Part 26

~Moor Street.~--Rivaling Edgbaston Street in its antiquity, its name has long given rise to debate as to origin, but the most likely solution of the puzzle is this: On the sloping land near here, in the 14th century, and perhaps earlier, there was a mill, probably the Town Mill, and by the contraction of the Latin, _Molendinaria_, the miller would be called John le Molendin, or John le Moul. The phonetic style of writing by sound was in great measured practised by the scriveners, and thus we find, as time went on, the street of the mill became Moul, Moule, Mowle, Molle, Moll, More, and Moor Street. A stream crossed the street near the Woolpack, over which was a wooden bridge, and farther on was another bridge of more substantial character, called "Carter's Bridge." In flood times, Cars Lane also brought from the higher lands copious streams of water, and the keeping of Moor Street tidy often gave cause to mention these spots in old records, thus:--

£ s. d. 1637--Paid Walter Taylor for ridding the gutters in Moor Street 0 0 11 1665--Zachary Gisborne 42 loads of mudd out of Moore Street .. 0 0 7 1676--J. Bridgens keepinge open passage and tourneing water from Cars Lane that it did not runne into More Street for a yeare .. .. .. .. 0 4 0 1688--Paid mending Carter's Bridge timber and worke .. .. .. 0 5 0 1690--John, for mending Moore Street Bridg .. .. .. .. .. .. 0 0 10

Moor Street, from the earliest date, was the chosen place of residence for many of the old families, the Carless, Smalbroke, Ward, Sheldon, Flavell, Stidman, and other names, continually cropping up in deeds; some of the rents paid to the Lord of the Manor, contrasting curiously with the rentals of to-day. For three properties adjoining in More Street, and which were so paid until a comparatively modern date, the rents were:--

"One pound of pepper by Goldsmythe and Lench, Two pounds of pepper by the master of the Gild, One pound of cumin seed, one bow, and six barbed bolts, or arrow heads by John Sheldon."

~Moseley.~--One of the popular, and soon will be populous suburbs, connected as it is so closely to us by Balsall Heath. It is one of the old Domesday-mentioned spots, but has little history other than connected with the one or two families who chose it for their residence ages ago. It is supposed the old church was erected prior to the year 1500, a tower being added to it in Henry VIII.'s reign, but the parish register dates only from the middle of last century, possibly older entries being made at King's Norton (from which Moseley was ecclesiastically divided in 1852). Moseley does not appear to have been named from, or to have given name to, any particular family, the earliest we have any note about being Greves, or Grevis, whose tombs are in King's Norton Church, one of the epitaphs being this:--

"Ascension day on ninth of May, Third year of King James' reine, To end my time and steal my coin, I William Greves was slain. 1605."

Hutton says that the old custom of "heriot" was practised here; which is not improbable, as instances have occurred in neighbourhood of Bromsgrove and other parts of the county within the past few years. This relic of feudalism, or barbarism, consists of the demanding for the lord of the manor the best movable article, live or dead, that any tenant happens to be possessed of at the time of his death.

~Moseley Hall.~--Hutton relates that on July 21, 1786, one Henshaw Grevis came before him in the court of Requests, as a poor debtor, who, thirty years before, he had seen "completely mounted and dressed in green velvet, with a hunter's cap and girdle, at the head of the pack." This poor fellow was the last member of a family who had held the Moseley Hall estate from the time of the Conquest. In the riots of 1791 the Hall was burnt down, being rebuilt ten years after.

~Mothering Sunday~, or Mid-Lent Sunday, has its peculiarities according to districts. In Birmingham the good people who like to keep up old customs sit down to veal and custard. At Draycot-le-Moors they eat pies made of figs. The practice of visiting the parents' home on this day was one of those old-time customs so popular in the days of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers (but which, with many others have fallen into disuse), and this is supposed to have given rise to the "Mothering Sunday" name. Prior to the Reformation, the Catholics kept the day as a holy day, in honour of the Mother of Jesus, it being a Protestant invention to turn the fast-day into one of feasting.

