 yds., 9 in., being 37 yds. 2 ft. 3 in. less than the hitherto unsurpassed hour record of the celebrated Deerfoot in 1862. Another of George's feats took place May 1, 1882, when he ran ten miles in 52 min. 56-1/2 secs.

_Skating Rinks_ were opened at the Lower Grounds May 1, 1875; at Bingley Hall, Oct. 2, 1875; at Moseley, Dec. 6, 1876; and at Handsworth, Oct. 8, 1877; and, for a time, the amusement was exceedingly popular, more than one fortune accruing from the manufacture of patent and other roller skates. One of the most noteworthy feats on the slippery rinks was the skating of 200 miles in 24 hours by a Mr. F. Betteridge at Bingley Hall, Aug. 20, 1878.

_Swimming_.--The Birmingham Leander Club commenced their aquatic brotherhood in June, 1877, and the members do themselves honour by gratuitously attending the public baths in the summer months to teach the art of swimming to School Board youngsters. [See "_Baths_,"] The celebrated swimmer, Captain Webb, who was drowned at Niagara, July 24, 1883, visited this town several times, and the Athletic Club presented him with a gold medal and purse December 4, 1875.

~Statues, Busts, and Memorials.~--For many years it was sneeringly said that Birmingham could afford but one statue, that of Nelson, in the Bull Ring, but, as the following list will show, the reproach can no longer be flung at us. Rather, perhaps, it may soon be said we are likely to be over-burdened with these public ornaments, though to strangers who know not the peculiarities of our fellow-townsmen it may appear curious that certain local worthies of the past have not been honoured in marble or bronze.

_Attwood_.--The figure of Thomas Attwood, in Stephenson Place, New Street, is the work of Mr. John Thomas, who did much of the carving at the Grammar School. The cost was about £900, and the statue was unveiled June 6, 1859.

_Blue Coat Children_.--The stone figures of a Blue Coat boy and girl over the entrance to the School in St. Phillip's Churchyard, were sculptured by Mr. Edward Grubb, in 1770, and Hutton thought they were executed "with a degree of excellence that a Roman statuary would not blush to own." In 1881 the appearance of the figures was _improved_ by their being painted in correct colours.

_Bright_.--At the time of the Bright Celebration in 1883, the Birmingham Liberal Association commissioned Mr. A. Bruce Joy to execute for them a marble statue of Mr. Bright, which the Association intend placing in the new Art Gallery. The statue itself is expected to be finished in 1885, but Mr. Bright has expressed his satisfaction with the model, which represents him standing erect in an attitude of dignified tranquility, easy and natural with his left hand in the breast of his coat, while the other hangs down by his side, emblematic of the Christian charity so characteristic of our distinguished representative.

_Boulton_.--There is a fine bust of Matthew Bolton in Handsworth, and as the owner of the great Soho Works certainly did much to advance the manufactures of this town, foreigners have often expressed surprise that no statue has been erected to _his_ memory.

_Buddha_.--The bronze statue of Buddha, now in Aston Hall, is supposed to be 2,500 years old, and was found buried among the ruins of a temple at Soottan, on the Ganges, Dec 6, 1862. It was presented to this town in 1864 by Mr. Samuel Thornton.

_Chamberlain, J_.--The memorial at the rear of the Town Hall bears the following inscription:--

"This memorial is created in gratitude for public service given to
this town by Joseph Chamberlain, who was elected town councillor in
November, 1869, Mayor in 1873, and resigned that office in June, 1876,
on being returned as one of the representatives of the borough of
Birmingham in Parliament, and during whose mayoralty many great works
were notably advanced, and mainly by whose ability and devotion the
gas and water undertakings were acquired for the town, to the great
and lasting benefit of the inhabitants."

The memorial was desisigned by Mr. J.H. Chamberlain, of the firm of Martin and Chamberlain, and was presented to the town October 26, 1880, during the mayoralty of Mr. Richard Chamberlain. The medallion of the right hon. gentleman is the work of Mr. Thomas Woolner, R.A.

_Chamberlain, J.H._--The sum of £2,744 13s. 6d. raised by subscription for the founding of a memorial of the late Mr. John Henry Chamberlain, was given to the Midland Institute, with which the lamented gentleman was so intimately connected.

_Dawson_.--A public meeting was held Jan. 3, 1877, to decide on a memorial of George Dawson, and the sum of £2,287 13s. 9d. was subscribed for a statue to be erected at the rear of the Town Hall, but it was esteemed so poor a portrait that after a little while it was removed, in favour of the present statue. A very pleasing bust, which is a very striking likeness and really characteristic portrait was unveiled at the Church of the Saviour, Aug. 8, 1882. It bears the following inscription:--

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

GEORGE DAWSON, M.A.

