Part 6

The General Cemetery at Key Hill was originated at a meeting held Oct. 18, 1832, when a proprietary Company was formed, and a capital fixed at £12,000, in shares of £10 each. The total area of the property is about twelve acres, eight of which are laid out for general burials, in a edition to the catacombs cut into the sandstone rock.

The Church of England Cemetery in Warstone Lane is also the property of a private Company, having a capital of £20,000 in £10 shares. The area is nearly fifteen acres, the whole of which was consecrated as a burial ground for the Church on August 20, 1848.

The Catholic Cemetery of St. Joseph, at Nechell's Green, received its first consignment in 1850.

The introduction and extension of railways have played sad havoc with a number of the old burial grounds belonging to our forefathers. As mentioned above the London and North Western took a slice out of Park Street Cemetery. The Great Western cleared the Quakers' burial ground in Monmouth Street (where the Arcade now stands) the remains of the departed Friends being removed to their chapel yard in Bull Street, and a curious tale has been told in connection therewith. It is said that the representative of the Society of Friends was a proper man of business, as, indeed, most of them are, and that he drove rather a hard bargain with the railway directors, who at last were obliged to give in to what they considered to be an exorbitant demand for such a small bit of freehold. The agreement was made and the contract signed, and Friend Broadbrim went on his way rejoicing; but not for long. In selling the land he apparently forgot that the land contained bones, for when the question of removing the dead was mooted, the Quaker found he had to pay back a goodly portion of the purchase money before he obtained permission to do so. In clearing the old streets away to make room for New Street Station, in 1846, the London and North Western found a small Jewish Cemetery in what was then known as the "Froggery," but which had long been disused. The descendants of Israel carefully gathered the bones and reinterred them in their later-dated cemetery in Granville Street, but even here they did not find their last resting-place, for when, a few years back, the Midland made the West Suburban line, it became necessary to clear out this ground also, and the much-disturbed remains of the poor Hebrews were removed to Witton. The third and last of the Jewish Cemeteries, that in Betholom Row, which was first used in or about 1825, and has long been full, is also doomed to make way for the extension of the same line.--During the year 1883 the time-honoured old Meeting-house yard, where Poet Freeth, and many another local worthy, were laid to rest, has been carted off--dust and ashes, tombs and tombstones--to the great graveyard at Witton, where Christian and Infidel, Jew and Gentile, it is to be hoped, will be left at peace till the end of the world.

In 1860, the Corporation purchased 105 acres of land at Witton for the Borough Cemetery. The foundation stones of two chapels were laid August 12, 1861, and the Cemetery was opened May 27, 1863, the total cost being nearly £40,000. Of the 105 acres, 53 are consecrated to the use of the Church of England, 35 laid out for Dissenters, and 14 set aside for Catholics and Jews.

~Census.~--The numbering of the people by a regular and systematic plan once in every ten years, only came into operation in 1801, and the most interesting returns, as connected with this town and its immediate neighbourhood, will be found under the heading of "_Population_."

~Centre of Birmingham.~--As defined by the authorities for the settlement of any question of distance, Attwood's statue at the top of Stephenson Place, in New Street, is reckoned as the central spot of the borough. In olden days, Nelson's monument, and prior to that, the Old Cross, in the Bull Ring, was taken as the centre. As an absolute matter of fact, so far as the irregular shape of the borough area will allow of such a measurement being made, the central spot is covered by Messrs. Harris and Norton's warehouse in Corporation Street.

~Centenarians.~--John Harman, better known as Bishop Vesey, died in 1555, in his 103rd year. James Sands, who died at Harborne in 1625, was said to have been 140 years old, and his wife lived to be 120. Joseph Stanley, of Aston, died in May, 1761, in his 106th year. Wesley, under date of March 19, 1768, wrote of having seen George Bridgens, then in his 107th year; Hutton, in noticing the long life of Bridgens, also mentions one John Pitt who lived to be 100, a Mrs. Moore who reached 104, and an old market man who completed his 107th year. A Mr. Clarkson died here, in February, 1733, aged 112. William Jennens, _the_ Jennens of untold, but much coveted, wealth, died in June, 1798, aged 103. John Roberts, of Digbeth, had a family of twenty-eight children, six by his third wife, whom he married when nearly eighty, and lived to see his 103rd year, in 1792, dying July 6. Thomas Taylor, a cobbler, stuck to his last until a week of his death, July 8, 1796, at 103. T. Blakemore died November 12, 1837, aged 105. Mrs. E. Bailey, founder of the Female Charity School, was also 105 at her death, December 2, 1854. Another old lady was Elizabeth Taylor, who died at Sparkbrook, March 5, 1864, aged 104 years. Mary Hemming, of Moseley Wake Green, died December 5, 1881, in her 104th year.

