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St. Mary's Church, Whittle Street, Birmingham.

J

Jill

master brummie
Everyone was so helpful when I asked about Holy Trinity Church so I'm hoping someone out there can give me information on St. Mary's Church, Whittle Street. Is it still there or has it been demolished? My greatx4 grandad is buried there I'm told.
 
Hi Jill
You threw me for a minute there, as I'd never heard of Whittle St,
After a bit of searching I discovered that its Whittall St, which is in the General Hospital area i.e. Steelhouse Lane. I will look in my collection and see if I can come up with a picture for you. O0
 
Thank you postie. I should have realised it not Whittle Street but that was the information as given to me. I deserve the Ex-Brummie Failed award. I would like to visit this church if it's still in existencewhen I next visit Brum but a photo would be great for my family records. You are always so helpful. :)
 
Sad to say it isn't there any more Jill, I've managed to find out that it was built in 1744 as a chapel of ease for St Martin's in the Bull Ring and was closed in 1925 and has since been demolished
 
Thanks for the information Jerry. It makes you wonder what happens to the graves and their contents? They must go somewhere I would have thought. Is there a way to find out do you know?
 
Both my Gt, Gt, Grandparents were buried in the churchyard of St Mary's. They were James and Hannah Oldfield, they both died of TB, but in different years. They lived at number 16 Canal St, not far from the church.

barrie.
 
Those views of St Mary's Church are very interesting, but you wouldn't think it was the same building. The fascinating aerial view shows a tall, rather slender place which dominates the three-storey houses around it, while the other drawing shows a squat little place. The aerial view also shows St Peter's Dale End, which closed before St Mary's and St Bartholomew's, all apparently within a stone's throw. And no Corporation Street, of course.
Peter
 
St_Marys_Whittall_Street.jpg
Hello

Here is a photo of St Mary's Whittall St just before it was demolished. Just to add part of the church railings are still there on the edge of the childrens hospital.
 
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Thanks for the great pictures Moma P. What a pity they demolished it. It looks such an attractive building. Jill
 
Yes we have lost a lot of beautiful buildings..............ah progress
 
It's amazing to see three pictures supposedly of the same building, when they have little in common. Today's photograph shows a tower which is nothing like the other two pics, but I suppose it must be the real record. Not a very handsome tower to my mind, but quite remarkable in an ugly kind of way. I wish I could remember the real thing. As a nipper when we used to come into town on the 5 or Midland Red bus 107 we came along Summer Lane and then Loveday Street, right past St Mary's. Before the trams went the 5 bus was diverted via Snow Hill, and I think it was when the Perry Barr trams went that the Midland Reds were diverted along Newtown Row.
Incidentally I've made a few visits to the 'Bull' pub which would been opposite St Mary's Square years ago. It's been nicely restored, is well run and there's food almost all day. Even bed & breakfast at a price. One of the few friendly reminders of the old Gun Quarter.
Peter
 
Hi Peter,  Is it possible that the tower might have been altered since the drawing was done?  Sorry you think it ugly and, on looking again, perhaps you are right.  I never did have much taste. ;D
 
Memorial for Explosion

This is a transcription taken from the memorials of St Mary's Whittall St. The church was demolished in the 1920's. In 1927 the coffins were removed to Witton cemetery. The coffins from eastern section of the cemetery were removed in 1952 and reinterred at Warstone Lane cemetery.
In memory of persons killed by an explosion at the percussion cap manufacturers of messers Pursall, Phillips and Son Whittall street Birmingham on 27 September 1859.
Martha Grocock age 31 years
Maria Earp age 29 years
Fanny Dollman age 31 years
Eliza King age 25 years
Charlott Cotterill age 24 years
Rabecca Walton age 20 years
Harriet Robinson age 18 years
Harriet Bourne age 16 years
Dinah Pell age 15 years
Mary Reynolds age 14 years
Elizabeth Johnson age 12 years
Julia Grant age 11 years
Emily Munns aged 11 years
The above are interred in a vault beneath this monument. Also Mary Cantrill age 14 interred in St Paul church yard. Humphrey Wood age 28 interred St Bartholamew's church yard. Winifred Casey aged 19 and Catherine Clarke aged 24 interred in the Roman Catholic cemetery.
 
St Mary's Whittall Street

St_Mayry_s_etching_from_V_C_H__Warks_VII_B_ham.jpg
Here's a lovely etching of St Mary's.
 
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Thanks to Wendy and Peter

Thank you both very much for your help re:- St. Mary's, Wittall Street.
Much appreciated. I'm new to this site, and still finding my way round it.
Regards, Joan
 
hi jill yes i am afraid it has been demolished, i believe sometime in late 50's early 60's, my grandparents lived in loveday street which was behind the church, i will try and download a photo of the church, but this is the first time i have tried this, but keep fingers crossed. tony
ps; i will find away to send pic sorry
 
Scroll down and you will find several pictures. It would be nice to see one not yet posted though.
 
