# Encyclopædia Britannica, Tenth Edition/Birmingham (England)

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​Birmingham, one of the chief manufacturing towns (a county borough) of England, in Warwickshire, 112½ miles (by rail) from London, with an area of about 30 square miles. The greatest length from N.E. to S.W. is about 7 miles, and the greatest breadth a little over 4 miles, the form being roughly oblong. The London and North-Western, the Midland, and the Great Western railways run through Birmingham, the two former having a joint station in New Street, and the latter a separate
Map of suburbs of Birmingham.
station in Snow Hill. The population grew from 360,000 in 1875 to 408,000 in 1881, to 430,000 in 1891, and, certain extensions having been made in the boundaries during the interval, in 1901 was found to be 522,182. The death-rate was 24.8 per 1000 in 1875, 19.1 in 1885, and 20 in 1899. The following table shows the number of births, deaths, and marriages in recent years:—
| | Births. | Deaths. | Marriages. |
| 1870 | 8678 | 5784 | 2230 |
| 1880 | 9456 | 5414 | 2074 |
| 1890 | 7966 | 6263 | 2544 |
| 1898 | 8351 | 5603 | 2753 |
The boundaries and parliamentary representation of the city have undergone considerable changes since 1875. At that date the town (which became a city in 1889) still returned the three representatives assigned in 1867. By the Representation of the People Act of 1885 this number was increased to seven, and a corresponding number of parliamentary divisions created. By the Provincial Local Government Board Act of 1891 four Local Board districts were added to the city of Birmingham for local government—Harborne (Staffordshire), Balsall Heath (Worcestershire), Saltley, and the rural hamlet of Little Bromwich (Warwickshire). These districts were by the Act declared to be in the county of Warwick, though still remaining in their respective counties for the exercise of freehold votes. By this At the boundaries of the city were made coterminous for parliamentary, municipal, and school board purposes. No change was made in poor-law areas or in existing ecclesiastical rights. Since 1875 considerable changes have been made in the laying out of principal streets. In the year named a great Improvement Scheme was initiated, with the twofold object of clearing away a mass of insanitary property from the centre of the town (in some parts of which an alarmingly high death-rate prevailed) and of constructing a main thoroughfare from the centre to the N.E. outlet, commencing from New Street, near the principal railway station, to Bull Street, and thence continuing to the Aston Road. The scheme received parliamentary sanction in 1876, and was finished in 1882, the total cost being £1,520,657. This led to an almost total extinction of the residential quarter in the centre of the town. The great thoroughfare thus created is called Corporation Street. It was rapidly lined with buildings of considerable beauty, these being erected on leases of seventy-five years' duration, at the expiration of which they become the property of the Corporation.
The most marked extension of building has been eastwards and southwards in Saltley, Balsall Heath, and Small Heath, and to the N.W. in the direction of the Handsworth boundary, but building sites are being rapidly filled up in all quarters. Edgbaston, the fashionable suburb, owing to the strict rules enforced by the ground landlord, still remains remarkably open, and is an almost unique example of a semi-rural district, where almost every house has a garden, extending to within less than a mile of the centre of a city of more than half a million inhabitants. This feature has had a most important effect in preserving the local life of Birmingham intact, Inasmuch as the richer and more influential inhabitants, instead of residing at a distance from the centre, as in so many large towns, remain in close contact with the general community and take a full share in municipal government and the administration of charities. Edgbaston is however becoming partly surrounded by manufacturing districts, specially to the S.W. where the growing districts of Selly Oak and Bourneville, with their ever-increasing factories, interpose between it and the country proper. On the E. side of the city the transition from town to country is well defined, but to the N.W. the exit from Birmingham conducts from one populous district to another. On that side Birmingham has joined hands with the Black Country, nearly the whole of the road to Dudley, 10 miles distant, having the character of a street.