~Centenary Celebrations~, more or less worthy of note, are continuously recurring, and the date of some few are here preserved. Our loyal grandfathers honoured the hundredth, anniversary of the Revolution of 1688, by a public dinner, November 4, 1788. Old Bluecoat boys in like manner kept the centenary of their school, August 24, 1824. Admirers of the Philosopher Priestley chose All Fools' Day, 1831, as the fitting day to celebrate the anniversary of his birth. The Centenary of the Protestant Dissenting Charity Schools was worthily celebrated by the raising of a special sum amounting to £1,305, as an addition to the funds. In January, 1859, Robert Burns' anniversary was remembered by the holding a supper in Aston Hall, at which only half-a-dozen Scotchmen were present out of half-a-hundred guests. The Dissenting Ministers of this and the neighbouring counties, who, for a hundred years, have met together once a month, celebrated the event by a quiet luncheon-dinner, December 13, 1882. The Tercentenary of the Free Grammar School was celebrated with learned speeches April 16, 1852; that of Good Queen Bess, by a public prayer meeting, November 16, 1858; and that of Shakespeare, April 23, 1864, by the founding of a Shakespeare Memorial Library. The thousandth anniversary of Alfred the Great, October 29, 1849, was made much of by the Political Knowledge Association, which had not been in existence it thousand days. The fact of John Bright being M.P. for Birmingham for a quarter of a century, was celebrated in June, 1883, by the Liberal Association, who got up a "monster" procession in imitation of the celebrated Attwood procession of the old days of Reform. The holiday was most thoroughly enjoyed by the public generally, and immense numbers of people thronged the streets to hear the bands and see what was to be seen.

~Chamberlain Memorial.~--See "_Statues_," &c.

~Chamber of Commerce.~--In 1783 there was a "Standing General Commercial Committee," composed of the leading merchants and Manufacturers, who undertook the duty of looking after the public interests of the town (not forgetting their own peculiarly private ditto). That they were not so Liberal as their compeers of to-day may be gathered from the fact of their strongly opposing the exportation of brass, and on no account permitting a workman to go abroad.

~Chamber of Manufacturers.~--When Pitt, in 1784, proposed to tax coal, iron, copper, and other raw materials, he encountered a strong opposition from the manufacturers, prominent among whom were Boulton (Soho), Wilkinson (Bradley), and Wedgwood (Potteries), who formed a "Chamber," the first meeting of which was held here in February, 1785. The Minister was induced to alter his mind.

~Chandeliers.~--Many beautiful works of art have been manufactured in this town, which, though the wonder and admiration of strangers, receive but faint notice here, and find no record except in the newspaper of the day or a work like the present. Among such may be ranked the superb brass chandelier which Mr. R.W. Winfield sent to Osborne in 1853 for Her Majesty, the Queen. Designed in the Italian style, this fine specimen of the brassworkers' skill, relieved by burnishing and light matted work, ornamented with figures of Peace, Plenty, and Love in purest Parian, masks of female faces typical of night, and otherwise decorated in the richest manner, was declared by the late Prince Consort as the finest work he had ever seen made in this country and worthy to rank with that of the masters of old. Not so fortunate was Mr. Collis with the "Clarence chandelier" and sideboard he exhibited at the Exhibition of 1862. Originally made of the richest ruby cut and gilded glass for William IV., it was not finished before that monarch's death, and was left on the maker's hand. Its cost was nearly £1,000, but at the final sale of Mr. Collis's effects in Dec. 1881 it was sold for £5.

~Chapels and Churches.~--See "_Places of Worship_."

~Charity.~--Charitable collections were made in this neighbourhood in 1655, for the Redmontese Protestants, Birmingham giving £15 11s. 2d., Sutton Coldfield £14, and Aston £4 14s. 2d. On the 6th of June, 1690, £13 18s. 1-1/2d. were collected at St. Martin's "for ye Irish Protestants." In 1764 some Christmas performances were given for the relief of aged and distressed housekeepers, and the charitable custom thus inaugurated was kept up for over seventy years. In the days of monks and monasteries, the poor and needy, the halt and lame, received charitable doles at the hands of the former and at the gates of the latter, but it would be questionable how far the liberality of the parsons, priests, and preachers of the present day would go were the same system now in vogue. It has been estimated that nearly £5,000 is given every year in what may be called the indiscriminate charity of giving alms to those who ask it in the streets or from door to door. By far the largest portion of this amount goes into the hands of the undeserving and the worthless, and the formation of a central relief office, into which the charitably-disposed may hand in their contributions, and from whence the really poor and deserving may receive help in times of distress, has been a long felt want. In 1869 a "Charity Organisation Society" was established here, and it is still in existence, but it does not appear to meet with that recognised support which such an institution as suggested requires. In 1882 a special fund was started for the purpose of giving aid to women left with children, and about £380 was subscribed thereto, while the ordinary income was only £680. The special fund can hardly be said as yet to have got into working order, but when the cost of proving the property of the recipients, with the necessary expenses of office rent, salaries, &c., have been deducted from the ordinary income, the amount left to be distributed among the persons deemed by the officials deserving of assistance is small indeed, the expenses reaching about £330 per year. In 1880 it cost £329 18s. 4d. to give away food, cash, and clothing, &c., valued at £386 16s. 6d., an apparent anomally which would not be so glaring if the kind-hearted and charitable would only increase the income of the Society, or re-organise it upon a wider basis.--For statistics of poverty and the poor see "_Pauperism_" and "_Poor Rates_."