~Mount Misery.~--At the close of the great war, which culminated at Waterloo, it was long before the blessings of peace brought comfort to the homes of the poor. The first effects of the sheathing of the sword was a collapse in prices of all kinds, and a general stagnation of trade, of which Birmingham, made prosperous through the demand for its guns, &c., felt the full force. Bad trade was followed by bad harvests, and the commercial history of the next dozen years is but one huge chronicle of disaster, shops and mills closing fast, and poverty following faster. How to employ the hundreds of able-bodied men dependent on the rates was a continual puzzle to the Overseers, until someone, wise in his generation, hit upon the plan of paying the unfortunates to wheel sand from the bank then in front of Key Hill House up to the canal side, a distance of 1-1/2 miles, the payment being at the rate of one penny per barrow load. This fearful "labour test" was continued for a long time, and when we reckon that each man would have to wheel his barrow backwards and forwards for nearly 20 miles to earn a shilling, moving more than a ton of sand in the process we cannot wonder at the place receiving such a woeful name as Mount Misery.

~M.P.'s for Borough.~--See "_Parliamentary_."

~Mules.~-These animals are not often seen about town now, but in the politically-exciting days of 1815 they apparently were not strangers in our streets, as Mr. Richard Spooner (who, like our genial Alderman Avery, was fond of "tooling" his own cattle), was in the habit of driving his own mail-drag into town, to which four mules were harnessed. With Mr. Thomas Potts, a well-to-do merchant, a "bigoted Baptist," and ultra-Radical, Mr. Spooner and Mr. T. Attwood took part in a deputation to London, giving occasion to one of the street-songs of the day:--

"Tommy Potts has gone to town To join the deputation; He is a man of great renown, And fit to save the nation. Yankee doodle do, Yankee doodle dandy.

Dicky Spooner's also there, And Tom the Banker, too; If in glory they should share, We'll sing them 'Cock-a-doodle-doo.' Yankee doodle do, Yankee doodle dandy.

Dicky Spooner is Dicky Mule, Tom Attwood is Tom Fool; And Potts an empty kettle, With lots of bosh and rattle. Yankee doodle do, Yankee doodle dandy."

Another of the doggerel verses, alluding to Mr. Spooner's mules, ran--

"Tommy Potts went up to town, Bright Tom, who all surpasses, Was drawn by horses out of town, And in again by asses. With their Yankee doodle do, Yankee doodle dandy."

~Municipal Expenditure.~--Fortunately the population of Birmingham is going ahead rapidly, and the more the children multiply the more "heads of families" we may naturally hope there will be noted down as ratepayers by the heads of the gather-the-tin office. The cost of governing our little town is not at all heavy, and when divided out at per head of the inhabitants it seems but a mere bagatelle. Mr. J. Powell Williams, who takes credit for being a financier and man of figures, said in 1884 that the totals of our municipal expenditure for the past few years were as follows:--

In 1879 it was £354,000 or 18/3 per head " 1880 " 343,900 " 17/5 " " 1881 " 361,500 " 18/0 " " 1882 " 374,000 " 18/4 " " 1883 " 385,000 " 18/7 " " 1884 " 385,000 " 18/3 "

The bachelors who live in apartments will surely be tempted to begin housekeeping when they see how low a sum it takes to pay for all the blessings conferred upon us by a Liberal Corporation; but what the Pater of half-a-dozen olive branches may think about the matter, is altogether a different thing, especially when he finds that to the above 18/2 per head must be added 2/7-1/2 per head for the School Board, and 1s. 2d. per head for the Drainage Board, besides poor-rates, Government taxes, gas, water, and all these other little nothings that empty the purse.

~Murder and Manslaughter.~--It would be _too_ black a catalogue to give all the horrible cases of this nature which the local journals have chronicled in past years, those here noted being only such as have a certain historical interest.

"Tom and Jack."--"See _Executions_."

Sergeant William Cartwright, of the Coldstream Guards, was killed in Townsend's Yard by a deserter, September 13, 1796.

A desperate attempt was made to murder a young woman in Bull Street in the evening of a fair day, June 9, 1797.

Philip Matsell was hanged August 22, 1806, at the bottom of Snow Hill, for attempting to murder a watchman.--See "_Executions_."

A Mr. Pennington, of London, was murdered at Vauxhall, Feb. 6. 1817.

Ashford, Mary, May 27, 1817, murdered at Sutton Coldfield.

F. Adams was murdered by T. Johnson, in London 'Prentice Street, Aug. 5, 1821.

Mr. R. Perry was killed in Mary Ann Street, by Michael Ford, December 6, 1825. Execution, March 7, 1826.