Drainage.—The sewage of the city is dealt with by a body known as "The Birmingham, Tame, and Rea District Drainage Board," constituted in 1877. It consists of nineteen members, of whom twelve are elected from the City Council, the others representing districts outside the municipal area. The total area drained is over 45,000 acres, and is likely to be increased, the whole of the sewers falling to a common outlet at Saltley, adjacent to a sewage farm of 2000 acres in the valley of the Tame. After being purified in tanks by precipitation with lime the fluid matter is passed through the land and issues as clear water into the Tame. The solid residuum is dug into the land. The board has power to serve precepts on the various local bodies included within the area In 1899 the precept on the Birmingham corporation amounted to £32,725, representing three-fourths the total expenditure of the board.
Lighting and Water.—Both the gas and the water supplies are in the hands of the corporation. The two local gas companies were bought out in 1875. In that year 290,000 tons of coal were carbonized; in 1899 the quantity was 515,000, in addition to which 1,400,000 gallons of oil were also used for gas manufacture. Since 1875 the annual sale of gas has increased from 2327 to 5201 million cubic feet. The capital expenditure has increased from £2,000,000 to £2,283,000, i.e., a reduction of capital per 1000 cubic feet of gas sold from 17s. 5d. to 9s. 2d. £680,000 has been appropriated front the profits of the undertaking, and from the interest on the invested reserve fund, in aid of the rates. The rates in the lighting area have been indirectly relieved by £200,000 by means of reduced charges for public lighting : the Art Gallery building has been provided, and a reserve of £658,000 accumulated. The corporation has taken over the electric supply from 1st January 1900, the purchase money being £420,000. The water was acquired in 1876. In contrast to the gas undertaking, the water has never been looked upon as a profit-making concern, this being expressly disavowed, and the motive of public ​policy declared by the promoters of municipalization. The present sources of supply are the rivers Bourne and Blythe, the Plant Brook, and the Perry Stream, and eight deep wells. The works can provide 20 million gallons daily in dry weather. The area supplied covers 129i square miles, with an estimated population of 800,000. Owing to the rapid increase of demand, a new reservoir has been constructed at Shustoke on the Bourne, with a capacity of 400 million gallons. This brought the total capital authorized up to date to £2,097,860, the whole of which has been raised and expended. In 1891 the demand having risen to nearly 17 millions a day, new sources of supply had to be considered, and it was determined to seek an entirely new supply in Wales. By an Act of 1892 power was given to acquire the watershed of the rivers Elan and Claerwen, tributaries of the Wye in Radnor and Brecon shires, and to construct the necessary works, the capital authorized being £6,000,000. The works for the first instalment of the Welsh scheme are now in hand. These comprise a large storage and compensation reservoir, and two storage reservoirs on the river Elan. The estimate formed in 1891 for the present works was £3,621,950, but the actual cost will be greater. It may be mentioned that the capitalized value of the gas and water undertakings, as regards works now in operation (excluding the Welsh scheme), is about £4,500,000, against which is to be set an accumulated sinking fund amounting to nearly £800,000.
Administration.—In 1883 the various Acts of past years were combined into the Birmingham Corporation Consolidation Act, which gave further powers to erect assize courts, increase the area of gas supply, impose Free Library rate, and conduct a municipal School of Art. The poor - law administration has, since 1875, been put on a more popular basis. In 1882 a superintendent relieving officer was appointed, and a system of cross visitation started for the purpose of checking abuses of outdoor re-lief. In the same year the Guardians built an infirmary with 1300 beds. In 1878 they decided to build cottage homes in a rural district for the purpose of bringing up permanent pauper children. Each home has 30 inmates under the care of a "foster parent." There are 400 inmates altogether. Workhouses have been thoroughly modernized, the principle of separating children adopted, and infirmaries built. Women first sat on the Board of Guardians in 1880. In 1889 Birmingham was created a city, and a grant made of an official coat-of-arms carrying supporters. The title of lord mayor was conferred on the chief magistrate in 1897. The police force has increased from 500 in 1875 to 700 in 1899. In 1875 the amount of assessment to the borough rate was £1,254,911, the rate being 3s. 100, in the £ (of which 3d, was for the School Board), and the income about £300,000. In 1898-99 the income from rates was £535,659 at 5s. 1½d, in the £ on a gross assessment of £2,297,542, and the total debt to be provided for £9,380,000, of which about seven millions is represented by gas and water liabilities and by the dwelling-house improvement fund. The School Board rate for the same year was ls. 0.64d in the £ (included in the aforementioned 5s. 1½d.). The City Council consists of eighteen aldermen and fifty-four councillors, selected from eighteen wards; it is divided into seventeen committees, most of which consist of eight members. The corporation is the largest employer of labour in the borough; it employs over 6000 persons, and is also a largo landowner. The administration of justice was performed from 1838 to 1884 by a Court of Quarter Sessions, with a recorder, and a Court of Petty Sessions. In 1884 Birmingham was made an assize district of Warwickshire. In connexion with this event new law courts had to be created.
