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Union Road/street

C

CHINCH

master brummie
Hi all, I have just been reading the fascinating posts on Union Street, not actually knowing anything about the area. I read each post and loved the images of the buildings although "loved" wouldn't be the word used to describe the buildings standing there today! I was quite excited as I thought I had found out where my Grandmother lived, 115, Union Street, Shirley.
I took another look at the marriage certificate today to find that they were actually living in Union ROAD!! Shirley.
As I don't know very much about Brum, other than a little about Kings Heath, I wonder if anyone could tell me if Union Road, Shirley is where the workhouse and cottage homes would have been, please?
I have gone from thinking that Grandparents were working and living in the grand old houses on Union Street to thinking that actually they were perhaps living at the homes or nearby!!!
I would be so grateful if anyone could enlighten me!
Many thanks, CHINCH
 
Hi Chinch

I think the Union Road you are looking for is in Solihull Town Centre off the Warwick Road, it once led to the Solihull Union Workhouse, but now leads to the rear entrance of Solihull Hospital.
 
By the way Chinch, this is number 115 Union Road Shirley, it looks like the original building as it is much older than the buildings around it and it's on a different building line.

115 union rd.JPG
 
There is a Union Road in Solihull which is where the workhouse was but also a Union Road in Shirley. My Gran lived in a road off the one in Shirley. The house in #3 is called Rose Cottage and my Great Grandparents lived next door on the 1891 census and brought up 8 children in, what I imagine, was a very similar property. The workhouse was mainly where the hospital is on Lode Lane today. The back entrance is off Union Road.
 
Phil said:
By the way Chinch, this is number 115 Union Road Shirley, it looks like the original building as it is much older than the buildings around it and it's on a different building line.

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OH WOW, thank you sooooo much for this!! I certainly didn't expect to see a photo' of the actual house! Do you know if it was just a normal house or was it considered to be a "posh" house in those days, Phil?
Is the Union Road in Shirley different to that of Solihull, Janice? My Grandparents lived there in 1935 according to the marriage certificate at no. 115. I know my Grandmother worked in a large house presumably as a domestic and she met my Grandfather there whilst he was working as the gardener.When my Father was born they were living in South Road, Kings Heath, and this was only a few months later!! Also, on their marriage certificate it gave the same address for them both. Does this mean they were living together BEFORE their marriage? I thought this was frowned on?
I read so many of the posts on this forum so i should know my way around Brum but still I get confused!! Is the Union Road in Shirley near to the workhouse? Maybe your family were living not far from mine at some point, Janice!
I think I need to go and have a look around Lode Lane. Would the records for the workhouse be with the Solihull Council, do you think?
Sorry to bombard you with all of these questions!!
Thank you so much for your help, I really do appreciate you taking the time to help. Kind regards, CHINCH.
 
Union Road Shirley has no connection with the workhouse. They are sevetal miles apart. Rose Cottage was opposite farmland - where Bronte and Beĺlamy Farm Roads now are. I remember stroking horses in the fields there as we walked to see my Gran when I was little. I am not sure why you need to see the records but if they exist they would be closed from 1935. If you want to visit go to Union Road Shirley.
 
Chinch,

I'm afraid I can't tell you much about the property at all except that the Union Road the house was on was perhaps two or three miles away from the Union Road the Workhouse was on. The road the house was on ran from Stratford Road to Longmore Road Shirley which is a district of Solihull on the outskirts of Birmingham.

The house seems to have been at least double the size at one time, well it appears to be so on the map, but whether or not it was part of the house or maybe a workshop I can't say but sometime in the 50's or later it was demolished and a new build property was constructed next door and renumbered 115A.

Union Road.JPG
 
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The map posted by Phil confirms my thoughts of this cottage being quite large inside. There seems to be four (maybe five -the pic looks a trifle blurred) chimney flues on the right hand stack with two more on the left hand stack. The newer property to the left is, as Phil suggest, is where part of the place one stood.
I must have passed this lovely building a few times, but that was over sixty years ago so I don't recall it.
 
I know Union Road Shirley quite well as I grew up round the corner as well as my Grandparents living just off Union Road. Always felt the cottage was a bit of a tardis.
 
