Builders of the Hall of Memory

Full Text: John_Barnsley_&_Sons_v2

Architects of the Hall of Memory

Full Text:  Architects_Hall_of_Memory

HoM_p/c#3_21.11.1923

Dear Alice
just a
PC to let you see
were I am to-day it is a
lovely day Dick as
come up here for the
day we are going to
see the Art Gallery
now Dick says we have
done enough shop walking
with love Sally

HoM_p/c#2_undated

Spirit of Birmingham 2011

And now to social Amity inclined…
A Town they builden straight, hight BIRMINGHAM.

Industry & Genius: A Fable’s Thin Disguise

For F. E. (Bill) Pardoe:  Industry & Genius 2011_v3

Colmore Estate 20 Geo. II, c. 16 (priv. act)

Expansion in other directions was made possible by a series of private Acts, the first of which, for the Colmore estate, was secured in 1746 [20 Geo. II, c. 16 (priv. act)]. The land thus made available lay mainly along the northern flank of the ridge between Easy Hill and Snow Hill [Colmore Estate Map, (B.R.L. 411566)].  It was well drained, yet a good supply of water was readily available from shallow wells. Two large residential houses, Colmore’s New Hall and Baskerville’s house on Easy Hill, had already been erected on the ridge [1553 Survey].  The new developments after 1746 catered for the small craftsmen, especially those engaged in making buttons, buckles, jewellery, and steel toys.  The estate was divided into plots of various sizes, all of which were leasehold, and by 1750 buildings had been erected along Colmore Row and what is now Edmund Street [Cal. of Colmore Deeds (B.R.L.). Edmund St. in 1750 was known in sections as Harlow St., Charles St. and Hill St.: Bradford's Plan of Birm. (1750)].  Some plots were at first taken over by builders, bricklayers, and carpenters, but many were leased direct to manufacturers, who were required to ‘erect . . . upon the piece . . . of land, one or more good and substantial dwelling houses with proper and necessary outbuildings’ [Cal. of Colmore Deeds (B.R.L.)].  Many small manufacturers moved from the more congested parts of the town and left their ‘irregular foul-smelling buildings’: [B.R.L. Contemporary rate books and directories] later, however, the process of sub-letting and the erection of workshops led to some congestion even here.

New Hall itself did not survive the expansion of the city. Newhall Street had been built to coincide with the drive to the Hall from Colmore Row, then known as New Hall Lane, so that the Hall blocked any extension of the street downhill [Hanson, Plan of Birm. (1778) (plate facing p. 7)].  Charles Colmore wished to extend it during the 1780s but was prevented by the fact that the Hall had been leased to Matthew Boulton some time before 1777 and converted into a warehouse which he was reluctant to leave. Colmore was finally able to remove Boulton and the house was put up for sale by auction in 1787, ‘the whole to be pulled down, and the materials carried away within one month from the time of sale’ [B. Walker, 'Some 18th-cent. Birm. houses', T.B.A.S. lvi. 31]. 

W.B. Stephens: ‘A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 7: The City of Birmingham’ 1964

HoM_p/c#1_undated

Demise of Brummagem

“But what’s more melancholy still,
For poor old Brummagem,
They’ve taken away all Newhall-Hill
From poor old Brummagem,
At Easter time girls fair and brown,
Came rolly-polly down,
And showed their legs to half the town,
Oh! the good old sights in Brummagem.”

James Dobbs [1781-1837]

Working Notes at: A Fable’s Thin Disguise

Spirit of Birmingham / Demise of Brummagem

“Soho! – where GENIUS and the ARTS preside,
EUROPA’S wonder and BRITANNIA’S pride;
THY matchless works have raised Old England’s fame,
And future ages record thy Name;
Each rival NATION shall to thee resign
The PALM of TASTE and own – ‘tis justly thine’
Whilst COMMERCE shall to thee an altar raise,
And infant GENIUS learn to lisp thy praise:
Whilst Art and Science reign, they’ll still proclaim
THINE! ever blended with a BOULTON’S name.”

J Bisset: ‘Bisset’s Magnificent Guide or Grand Copper Plate Directory for the Town of Birmingham’ 1808

“At one o’clock all the persons employed in the manufactory assembled within its walls, and were marshalled into regular corps, according to their respective trades, from whence they marched, two by two, preceded by an excellent band of civil and military music. First corps – one hundred young women mostly dressed in white, with blue ribbons. A corps of fifty engineers headed by Perrins in the character of Vulcan, bearing a working fire-engine on his head. Third-six corps of Buttoneers, 50 in each with the ensigns of their respective trades. Fourth – Two corps of Artists employed in the silver-plated and ormolu manufacture. Fifth (and this appeals to me most since I can visualise it happening with some of our distinguished Past Presidents) the workmen employed in the rolling mills, carrying an ensign composed of fillets of rolled metal of various colours, forming festoons, loosely playing, and which had a pretty effect. Sixth— a corps of Moneyers carrying a glass vase, filled with coin.”

Aris’s Birmingham Gazette 15.08.1791