Religion.—The total sittings provided by the various churches of all denominations in Birmingham amount to about one quarter of the total population. In 1892 the Establishment had 108 churches and mission rooms, and other denominations 159pliteC8 of worship. This number has not materially changed. Three new churches belonging to the Establishment were consecrated in the period 1875-1897. Since 1897 two more have been consecrated and one commenced; three have been closed, and arrangements made for rebuilding in other districts.
Charities.—The old General Hospital had in 1875, 2000 in- and 25,000 out- patients. This has now been replaced by a splendid new erection on St Mary's Square, which both for external and internal merit ranks amongst the foremost hospitals of the kingdom. The building was commenced in 1894 and finished in 1897 at a total cost of £206,000. In that year the number of in-patients was 4119; out-patients, 59,217. The work of the Queen's Hospital has risen from 1300 and 17,000 in- and out-patients in 1875 to 2020 and 28,559 in 1898. The various medical and other charities mentioned as existing in 1875 are, with few exceptions, still in operation, and on an increased scale. Most of the hospitals and dispensaries, of which there are now fourteen, have been made free since that date.
Plan of Central Birmingham.
Tramways.—The tramways belong to private companies, which hold leases from the corporation. Steam, electric, horse, and cable traction are employed. The total length is over 33 miles. The rent paid to the corporation during the period 1893-1900 was £8762.
Education.—The foundation of the schools of King Edward VI, derive an income, from endowments, of £37,000, as against £15,000 in 1875, and there is prospect of further increase. The principal school—the Boys' high School—is held in the building erected in New Street in 1840. It has a classical and a modern side, and educates about 500 boys. Adjoining it, in a new building opened in 1896, is a large high school for girls, with 300 pupils. There arc also on the foundation seven middle schools, called gram-mar schools, four for girls and three for boys, situate in different parts of the city, and containing about 1900 pupils altogether. The schools have numerous scholarships tenable at the schools as well as exhibitions to the universities and other places of higher education. Queen's College, with its medical and theological departments, was in 1875 flourishing on the former, languishing on the latter side. In 1882 a large part of the scientific teaching, hitherto done by special professors in Queen's College, was taken over by Mason College, and in 1892 the whole medical department was removed to the same institution under an order from the Court of Chancery. This change helped to advance the Birmingham Medical School to a position of high repute. The theological students of Queen's College are extremely few. The idea of developing Queen's College into a university had long existed. The idea was destined to be realized in connexion with Mason College. The foundation deed (dated 1870) of this college, the first stone of which was laid in 1875, declares the founder's intention to be that of promoting "thorough systematic education and instruction specially adapted to the practical, mechanical, and artistic requirements of the manufactures and industrial pursuits of the Midland district ... to the exclusion of mere literary education and instruction." Subsequent deeds (1874 and 1881) added Greek and Latin, and provided that instruction may be given in all such other subjects as the trustees may from time to ​time judge necessary, while once in every fifteen years the provisions of the deed may be varied to meet changing needs—theology only being definitely excluded. In 1897 a new Act was passed at the instance of the trustees, creating a court of 180 members, and removing the theological restriction. A measure of popular control is given through the appointment by the City Council of five out of the eleven trustees. The college opened in 1880 with 53 students; in 1884-85 the number was 525; in 1898-99 there were 666. In 1898 a public meeting carried a resolution in favour of creating a university. It was estimated that a quarter of a million was needed to endow and equip university on the scale