Newspapers : From Birmingham Post 150 years ago

[mikejee]

13.9.1866
Request for the formation of an association for protection of those who had been ordered to remove pigs from their property/
A "ballet" at Holders music hall does not seem to be the same sort of thing as we think of as ballet. Mind you, it might be more interesting (for a non-ballet-lover).

 

[mikejee]

15.9.1866
Some people are not as keen for pigs to be kept, as can be seen in the first cutting, though it would appear from the second cutting that in Walsall the magistrates did not turn up when a doctor, and presumably friend came to court prosecuted for keeping the animals

 

[mikejee]

17.9.1866
Seems like in 1866 there was a shortage of convicts. It had been a condition of building a new dock that it be built with convict labour, but not enough was available to complete the job

 

[mikejee]

18.9.1866
First exhibition in Birmingham of "Blind Tom" who has apparently been a sensation in London. Seems to have been a novelty turn -blind, black and quirky.

 

[pjmburns]

15.9.1866
Some people are not as keen for pigs to be kept, as can be seen in the first cutting, though it would appear from the second cutting that in Walsall the magistrates did not turn up when a doctor, and presumably friend came to court prosecuted for keeping the animals

I am not sure if this is relevant or not but on the deeds to our house (land sold about 1896, house built 1902) we are forbidden to keep pigs. I always wondered why!
Janice

 

[mikejee]

Janice.
There certainly was a lot of opposition. This cutting below from 18th Sept 1866, which I did not include in today's cuttings, shows the editor of the Birmingham Post was definitely against pig keeping

 

[mikejee]

19.9.1866
The Birmingham Post deplores the extra cost of meat in Birmingham compared to other places , such as Wolverhampton.(this is first part of the editorial)
Average wages of working men at the time calculated.(Part only of the report)
Special re-usable cabinets for displaying dogs at dog show are ordered.
Charles Adderley removes items from hismuseum at Saltley. this was originally part of the library that he built for Brummies at Saltley, but disagreement with the Corporation's willingness to support his efforts with regard to the museum , library caused him to start removing the contents.

 

[mikejee]

22.9.1866
Report of Aston board of surveyors concerning cleaning up and repair of waterways and first sewers around Villa St

 

[Astoness]

thanks mike interesting snippet i dont have that one...thats another one for my old end folder

 

[mikejee]

24.9.1866
Never heard of the shoe black brigade. sounds like even the magistrates thought it was being a bit harsh to take away the clothes after he had been paying for them.

 

[pjmburns]

I agree - one would have thought that payment would entitle them to the clothes after a period of time. However, it is called a uniform and perhaps that is why they were not allowed to wear it if they left. According to this site (actually London Shoe Blacks but I suspect others were similar) https://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/Shoeblack/ they were called the Shoe Black brigade because they were provided with the means to become shoe cleaners to earn money.

 

[mikejee]

25.9.1866
A crocodile accidentally on the loose for a while in the agricultural Hall (I think that was part of the Bingley Hall site)
Bankruptcy blamed on unsuccessful employment of a ventriloquist and a giant !
Not sure what a shaking barrel is.

 

[Astoness]

never heard of a shaking barrel mike...if it was for a flour mill i guess it could have been a sort of flour sifter....just guessing really

lyn

 

[blackcountrymuse]

A shaking barrel. The term was also applied to one that rotated, and would be used in the metal/iron trade. Nuts/Bolts/Screws and any small cast parts were normally a dark grey, or black when completed. Pour some sand or grit in the barrel, add the metal parts, set it off, and a few hours later, the parts would be extracted in a nice shiny condition. Simple really, very noisey, but very effective, even today.

 

[Astoness]

welcome to the forum blackcountrymus and thanks very much for the explanation of the shaking barrel...enjoy

lyn

 

[mikejee]

26.9.1866
Fire at Humpage's 270-1 Newtown Row

 

[Astoness]

thanks mike...£200 worth of damage would be quite a lot in those days

 

[mikejee]

27.9.1866
Fraud in which man followed his own coffin to the grave.
Collapse of stand at walsall racecourse.
Man claims libel because of apology placed in newspaper
Blue horse exhibited in city during onion fair

 

[mikejee]

28.9.1866
A time when the Onion Fair did have something to do with onions.
Claimed to be the last visit of Wombwell's menagerie
Crocodile on display from the mysterious White Nile. Africa was still a very unknown place, and David Livingstone had only just set out to try and find the source of the Nile.

 

[Vivienne14]

A smashing account of the Onion Fair. The article tells us a lot. Surprised red onions were on sale, thought they were more recently introduced. Sounds like onions were strung in this country similar to those in France. And all those onions on sale at one point in the year. I suppose people bought them in bulk at the fair and stored them for use over the rest of the year. Or was it a wholesale market for onions? Viv.

 

[mikejee]

I've read that in the 1920s onion sellers used to come over from France to southern England and travel round selling onions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_Johnny), , though , according to the website https://untappedcities.com/2013/06/03/brittanys-onion-museum-history-of-the-french-onion-johnny/ it was all over the country

 

[Old Boy]

I've read that in the 1920s onion sellers used to come over from France to southern England and travel round selling onions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_Johnny), , though , according to the website https://untappedcities.com/2013/06/03/brittanys-onion-museum-history-of-the-french-onion-johnny/ it was all over the country

Hi All,
I see that the fair (swings,roundabouts etc) was on the Smithfield Market ground. I wonder when it moved te the Serpentine Fairground? Certainly not during my lifetime.
Old Boy

 

[mikejee]

Apparently in 1876, by which time onions were only a very small part of the festivities, the council banned Whirligigs etc from the central site, although the fair proper did continue there for a few years. But the banned items erected themselves (metaphorically speaking) on "spare land on each side of the Aston Road, near to the Aston Brook"

 

[mikejee]

29.9.1866
Death of Jimmy the Rockman, obviously a bit of a character
Some people are opposed to Mops, though am not sure whether the people wanting to reintroduce them in Alvechurch weree no mostly interested in the idea of the Fair and enjoyment aspect, rather than the original purpose of hiring people.

 

[DavidGrain]

Traditionally "Hiring Fairs" were held at Michaelmas (29th September). I have not previously heard of "statute" fairs as I thought ancient fairs were permitted by charter rather than statute. Banbury still holds a Michaelmas Fair but usually sometime in October.

 

[mikejee]

A few days later the Post published a long review of the Kings Norton Statute Fair, which seemed to imply that it attracted all the drunks and layabouts in the city to it. It is too long to put in readable form here though unless it was split into several parts.

 

[mikejee]

1.10.1866
Use found for old crinolines

 

[devonjim]

For the 25 years I lived in Alvechurch the "mop" was still popular, by modern times mainly a small fun fair.

 

[Vivienne14]

1.10.1866
Use found for old crinolines

Best place for it! Viv.

 

[mikejee]

3.20.1866
American Preacher states that the cost of using the Atlantic Cable encourages brevity , and comments that it is a shame that writers do not follow a similar path. Strangely he says nothing about how good it would be if preachers did the same