~Charitable Trusts.~--See "_Philanthropical Institutions_," &c.

~Chartism.~--Following the great Reform movement of 1832, in which Birmingham led the van, came years of bad harvests, bad trade, and bitter distress. The great Chartist movement, though not supported by the leaders of the local Liberal party, was taken up with a warmth almost unequalled in any other town in the Kingdom, meetings being held daily and nightly for months in succession, Feargus O'Connor, Henry Vincent, and many other "orators of the fiery tongue," taking part. On the 13th of August, 1838, a monstre demonstration took place on Holloway Head, at which it was reckoned there were over 100,000 persons present, and a petition in favour of "The Charter" was adopted that received the signatures of 95,000 people in a few days. The Chartist "National Convention" met here May 13, 1839, and noisy assemblages almost daily affrighted the respectable townsmen out of their propriety. It was advised that the people should abstain from all exciseable articles, and "run for gold" upon the savings banks--very good advice when given by Attwood in 1832, but shockingly wicked in 1839 when given to people who could have had but little in the savings or any other banks. This, and the meetings which ensued, so alarmed the magistrates for the safety of property that, in addition to swearing in hundreds of special constables, they sent to London for a body of police. These arrived on July 4, and unfortunately at the time a stormy meeting was being held in the Bull Ring, which they were at once set to disperse, a work soon accomplished by the free use they made of their staves. The indignant Brums, however, soon rallied and drove the police into the Station, several being wounded on either side. The latent fury thus engendered burst out in full force on the 15th when the notorious Chartist Riots commenced, but the scenes then enacted, disgraceful as they were, may well be left in oblivion, especially as the best of "the points" of the Charter are now part of the laws of the land. Besides many others who were punished more or less, two of the leaders, Wm. Lovett and John Collins, were sentenced to one year's imprisonment for a seditious libel in saying that "the people of Birmingham were the best judges of their own rights to meet in the Bull Ring, and the best judges of their own power and resources to obtain justice." On the 27th July, 1849, Lovett and Collins were accorded a public welcome on their release from prison, being met at the Angel by a crowd of vehicles, bands of music, &c., and a procession (said to have numbered nearly 30,000), accompanied them to Gosta Green where speeches were delivered; a dinner, at which 800 persons sat down, following on the site of "The People's Hall of Science," in Loveday Street. In 1841, Joseph Sturge gave in his adhesion to some movement for the extension of the franchise to the working classes, and at his suggestion a meeting was held at the Waterloo Rooms (Feb. 25th, 1842), and a memorial to the Queen drawn up, which in less than a month received 16,000 signatures. On the 5th of April, 87 delegates from various parts of England, Ireland, and Scotland, assembled here, and after four days' sitting formed themselves into "The National Complete Suffrage Union," whose "points" were similar to those of the Charter, viz., manhood suffrage, abolition of the property qualification, vote by ballot, equal electoral districts, payment of election expenses and of members, and annual Parliaments. On the 27th of December, another Conference was held (at the Mechanics' Institute), at which nearly 400 delegates were present, but the apple of discord had been introduced, and the "Complete Suffrage Union" was pooh-poohed by the advocates of "the Charter, the whole Charter, and nothing but the Charter," and our peace-loving townsman, whom _The Times_ had dubbed "the Birmingham Quaker Chartist," retired from the scene. From that time until the final collapse of the Chartist movement, notwithstanding many meetings were held, and strong language often used, Birmingham cannot be said to have taken much part in it, though, in 1848 (August 15th), George J. Mantle, George White, and Edward King, three local worthies in the cause, found themselves in custody for using seditious language.

~Chauntries.~--In 1330 Walter of Clodeshale, and in 1347 Richard of Clodeshale, the "Lords of Saltley," founded and endowed each a Chauntry in old St. Martin's Church, wherein daily services should be performed for themselves, their wives, and ancestors, in their passage through purgatory. In like manner, in 1357, Philip de Lutteley gave to the Lutteley chantry in Enville Church, a parcel of land called Morfe Woode, "for the health of his soul, and the souls of all the maintained of the said chantry;" and in 1370 he gave other lands to the chantry, "for the priest to pray at the altar of St. Mary for the health of his soul, and Maud his wife, and of Sir Fulke de Birmingham," and of other benefactors recited in the deed. It is to be devoutly hoped that the souls of the devisees and their friends had arrived safely at their journeys' end before Harry the Eighth's time, for he stopped the prayers by stopping the supplies.