proposed. Including £50,000 offered by Mr Carnegie, the Pennsylvania iron-master, and an equal amount from an anonymous donor, the rest from local subscribers, in the autumn of 1899, £325,000 had been subscribed, and the Privy Council was at once petitioned for a charter, which was granted. The draft provides for the incorporation of "the University of Birmingham" with faculties of science, arts, medicine, and commerce, with power to grant degrees, and for its government by a court of governors (of which women may be members), a council, and a senate. Mason College is merged in the university. It will be seen that one of the faculties is that of commerce, constituting a distinctive feature in the scheme of the university, the object being to bring its teaching into close touch with the industrial life of the city, the district, and the kingdom. Elementary education has passed chiefly into the hands of the School Board. In 1870 the existing voluntary schools provided accommodation for 30,000 children, about half of what was necessary. The School Board was elected for the first time in 1870. In 1898, 88,944 places had been provided, of which 56,868 were in board, and 31,751 in denominational, and 325 in private schools. The percentage of average attendance to the number on the books is about 82 in the denominational and 84 in the board schools. There were fifty-seven schools under the board, exclusive of two special schools for deaf and three for feeble-minded children. There are also under the board sixteen evening continuation schools, nine for boys and men, seven for girls and women; six commercial evening schools, three for each sex. There are two higher-grade schools, with a combined attendance of 585. The cost of the School Board to the rates has now amounted to about £120,000 per annum, and the total expenditure of the board, exclusive of capital, to £200,000 per annum. The Municipal School of Art was formed by the transference to the Corporation in 1885 of the then existing School of Art and the Society of Arts, and by the erection of a noble building in Margaret Street, the site having already been given and a portion of the cost provided by private donors. There are one central school and two branch schools. Evening classes are also held in six of the board schools. In 1899 there were 1300 students in the central school and 3828 in the branches and classes. The Midland Institute still continues an important work of higher education. A marked development took place in 1885, when, fresh room having been provided by the removal of the School of Art hitherto held in the building, the industrial department was greatly enlarged, resulting in the creation of one of the best metallurgical schools in the kingdom. The present number of students in the industrial department is 2499. On the erection of the Municipal Technical School the whole of the scientific teaching of the Midland Institute was transferred to the former. The Municipal Technical School was established in 1893 in the building of the Midland Institute, and in 1895 was housed in a noble building of its own, in Suffolk Street, at a cost of £93,000. It contains metallurgical and engineering workshops and laboratories, lecture theatres for the teaching of chemistry and physics, a women's department, and rooms for the teaching of machine drawing and building construction. There are 2595 students in the evening classes and 195 boys in the day school. The books in the Birmingham Library increased from 40,000 in 1875 to about 65,000 in 1899. The old building, its home for 100 years, has been demolished and a new one erected. The free libraries of the city are supported by a rate of about 1½d, in the £. There is one central library, having 140,000 volumes in the reference and 30,000 in the lending departments respectively, and nine free libraries in other parts of the city, each with a lending department and a reading room. The net borough expenditure on this item amounted in 1898.99 to about £14,000.
Miscellanea.—There are ten principal banks, five theatres, and six clubs; two morning and two evening papers, and four weekly papers. The great musical festival is still held triennially for the benefit of the General Hospital. Seven new parks or recreation grounds have been added since 1875, making the total twelve.