Coming to this town in the year 1844, he gathered round him a band of
followers, who found in his teaching a fervent religious spirit, and a
fearless trust in God as our Heavenly Father, in union with an earnest
search after truth. To perpetuate such union they built this Church,
which he opened August 8. 1847, and in which he ministered until his
death. Not in this Church only, but throughout the land did he
everywhere teach to nations: that they are exalted by righteousness
alone--to men: "To do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God."

He was born February 24. 1821, and died November 10, 1876.

"I HAVE FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT."

Mr. T.J. Williamson, who executed this bust was entrusted with the order for the new statue.

_George IV_.--The first bronze statue ever cast in Birmingham was that of George IV., the work of Sir Edward Thomason, in 1823. Sir Edward employed the best of talent and spared no pains to turn out a splendid work of art, but he never found a customer for it. The statue is 6ft. high, weighing 2-1/2 tons, and costing over £1,500, but was sold in November, 1880, to a gentleman in the neighborhood for £150, little more than the value of the metal. _Goldsmith_.--The statue of Goldsmith, in the hall of the Reference Library, is a plaster cast of the bronze statue manufactured by Messrs. Elkington for the City of Dublin. _Hill_.--The sum of £1,500 was raised by public subscription, for the purpose of erecting a statue of Sir Rowland Hill. The work was executed in marble by Mr. P. Hollins, and pending the erection of the new Post Office buildings, the charge of the statue was accepted by the Exchange Buildings Committee, September 12, 1870 and remained in the Birmingham Exchange until the year 1874, when it was removed to the position in which it at present stands, in the corner of the principal room of the Post Office, Paradise Street.

_Hill, M.D._--A very fine bust of Matthew Davenport Hill, the first Recorder for the borough, is placed in the Art Gallery at the Reference Library.

_James_.--A bust of the Rev. Angell James may be seen at Aston Hall.

_King Edward VI._--When the old Grammar School was taken down the statue of the King, which had stood in its niche in the front of the old building for generations, was broken to pieces on account of so many gentlemen (including governors) wanting it; as all could not have it, it was destroyed!

_Mason_.--The erection of a statue in his honour as proposed in 1870 not meeting with the approval of Sir Josiah Mason (then Mr.), the Town Council paid Mr. E.G. Papworth, the chosen sculptor, a solatium or honorarium of 150 guineas. The worthy knight not being now alive to veto the project, a figure of him has been placed opposite the College in Edmund Street.

_Murdoch_.--There is a bust of William Murdoch, the introducer of coal-gas as an illuminant, in Handsworth Church. Another would not be out of place in the new Gas Office.

_Nelson_--The bronze statue of Lord Nelson in the Bull Ring was executed by Westmacott, and uncovered June 6, 1809. The artist received £2,500, but the total cost (raised by subscription) with the pedestal, lamps, and palisading, was nearly £3,000. The corner posts are old cannon from the Admiral's ship the Victory.

_Peel_.--The statue of Sir Robert Peel, near the Town Hall, cost £2,000, and was unveiled August 27, 1855. He faced towards Christ Church at first, and was protected from Tories and Protectionists by iron railings, until March, 1878, when his bonds were loosed, and he was allowed to look down New Street.

_Priestley_.--The statue of the discoverer of oxygen, near the Town Hall, was uncovered August 1, 1884. The amount subscribed as a Priestley memorial fund was £1,820, of which £972 went for the philosopher's stone effigy, about £10 for a tablet on the site of his house at Fair Hill, and £653 to the Midland Institute to found a scholarship in chemistry.

_Prince Albert and the Queen_.--In 1862, after the death of the Prince Consort, a Memorial Committee was formed and a fund raised for a statue, the execution of which was entrusted to Mr. Foley, and it is said to be one of his finest productions. It was placed in the old Art Gallery, and uncovered August 27, 1863. It was in the reading-room at the time of the fire, but fortunately escaped injury. The balance of the fund was deemed sufficient for a companion statue of Her Majesty, and Mr. Foley received the commission for it in 1871. At his death the order was given to Mr. Woolner, who handed over his work to the town in May, 1884, the ceremony of unveiling taking place on the 9th of that month. According to the _Athanæum_ it is "one of the finest portrait statues of the English School, combining a severe yet elegant design with execution of the highest kind, every element being thoroughly artistic." Thousands have seen it alongside the Prince's statue in the hall of the Reference Library, but few indeed have been heard to say they like it. Both statues are ultimately intended to be placed in the Council House.

_Rogers_.--A memorial bust of John Rogers, a native of Deritend, and one of the first martyrs of the Reformation, was unveiled in St. John's, October 29, 1883.