It seems to have gained a new roof and modern PVC windows in the recent past. A building of some character - ten a penny in my neck of the woods. :D
 
Radiorails said:
It seems to have gained a new roof and modern PVC windows in the recent past. A building of some character - ten a penny in my neck of the woods. :D
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Thank you all for this information. I have been trying to find the place where my Grandmother grew up. I have posted on the forum previously asking for help as she was born illegitimately in Buckingham but married in Birmingham and I don't know where she was brought up. I know she worked in a large house in Solihull, I think, but am not sure where but recently I have been advised to look at the address on the marriage certificate to see if it gives any clues . This led me to Union Road and now finding it was a large house it would seem odd that both my Grandparents lived there alone. I wonder if this is the place where they worked ?
I posted photo's of the autograph book belonging to my Grandmother dated 1930-1934 in which were lovely verses from various people, including, "Mother" hoping to find out if she was sent to Marston Green Cottage Homes but the records there (which survive), don't show her as being there.
My Grandmother worked at Dudley Road Hospital for some years, she spent her life in Kings Heath, had 2 Sons. Her life must have been pretty difficult as her Husband died when he was only 50 and she lived alone from then until she died in 1987. I wish I had asked more questions about her and about my Grandfather but she never wanted to talk about her life so I didn't press her and I was only young and never dreamed there was a mystery such as this in her closet.
If I could go back in time I would ask so much more and show so much more interest. I remember visiting and staying with her in the Summer holidays for a week and she would spoil me. I would walk up to Woolworths in Kings Heath high street and always came home with a note pad and some Astral cream, the same cream I watched Nan use everyday. Nan would never let me sleep on the sofa, I had to sleep in the bed and she slept on the sofa despite her bad back for which she wore a whale-bone corset. I would watch her knit and she could knit anything, and so fast while watching television. I loved the clicking of the needles.
So this is my connection to Birmingham through my Grandparents and how I know Kings Heath.
I will keep searching and keep reading your stories on the forum! I am determined to find where she spent her early years and to know that she was loved as a child by somebody.
Sorry to waffle on!!!
Thank you for your help everyone, it's much appreciated. CHINCH.
 
As you have an address you could check the electoral rolls which are on microfilm in Solihull Library - the staff upstairs are helpful. That was you will know who else at the house could vote.
 
I know this thread is not Birmingham but it links to someone who lived in Birmingham!!
I drove past Rose Cottage this morning and had a look. It is not large (I suspect a two up and two down perhaps plus a kitchen) as the house does not seem to extend back very far. There are 2 chimneys - one on each side. The right hand one has 3 flues (downstairs, bedroom and kitchen?) while the left has 2 flues (downstairs and bedroom?). Difficult to see if there are any extensions at the back to add to it today. I wonder if the "big house" was The Limes reached down an avenue of lime trees a bit further down Union Road towards Stratford Road. I know that in the 1940s it was home to the District Nurses but am not sure when that happened and what staff they might have had. I have attached a map to show the proximity of the two properties. There might have been other houses around especially on Blossomfield Road - lots of big houses there (again within walking distance). The change to build the house now numbered 115a happened in the late 1960s - it is on a map of 1968 but not an earlier one.
 

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Forgot to say there is no point visiting Lode Lane as it has been altered out of all recognition from how it was even 20 years ago - all the old properties have gone.
 
pjmburns said:
Forgot to say there is no point visiting Lode Lane as it has been altered out of all recognition from how it was even 20 years ago - all the old properties have gone.
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Hi Janice, I will go to the library tomorrow and see the electoral rolls. Thanks.
Is Union Road not Birmingham? I know there have been boundary changes over the years but I thought Shirley was part of Birmingham or was it considered to be Worcestershire at one time? I think Kings Norton was too once?
I am going to drag my Husband to 115 and take a look at Rose Cottage while there. I drag him all over the place these days and he has seen many places in Brum he never knew about!!! I keep disturbing his evenings reading the posts from this forum to him!!!
Anyway, thank you again . Best wishes, CHINCH
 
Shirley is not Birmingham that is why the e rolls for Shirley are at Solihull Library. As far as I know Shirley (and Solihull) have always been Warwickshire. It is a problem as some early records are actually at Warwick archives. I have a similar problem to you as my Gran was in service but I can't find out where. Good luck and let us know how you get on.
 
Radiorails said:
For what is is worth I had to apply for a document relative to me from Warwick. Most helpful lady there at the time. As Shirley is not in Birmingham I simply provide a link rather than a discourse.
https://www.solihull.gov.uk/languag...al-family-history/localhistory/shirleyhistory[/QUOT

Well, I have learnt something today. Thanks Janice and Radiorails. I have just signed up at the library so will pop in tomorrow. If I don't have any joy there I will try Warwick . Sorry to be harping on about somewhere which isn't Birmingham!! Appreciate your help. CHINCH
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UPDATE ; UNION ROAD,
Hi , just wanted to tell you that I have been to Union Road to see 115. I actually knocked the door and a lovely gentleman invited me in and told me a little bit about the property. Apparently, his parents rented the cottage which at that time had a barn attached to it. The barn collapsed one day and the owners decided to sell the land where it stood and n0; 115. Therefore, the cottage was not owned but rented when my Grandparents lived there it would seem. The cottage itself has been extended and would not have consisted of many rooms but it had a lovely feel about it.
The gentleman remembers , like you do, Janice, the fields opposite where he used to go and collect acorns to feed the pigs at the farm as a child. It looks so different today.
After leaving the cottage I had a look at the electoral rolls for Union Road to find that my Grandparents were living at the cottage with my Grandad's parents, although my Grandmother wasn't actually named , as she was only 19 at that time.
So, I am still no nearer to finding out where she lived before then and, as the very helpful lady at the library said, it will probably be the 1921 census which will reveal the secret!!
So again, thank you to you all for your help. CHINCH
 