Public Buildings.—The noble block of buildings comprising the Council House and Art Gallery was commenced in 1874, the front portion completed in 1879, the rear in 1881. It completes the fine group of buildings, of which the Town Hall and Mason College are the other conspicuous members. The style is Renaissance, and the material is Darley Dale, Spinkwell, and Wrexham stone. The entrance is surmounted with a pediment filled with groups of excellent sculpture. The erection of that part which forms the Art Gallery was the work of the Gas Committee, to whom the council granted the site on condition that they would build such a gallery over their own office, the council having no powers at the time to raise the required funds. The cost of the Council House, exclusive of the art gallery, was £163,805. The Art Gallery contains a fine collection of modern paintings, including masterpieces of David Cox, Millais, Hunt, Henry Moore, Albert Moore, Briton-Riviere, Burne-Jones, In the industrial hall are rich stores of Oriental metal work, Limoges enamel, English and foreign glass, Japanese ceramics. In the side galleries are various textiles, and Persian, Rhodian, Gris de Flandres, and other pottery. There is a remarkable collection of Wedgwood wares. Notable also is the collection of arms, which is probably the most complete in existence. The purchase of pictures has been made from time to time by means of an Art Gallery purchase fund of £12,000, privately contributed and placed under the control of the corporation. Many valuable works of art have been presented by individuals. Few additions have been made of late years to ecclesiastical architecture (a feature in which the city is not rich). Christ Church, noted for its ugliness and standing in front of the Council House, was pulled down in 1899. A remarkably rich set of stained-glass windows by Burne-Jones has been inserted in St Philip's Church. Among the Nonconformists the best specimen of architecture is the Church of the Old Meeting (Unitarian) in Bristol Road, opened in 1885. The Assize Courts in Corporation Street, known as the Victoria Courts, are among the most beautiful public buildings of the city. Begun in 1887, after Birmingham had been created an Assize district, they were completed in 1891 at a cost of £110,000. The beautiful entrance and the great hall (8O × 40), lighted by noble windows of stained glass, are notable. The style is Renaissance; the colour red on the exterior, buff on the interior. The central block of the façade is flanked by turrets and richly treated. Among other public buildings erected since 1875 are the splendid lecture theatre of the Midland Institute, the new Post Office, the inland revenue office, the County Court, the School Board offices, the Volunteer Drill Hall—additional tokens of the amazing public activity of Birmingham during the last quarter of the 19th century.
Manufactures.-Birmingham manufactures retain their character of multitudinous variety. Among changes since 1875 may be noted the rapid growth in the jewellery and the gun trades, and in the making of metal tubes of all kinds. The following figures issued by the Assay office, showing the amount of gold and silver marked in successive years, will give sonic idea of the growth of the jewellery trade:—
| | Gold. | Silver. |
| | ozs. | ozs. |
| 1870 | 48,123 | 0,084,323 |
| 1880 | 81,606 | 0,239,835 |
| 1890 | 193,426 | 1,098,250 |
| 1895 | 239,472 | 1,796,056 |
| 1899 | 362,481 | 2,823,525 |
The year 1897 was famous for a sudden development of cycle manufacturing, followed in 1899 by an almost equally sudden collapse. But the variety of manufactures is such that a misfortune occurring to one is not likely to destroy the general prosperity of the city.
Social Life.—One of the most marked features of social life in Birmingham is the fact that contrasts in the distribution of wealth are less strongly marked than in most other great cities. The distance between the poorest and the richest is bridged over by a larger number of intermediate gradations. Colossal fortunes are few; on the other hand there is a numerous class of rich men. These, however, for the greater part are actually engaged in trade or manufactures, and hold their place in local life rather on account of industry pursued than of wealth possessed. The number of the leisured class, enjoying largo incomes without participating in any local industry, is relatively small, but is said to be on the increase. There are many manufacturing companies, but great private firms are also numerous. In regard to labour conditions, the system of small masters, so rarely found at the present day, still holds its own in the manufactures of Birmingham, and shows no present signs of extinction. These facts give to the social relationships of the community a remark, able closeness, integrity, and permanence. (L. P. J.)