_Scholefield_.--A bust of William Scholefield, M.P., for the borough, is at Aston Hall.

_Sturge_.--The statue, and most appropriate memorial of Edmund Sturge, at the Five Ways, which cost about £1,000, was undraped June 4, 1862. Messrs. Bright and Scholefield, M.P.'s, being present.

With a true sorrow that rebuked all feigning,
By lone Edgbaston's side
Stood a great city in the sky's sad reigning
Bareheaded and wet-eyed.

Silent for once the restless hive of labour,
Save the low funeral tread,
Or voice of craftsman whispering to his neighbour
The good deeds of the dead.

_Timmins_.--An almost life-speaking marble bust of Mr. Sam. Timmins was placed in the Reference Library, April 26, 1876. It was destroyed in the fire, but has been replaced, and few could tell the present bust is not the original one.

_Tyndale_.--The Londoners have honoured themselves by erecting on the Thames Embankment a statue to the memory of the Reformer Tyndale, whom we have partly to thank for the English version of the Bible. To help pay for their ornament it was decided that the names of all towns subscribing £100 or more should be inscribed on the pedestal, and the Bible-lovers of Birmingham scraped together £86 15s. 3d. for the purpose, leaving the Mayor (Mr. Wm. White) to dip into his own pocket for the remaining £13 4s. 9d.

_Unett_.--The granite obelisk in St. Philip's churchyard, opposite Temple Street, was erected to the memory of Lieut. Colonel Unett, who fell at the storming of Sebastopol. It was uncovered June 19, 1857.

_Watt_.--One of the finest productions of Francis Chantrey, the sculptor, is generally acknowledged to be the monument in Handsworth Church to James Watt, which was placed there in September, 1827. The figure is said to bear a very remarkable resemblance to Mr. Watt, who is represented seated in a Grecian chair, with compasses and open book, as though tracing on the open page. On the front of the pedestal is inscribed:--

JAMES WATT,
BORN
19 JANVARY,
1736.
DIED
23 AVGVST,
1819,
PATRI OPTIME MERITO.
E.M.P.

The statue in Ratcliffe Place was subscribed for in 1867, and the figure is very like the portrait of Watt. It was unveiled Oct. 2, 1868.

_Whateley_.--A marble bust (by Peter Rollins) of J.W. Whateley, Esq., M.D., was placed in the Board Room of the General Hospital, June 1, 1877.

_Wright_.--Mr. John Bright, June 15, 1883, uncovered the statue erected in memory of Mr. J.S. Wright, in front of the Council House. The inscription upon it is as follows:--

"John Skirrow Wright, born February 2, 1822, died April 13, 1880. In
memory of the simplicity, kindliness, and integrity of his life and of
his unselfish, untiring, and patriotic devotion as a public man, this
monument is erected by the united gifts of all classes in the town he
loved and for which he laboured."

~Steam Engines.~--The first steam engine (then called a fire engine) used for the purpose of pumping water from coal mines was put up in 1712 by Newcomen and Calley, at a colliery near Wolverhampton, owned by Mr. Back, the ironwork, &c., being made in Birmingham, and taken hence to the pit-head. The first of Watt's engines made at Soho, was to "blow the bellows" at John Wilkinson's ironworks at Broseley, in 1776. Watt's first pumping engine was started at Bloomfield Colliery, March 8, 1776. Having overcome the rotary motion difficulties, Watt applied steam to tilt hammers and rolling mills in 1781, and to corn-grinding mills in 1782; taking out patents in 1784 for the "governor," "parallel motion," &c., including also specifications for a travelling engine, though it was William Murdoch who first made a practical working model of a locomotive. The first engine worked by steam in this town that we have record of was put up at same works in Water Street, in 1760.

~Steamships.~--If we do not build steamships in Birmingham, it was James Watt who proposed the use of screw propellers (in 1770); Wm. Murdoch, who invented the oscillating cylinder (in 1785); Watt and Boulton, who furnished engines (in 1807) for the first regular steam picket in America; and James Watt, jun., who made the first steam voyage on the sea (October 14, 1817), crossing the Channel in the _Caledonia_, and taking that vessel up the Rhine.

~Stirchley Street~, about a mile and a quarter north-east of King's Norton, has a Post Office, a Police Station, a Board School, and a Railway Station. Notwithstanding these signs of modern civilisation, and the near proximity of Cadbury's Cocoa Manufactory, Stirchley Street is, as it has been for many a generation, a favourite country outing place for weary Brums having a chance hour to spend on change of scene.