J. Fitter was tried and acquitted August 11, 1834, on a charge of having murdered Margaret Webb, in Lawley Street, on 7th April preceding.

Mr. W. Painter, a tax collector, was robbed and murdered in the old Parsonage grounds (near what is now the bottom of Worcester Street), February 17, 1835.

William Devey murdered Mr. Davenport in a shop in Snow Hill, April 5, 1838.

Mrs. Steapenhill shot by her husband in Heneage Street, January 7, 1842.

Mrs. Davis killed by her husband in Moor Street, March, 1848.

Mrs. Wilkes murdered her four children in Cheapside, October 23, 1847; also committing suicide.

Francis Price was executed at Warwick, August 20, 1860, for murdering Sarah Pratt, April 18.

Elizabeth Brooks was shot by Farquhar, at Small Heath, August 29, 1861. He was sentenced to imprisonment for a long term, but was liberated in April, 1866.

Thompson, Tanter Street, killed his wife, September 23, 1861; hung December 30.

Henry Carter, aged 17, who had killed his sweetheart, was hung April 11, 1863.

George Hall shot his unfaithful wife on Dartmouth Street Bridge, February 16, 1864, and was sentenced to death, but reprieved. He was released March 5, 1884.

Murder and suicide in Nursery Terrace, November 28, 1866.

Mr. Pryse was murdered by James Scott in Aston Street, April 6, 1867.

Mary Milbourn was murdered in Heneage Street, January 21, 1868.

Murder and suicide in Garrison Street, November 25, 1871.

Richard Smith was killed by his fellow-lodger, in Adam Street, January 7, 1872.

Thomas Picken, of St. Luke Street, killed his wife, January 22, 1872. He was found next morning hanging to a lamp-post, at Camp Hill Station.

Jeremiah Corkery stabbed Policeman Lines, March 7; was condemned to death July 9, and hung July 27, 1875.

Patrick O'Donoghue was kicked and killed at the Flying Horse, Little Hampton Street, August 7. 1875. Moran and Caulfield, the kickers, were sent to penal servitude for ten years.

A woman, resisting indecent assault, was thrown into the canal, October 8, 1875, and died from effects.

Emma Luke, Hope street, killed her infant and herself, October 23, 1875.

Samuel Todd, a deaf-mute, killed William Brislin, in a fit of passion, December 31, 1875.--Fifteen years' penal servitude.

Gaorge Underhill shot Alfred Price, in Stephenson place, January 12, 1876, being in drink at the time, and thinking he was going to be robbed. Price died, and Underhill was imprisoned for twelve months.

Frederick Lipscombe killed his wife because she did not get his meals ready to the time he wished, July 18, 1876.

Mary Saunders, Aston, had her throat cut by F.E. Baker, her lodger, January 16, 1877. He was hung April 17.

John Nicholson killed Mary (or Minnie) Fantham, in Navigation Street, February 23rd, 1877, committing suicide himself. He was buried as a _felo de se_.

Francis Mason, Litimer Street, stabbed his wife, June 25, 1867, but the jury called it manslaughter, and he was allowed to retire for five years.

William Toy, a glasscutter, was killed in the Plasterers' Arms, Lupin Street, July 20, 1878, in a drunken row.

Edward Johnson, a retired butcher, of this town, killed his wife and drowned himself at Erdington, July 27, 1878.

Sarah Alice Vernon, married woman, aged 26, was first stabbed and then flung into the canal, at Spring Hill, by her paramour, John Ralph, a hawker of fancy baskets, early in the morning of May 31, 1879. He was hung August 26.

Caroline Brooks, a young woman of 20, was fatally stabbed on the night of June 28, 1879, while walking with her sweetheart, but the man who killed her escaped.

Alfred Wagstaffe, of Nechell's Green, kicked his wile for pawning his shirt, on October 25, 1879. She died a week after, and he was sent to penal servitude for ten years.

An Irishman, named John Gateley, was shot on Saturday, December 5, 1880, in a beerhouse at Solihull, by a country man who got away; the murdered man had been connected with the Irish Land League.

Mrs. Ellen Jackson, a widow, 34 years of age, through poverty and despondency, poisoned herself and two children, aged seven and nine, on Sunday, November 27, 1881. One child recovered.

Frederick Serman, at the Four Dwellings, near Saltley, Nov. 22, 1883, shot Angelina Yanwood, and poisoned himself, because the woman would not live longer with him "to be clemmed."