I wonder of your grandfather was a farm worker or your great grandfather was?
Landowners/farmers often own cottages where their workers are able live. They were known a 'tied cottages'. They do give a roof over some ones head but they do tie a person to their job, move job then find another place to live. As there are far less farm workers now, thanks to mechanization, many of these cottages were sold off.
 
I mentioned in #4 that my Great Grandparents lived in the cottage next door to 115 in 1891 (I assumed they rented as I know they were not well off) and my Great grandfather was a farm labourer all his life - at least the census records suggest that. Several of his sons also became farm workers. I know that my Grandfather actually worked at Longmore Farm which was round the corner and down Longmore Road (as it is now but always Longmore Lane to my Mom and her eldest sister). The word "farm" can be seen on the map in #13 and that is Longmore Farm.
 
Just to put a little spanner in the works, having the same address on the marriage certificate doesn't always mean that they were both living there. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I think sometimes it was done so it was a simpler process to get married in the parish.

Though reading about the birth of their eldest, maybe they were.
 
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Hello again, thanks for your messages.I know that my Grandfather was a gardener and he met my Grandmother when both working at a large "posh" house in Solihull. I think later on he worked as a labourer but not sure when that was, but his Father died very young too, 34 years old and his Mother re-married and that's who he was living with in Union Road. As you say, Radiorails, sometimes people were employed in places which provided them with a home and I had assumed that my Grandmother worked in such a place after leaving the orphanage/home she was living in, but of course this is just supposition! I can see why farm workers would have been in great demand in the area in those days and it would be a short distance to work for your ancestors, Janice. I imagine it was hard work in those days compared to today.
MWS, yes, I have heard that before. I have assumed that they were both living in Union Road as it said that on the certificate but still in the back of my mind is that Gladys was actually living elsewhere. Was it the done thing in the 1930's to live with ones in-laws before marriage?
I have posted on various forums giving the names of the people in the autograph book dated 1930-1934 in the hope that someone would recognise the names and be able to put a name to the home where I think my Grandmother may have lived. I can't believe it can be so difficult to track down. Hey-ho, I will keep trying.
Thank you all for your help.
CHINCH.
 
CHINCH said:
UPDATE ; UNION ROAD,
Hi , just wanted to tell you that I have been to Union Road to see 115. I actually knocked the door and a lovely gentleman invited me in and told me a little bit about the property. Apparently, his parents rented the cottage which at that time had a barn attached to it. The barn collapsed one day and the owners decided to sell the land where it stood and n0; 115. Therefore, the cottage was not owned but rented when my Grandparents lived there it would seem. The cottage itself has been extended and would not have consisted of many rooms but it had a lovely feel about it.
The gentleman remembers , like you do, Janice, the fields opposite where he used to go and collect acorns to feed the pigs at the farm as a child. It looks so different today.
After leaving the cottage I had a look at the electoral rolls for Union Road to find that my Grandparents were living at the cottage with my Grandad's parents, although my Grandmother wasn't actually named , as she was only 19 at that time.
So, I am still no nearer to finding out where she lived before then and, as the very helpful lady at the library said, it will probably be the 1921 census which will reveal the secret!!
So again, thank you to you all for your help. CHINCH
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Hello Chinch
Nice to have met you at Rose Cottage last weekend, as i said then the year you said your Nan was at the cottage 1935 it also ties up with the time i think my grandparents were there, we have now started to try and trace their history to see if it does fit. In the 1891 census their family were living in Monument road B,ham, could they have been related to my Grandmother??. If you are by the cottage again drop in, maybe we can find a link . Atb JC
 
Jaycee said:
Hello Chinch
Nice to have met you at Rose Cottage last weekend, as i said then the year you said your Nan was at the cottage 1935 it also ties up with the time i think my grandparents were there, we have now started to try and trace their history to see if it does fit. In the 1891 census their family were living in Monument road B,ham, could they have been related to my Grandmother??. If you are by the cottage again drop in, maybe we can find a link . Atb JC
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Hi Jaycee, how lovely to hear from you. I have sent you a personal message.......I hope! Not quite sure what I'm doing!!!
CHINCH.
 
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