~Stocks.~--Putting people in the stocks appears to have been a very ancient mode of punishment, for the Bible tells us that Jeremiah, the prophet, was put in the stocks by Pashur, and the gaoler who had charge of Paul and Silas at Philippi made fast their feet in a similar way. Whether Shakespeare feared the stocks when he refused to go back to "drunken Bidford," after sleeping off the effects of one carouse with the "Sipper's Club" there, is not chronicled, but that the stocks were not unknown to him is evident by their being introduced on the stage in "King Lear." The _Worcester Journal_ of Jan. 19, 1863, informs us that "this old mode of punishment was revived at Stratford-on-Avon, for drunkenness, and a passer-by asking a fellow who was doing penance how he liked it, the reply was--'I beant the first mon as ever were in the stocks, so I don't care a fardin about it." Stocks used to be kept at the Welsh Cross, as well as a pillory; and when the Corporation closed the old prison in High Street, Bordesley, they took over the stocks which formerly stood alongside the whipping-post, on the bank in front of the present G.W.R. Station. The last date of this punishment being inflicted in this town is 1844, when the stocks were in the yard of the Public Office in Moor Street.

~Storms and Tempests.~--A great storm arose on Wednesday, November 24, 1703, which lasted three days, increasing in force. The damage, all over the kingdom, was immense; and at no period of English history has it been equalled. 15,000 sheep were drowned in one part of Gloucestershire. We have no record of the immediately local loss.--In a storm on March 9, 1778, the windmill at Holloway Head was struck by lightning, the miller was hurt, and the sails shattered.--January 1, 1779, there was a violent gale, which, while it wrecked over 300 vessels on our coasts did great damage as far inland as Birmingham--Snowstorms were so heavy on January 23 and 24, 1814, that all communication between here and London was stopped for five days.--There was a strong gale September 26, 1853, during which some damage was done to St. Mary's Church, to the alarm of the congregation therein assembled.--A very heavy storm occurred June 15, 1858, the day after the Queen's visit, lasting for nearly three hours, during which time three inches of rain fell, one half in twenty minutes.--Some property in Lombard Street was destroyed by lightning, June 23, 1861; and parts of Aston, Digbeth, and the Parade were flooded same time.--There was a terrific thunderstorm, August 26, 1867; the rainfall being estimated at seventy-two tons per acre.--During a heavy thunderstorm, June 17, 1875, the lightning set fire to a workshop in Great Charles Street: killed a women in Deritend, and fourteen sheep and lambs at Small Heath.--In a heavy gale, January 30, 1877, a chimney stack was blown down in Jennen's Row, killing two men; and a wall was levelled in Harborne Road, on February 20, another poor fellow losing his life.--During the night of August 2 and 3, 1879 (when many parts of the outskirts were flooded in comparatively the shortest time in memory), the residence of W.E. Chance, Esq., Augustus Road, was struck by lightning, and considerable damage done; but no personal injuries were reported.--During the storm of October 14, 1881, much local damage was done, while round Coventry and Tamworth districts many hundreds of trees were broken or uprooted. In Windsor Park, 960 trees were blown down and more than a thousand damaged; 146 shipwrecks occurred on the coasts.--During a gale December 11, 1883, a large stained glass window of St. Philip's Church was shattered; part of a house in Charles Henry Street was blown down, two persons being killed; a child was killed at Erdington, by chimney falling through roof, several persons had limbs fractured, and there was generally a great injury to property.--On Sunday, June 15, 1884, St. Augustine's Church, Hagley Road, and the Congregational Chapel, Francis Road, were struck by lightning during a tempest, and the Chapel was somewhat injured.

~Streets.~--It is not every street that is a street in Birmingham, for, according to the Post Office Street List, besides a dozen or so to which distinctive names have been given, like Cheapside, Deritend, Digbeth, Highgate, Islington, &c., and 726 streets called Streets, there are in the borough 178 Roads, 86 Lanes, 69 Rows, 19 Squares, 11 Crescents, 2 Quadrants, 5 Arcades, 1 Colonnade, 5 Parades, 484 Terraces, 1,572 Places, 26 Passages, 20 Yards, 47 Courts (named, and twenty times that number numbered), 16 Mounts (twelve of them Pleasant), 24 Hills, 5 Vales, 2 Valleys, 23 Groves, 4 Retreats, 11 Villas, 14 Cottages, 2 Five-Dwelling, 179 Buildings, 14 Chambers, 12 Walks, 4 Drives, 3 Avenues, 5 Gullets, 1 Alley (and that is Needless), 1 Five-Ways, 1 Six-Ways, 6 Greens, 2 Banks, 2 Villages, 3 Heaths, 3 Ends, and 1 No Thoroughfare.

~Sultan Divan.~--Formerly a questionable place of amusement in Needless Alley, but which was bought for £7,500, and opened by the Young Men's Christian Association, January 7, 1875.