James Lloyd, Jan. 6, 1884, stabbed his wife Martha, because she had not met him the previous afternoon. She died four days after, and he was sentenced to death, but reprieved.

Mrs. Palmer and Mrs. Stewart were shot by Henry Kimberley at the White Hart, Paradise Street, Dec. 28, 1884. Mrs. Palmer died, and Kimberley was hung at Winson Green, March 17, 1885.

James Davis, policeman, while on his beat at Alvechurch, was murdered Feb. 28, 1885, by Moses Shrimpton, a Birmingham poacher and thief.

Elizabeth Bunting, a girl of 16, was murdered at Handsworth, April 20, 1885, by her uncle, Thomas Boulton.

~Museums.~--No place in England ought to have a better collection of coins and medals, but there is no Numismatic Museum in Birmingham. Few towns can show such a list of patentees and inventors, but we have no Patent Museum wherein to preserve the outcome of their ideas. Though the town's very name cannot be traced through the mists of dim antiquity, the most ancient thing we can show is the Old Crown public-house. Romans and Normans, Britons and Saxons, have all trod the same ground as ourselves, but we preserve no relics of them. Though we have supplied the whole earth with firearms, it was left to Mr. Marshall, of Leeds, to gather together a Gun Museum. Fortunately the Guardians of the Proof House were liberal and, buying the collection for £1,550, made many valuable additions to it, and after exhibiting it for a time at 5, Newhall Street, presented it to the town in August, 1876. There is a curious miscellany of articles on exhibition at Aston Hall, which some may call a "Museum," and a few cases of birds, sundry stuffed animals, &c., but we must wait until the Art Gallery now in course of erection, is finished before the Midland Metropolis can boast of owning a real Museum. At various times, some rich examples of industrial art have been exhibited in the temporary Art Gallery adjoining the Midland Institute, and now, in one of the rooms of the Free Library, there are sufficient to form the nucleus of a good Museum. We may, therefore, hope that, in time, we _shall_ have a collection that we may be proud of. Mr. Joseph Chamberlain (April 26, 1875) gave £1,000 to purchase objects of industrial art, and it has been expended in the purchase of a collection of gems and precious stones, than which nothing could be more suitable in this centre of the jewellery trade. Possibly, on the opening of the new Art Gallery, we shall hear of other "thousands" as forthcoming.

~Musical Associations.~--There were, of course, the choirs attached to the churches previous, but the earliest Musical Society is believed to be that established by James Kempson, in 1762, at Cooke's, in the Cherry Orchard, and the founding of which led to the Musical Festivals. The members met for practice, and evidently enjoyed their pipes and glasses, their nightly song being:--

"To our Musical Club here's long life and prosperity; May it flourish with us, and so on to posterity, May concord and harmony always abound, And division here only in music be found. May the catch and the glass go about and about, And another succeed to the bottle that's out."

This society was appropriately known as the Musical and Amicable Society from which sprung the Choral Society in 1776, though the present Festival Choral Society only claims to be in its thirty eighth year. The Birmingham Musical Society dates from 1840; the Amateur Harmonic Association from January, 1856; the Edgbaston Musical Union from 1874; and the Philharmonic Union from 1870. The Church Schools Choral Union, the Sunday Schools Union Festival Choir, and the Birmingham Musical Association, with one or two others, are the progeny of later years; the last on the list of musical institutions being the Clef Club (in Exchange Buildings), established March 21st, 1832, for the promotion of musical culture by "providing a central resort for the study and practice of vocal and instrumental music, with the social advantages of a club."