~Cherry Street~ took its name from the large and fruitful cherry orchard which we read of as being a favourite spot about the year 1794.

~Chess.~--See "_Sports and Sporting_."

~Chicago Fire.~--The sum of £4,300 was subscribed and sent from here towards relieving the sufferers by this calamity.

~Children.~--A society known as "The Neglected Children's Aid Society," was founded in 1862, by Mr. Arthur Ryland, for the purpose of looking after and taking care of children under fourteen found wandering or begging, homeless or without proper guardianship. It was the means of rescuing hundreds from the paths of dishonesty and wretchedness, but as its work was in a great measure taken up by the School Board, the society was dissolved Dec. 17, 1877. Mr. Thos. Middlemore, in 1872, pitying the condition of the unfortunate waifs and strays known as "Street Arabs," took a house in St. Luke's Road for boys, and one in Spring Road for girls, and here he has trained nearly a thousand poor children in ways of cleanliness and good behaviour prior to taking the larger part of them to Canada. A somewhat similar work, though on a smaller scale, is being carried on by Mr. D. Smith, in connection with the mission attached to the Bloomsbury Institution. In both instances the children are found good homes, and placed with worthy people on their arrival in Canada, and, with scarcely an exception all are doing well. The total cost per head while at the Homes and including the passage money is about £16, and subscriptions will be welcomed, so that the work of the Institutions may be extended as much as possible.

~Chimes.~--The earliest note we can find respecting the chimes in the tower of St. Martin's is in a record dated 1552, which states there were "iiij belles, with a clocke, and a chyme."

~Chimnies.~--Like all manufacturing towns Birmingham is pretty well ornamented with tall chimnies, whose foul mouths belch forth clouds of sooty blackness, but the loftiest and most substantial belongs to the town itself. At the Corporation Wharf in Montague Street the "stack" is 258 feet in height, with a base 54 feet in circumference, and an inside diameter of 12 feet. About 250,000 bricks were used in its construction, which was completed in September, 1879.--Householders of an economical turn must remember it is not always the cheapest plan to clean their chimnies by "burning them out," for in addition to the danger and risk of damage by so doing, the authorities of Moor Street have the peculiar custom of imposing a penalty (generally 10s.) when such cases are brought before them. Should such an event occur by mischance keep all doors and windows shut, and do not admit the sweeps who may come knocking at your door, unless fully prepared with the half-crowns they require as bribes not to tell the police. As a rule it is cheaper to trust to "Robert" not seeing it.

~China Temple Field~ was a noted place for amusements about the year 1820, and was situate where Cattell Road is now. Originally it formed part of the grounds of Bordesley Hall, which was wrecked in the riots of 1791.

~Choral Society.~--This Society held its first Choral Concert, August 2, 1836. The Festival Choral Society was established in 1845.

~Cholera.~--This dreadful epidemic has never yet been felt in severity in this town, though several fatal cases were reported in August, 1832. In July, 1865, great alarm was caused by the fact of 243 inmates of the Workhouse being attacked with choleraic symptoms, but they all recovered.

~Church Pastoral Aid Society.~--There is a local branch of this Society here, and about £1,300 per annum is gathered in and forwarded to the parent society, who in return grant sums in aid of the stipends of thirty Curates and as many Scripture readers, amounting to nearly £4,700 per year.

~Churchrates.~--Prior to 1831, Churchrates had been regularly levied, and, to a great extent, cheerfully paid, but with the other reforms of that Reforming age came the desire to re-form this impost, by doing away with it altogether, and at a meeting held on August 7, 1832, the ratepayers assembled not only denounced it, but petitioned Parliament for its entire abolition. Between that year and 1837, Churchrates of 6d. to 9d. in the £ were not at all infrequent, but in the latter year there was a sweet little row, which led to an alteration. At a vestry meeting held March 28, the redoubtable George Frederick Muntz, with George Edmonds, and other "advanced" men of the times, demanded a personal examination of the books, &c., &c., with the result doubtless anticipated and wished for--a general shindy, free fight, and tumult. For his share in the riot, G.F.M. was put on his trial in the following year (March 30 to April 1) and had to pay over £2,000 in the shape of costs, but he may be said to have won something after all, for a better feeling gradually took the place of rancour, and a system of "voluntary" rates--notably one for the rebuilding of St. Martin's--was happily brought to work. The Bill for the abolition of Churchrates was passed July 13, 1868.

~Church Street.~--In 1764 at Warwick a legal battle was fought as to a right of way through the New Hall Park, the path in dispute being the site of the present Church Street.