Hi everyone
I was searching the parish burial records for my 5x grt grandmother Mary Jefferson died in 1836 and states that she was buried at St Marys Whittal St however after reading furthur post i discover the church was demolishied in 1925 ..so i could someone please tell me how would find the burial ground where she may have been moved too
regards ste
 
I'd like to add my thanks for this chain and the contributions. I have a Marriage Cert that just says "St Mary's Parish" and as there are St Mary's CoE churches in Acocks Green, Moseley, Pype Hayes, Selly Oak, Handsworth according to Genuki not to mention Catholic ones, I was at a bit of a loss. Although this chapel is not mentioned in Genuki when I last looked, the closeness to John Biddle and Ruth Sibley who were living in Bishop Street & Bradford Row in 1851C means that it seems more likely for where they married on 4th Jul 1852.

Does anyone happen to know where the Marriage records are kept & whether they are online please? Also any idea when it was rebuilt (guess late C19th?)
 
hi thanks for the photographs. I had relatives who were married and Baptised in St Marys. I would love to know the source of the images.

Here is a photo of St Mary's Whittall St just before it was demolished. Just to add part of the church railings are still there on the edge of the childrens hospital.[/QUOTE]
 
I would like very much to see the aerial photos of St Marys but am unable to trace on this site. Can anyone help.
Thanks
David
 
Windmill reading through the threads i see that the church was demolished in 1925 i think it very doubtful if there are any for that period but i could be wrong we live in hope . Dek
 
Aidan, one of my rellies married at St Mary's Whittall Street. The Certificate says 'In the Church of St Mary in the Parish of Birmingham in the County of Warwick'

In the Parish of St Mary will be elsewhere in Birmingham, I should think. My certifice was from 1857.

Shortie
 
Here is some info on St.Mary's, Whittall Street from British History Online site:
7. The church of ST. MARY, Birmingham, was built in 1774, (fn. 53) under an Act of 1772, as a chapel of ease to St. Martin's. The site was given by Dorothy Weaman, Mary Weaman (to whose forename the dedication alluded) and the trustees of Lench's Trust. The cost of building was raised by subscription, and Mary Weaman gave £1,000 towards it. (fn. 54) A perpetual curacy was established, in the patronage of Mary Weaman and, after her death, of trustees. (fn. 55) A parish, formed out of St. Martin's, was assigned to St. Mary's in 1841. (fn. 56) The benefice became a vicarage in 1868. (fn. 57) The income of the incumbent was said to be worth £200 a year in 1781, (fn. 58) and £360 in 1896. (fn. 59) Under an Act of 1925 the church was closed pending demolition, and the benefice and parish were united to those of Bishop Ryder's church. (fn. 60)
The first incumbent was John Riland, who was assisted by a curate, Edward Burn. In 1786 John Wesley attended at St. Mary's and heard 'an admirable sermon' from the curate, (fn. 61) though it is not certain whether this meant Riland or Burn. (fn. 62) Burn, who was incumbent of St. Mary's from 1790 until 1837, was certainly in sympathy with Wesley's views. (fn. 63) Burn was succeeded by J. C. Barrett, a well-known evangelical preacher who drew large congregations to St. Mary's until his death in 1881. (fn. 64) From the middle of the 19th century the vicar was assisted by a curate. (fn. 65) St. Mary's was a small parish, about a quarter of a mile square, in the gun-making quarter of the town. (fn. 66) When the church was built it stood in open ground on the north edge of the town, but was soon built around. A number of dwellings were removed when the General Hospital was rebuilt (1894–7) (fn. 67) in Steelhouse Lane in St. Mary's parish. A mission hall in Whittall Street was licensed for public worship from 1888 to 1907, and the chapel of the General Hospital from 1921 (it was licensed in the parish of Bishop Ryder from 1925). (fn. 68)
The church, in Whittall Street, was an octagonal brick building with a small tower and spire, in the Classical style, standing in a large churchyard. The octagonal form was considered ideal for preaching and the church could accommodate nearly 1,700 people. (fn. 69) The design, by Joseph Pickford, (fn. 70) was thought by Hutton to show 'too little steeple and too much roof'. (fn. 71) The tower was of three stages, the first round, the second octagonal with Doric columns at each angle, and the third, from which rose a slender spire, octagonal with a clockface and pediment on each alternate side. (fn. 72) The tower and spire were rebuilt in 1866 to a very similar design, with pilasters instead of columns and a balustrade on the second stage. (fn. 73) The first registers of baptisms (1774–1812) and of burials (1779–1812) are kept at St. Martin's church. The register of marriages begins in 1842. The 18thcentury silver communion service is now at St. Mary's, Pype Hayes, except for the two flagons which are at the Birmingham Assay Office. (fn. 74)
 
Norton and Plant burials.

I am trying to find the burial of Jane Norton born c.1773/5 who died in Birmingham in 1823.
Likewise the burial place of her father Henry Plant born 1750/51/52, who also died in 1823.

Anyone out there searching for Nortons or Plant surnames from Birmingham ?

Joan.
 
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