~Musical Festivals.~--The credit of suggesting the first Musical Festival in aid of the funds of the General Hospital, has been assigned to Mr. Kempson a local musician, who, with his friends, formed a Glee and Catch Club at Cooke's, in the Cherry Orchard. The minutes-book of the Hospital under date of May 3, 1768, records that a resolution was passed that "a musical entertainment" should be arranged, and it was held accordingly on the 7th, 8th, and 9th of September in that year, part of the performances taking place at St. Philip's Church, and part at the Theatre, then in King Street, the Festival being wound up with a ball "at Mrs. Sawyer's, in the Square." Church, Theatre, and Ball was the order of the day for many succeeding Festivals, the Town Hall, which may be said to have been built almost purposely for these performances, not being ready until 1834. The Theatre was only utilised for one evening each Festival after until 1843, when three concerts were held therein, but since that date the Town Hall has been found sufficient. The Festival Balls were long a great attraction (no less than 1,700 attending in 1834), but, possibly from a too free admixture of the general public, the aristocratic patronage thereof gradually declined until 1858, when only 300 tickets having been taken, the Ball night was struck out of the future programmes. The first Festival performances were by purely local artistes, and on several occasions afterwards they formed the bulk of the performers, but as the fame of our Festivals increased so did the inflow of the foreign element, until at one period not more than half-a-dozen local names could be found in any programme. This has been altered to a considerable extent of late years, so much so that at the last Festival nearly the whole of the chorus of voices was composed of members of our local Musical Societies, and a fair sprinkling of the instrumentalists also. A big book would be required for a full history of the Birmingham Triennial Festivals, descriptive of their rise and progress, the hundreds of musical novelties introduced, the many scores of talented artistes who have taken parts, the lords and ladies who have attended, and the thousand odd notes appertaining to them all. In the following notes are briefly chronicled the "first appearances," &c., with the results and other items for reference.

1768, Sept. 7 to 9. The oratorios of "Il Penseroso;" and "Alexander's Feast" were performed at the Theatre in King Street; Handel's "Te Deum" and "Jubilate" with the "Messiah," at St. Philip's Church. The principal singers were Mrs. Pinto, first soprano, and Mr. Charles Norris, tenor; the orchestra numbered about 70, the conductor being Mr. Capel Bond of Coventry, with Mr. Pinto as leader of the band. The tickets of admission were 5s. each, the receipts (with donations) amounting to about £800, and the profits to £299.

1778, Sept. 2 to 4. The performances this time (and for fifteen festivals after), were at St. Philip's Church, and at the newly-built theatre in New Street, the oratorios, &c., including "Judas Maccabæus," the "Messiah," Handel's "Te Deum," "Jubilate," "Acis and Galatea," &c. Principal performers: Miss Mahon, Miss Salmon, Mr. C. Norris, and Cervetto, a celebrated violoncellist, the leader of the band being Mr. William Cramer, a popular violinist. The choir had the assistance of "the celebrated women chorus singers from Lancashire." The receipts were again about £800, and the profits £340, which sum was divided between the Hospital and the building fund for St. Paul's.

1784, Sept. 22 to 24. President: Lord Dudley and Ward. Following after the celebrated Handel Commemoration the programme was filled almost solely with selections from Handel's works, the only novelty being the oratorio of "Goliath," composed by Mr. Atterbury, which according to one modern musical critic, has never been heard of since. Master Bartleman, who afterwards became the leading bass singer of the day, was the novelty among the performers. Receipts, £1,325; profits, £703.

1787, Aug. 22 to 24. President, the Earl of Aylesford. In addition to the miscellaneous (mostly Handelian) pieces, the oratories performed were "Israel in Egypt" and the "Messiah," the latter being so remarkably successful that an extra performance of it was given on the Saturday following. Among the perfumers were Mrs. Billington (first soprano), Mr. Samuel Harrison (one of the finest tenor singers ever heard in England), and Mr. John Sale (a rich-toned bass), and the "women chorus." Receipts about £2,000; profits, £964.

1790, Aug. 25 to 27. President, Lord Dudley and Ward. The "Messiah," with miscellaneous selections, the principal performers being Madame Mara, Mr. Reinhold, and Mr. Charles Knyvett, with Jean Mara (violoncellist) and John Christian Fischer (oboeist) The prices of admission were raised at this Festival to 10s. 6d. and 7s.; Theatre boxes 7s. 6d., pit 5s., gallery 3s. 6d. Receipts £1,965 15s.; profits £958 14s.

1796, Aug. 31 to Sept. 2, President, the Earl of Aylesford. The performances were like those of 1790, of a general character, besides the "Messiah;" while the two principal sopranos were the Misses Fletcher, daughters of a local musician. The trombone was introduced at this Festival for the first time. Receipts £2,043 18s.; profits £897.

1792, September 18 to 20. President, the Earl of Warwick. The "Messiah," with vocal and instrumental selections of the usual character. Miss Poole and Master Elliott among the vocalists, with Mr. Holmes (bassoonist) and Signor Mariotti (trombone player), were chief of the newly-introduced performers. Receipts, £2,550; profits, £1,470.