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John Freeth

Dennis Williams

Gone but not forgotten
Well, can we hear a small round of applause for one of our most famous Poets?

John Freeth was one of Birmingham’s political and cultural figures at the end of the 18th century. His father Samuel had founded a book club (The Birmingham Book Club) in The Leicester Arms at the corner of Lease Lane and Bell Street and his son John continued its activities. Freeth’s circle – there is a painting of the group that was linked with him - provided a forum where the small masters and artisans in Birmingham and nearby did more than read books.

Freeth and his Poem.jpg Freeth the Poet Showells.jpg

They could share news and comment on the political matters of the day. It therefore provided a source of information and debate for a different social group than the Lunar Society which was composed of wealthy professionals, industrialists and members of the gentry. Freeth wrote poems on several political, social and economic themes from elections to boxing and canal development. They cover events across the Midlands and beyond and are testimony to the geographical spread of the circle’s interests. The poems are radical in the sense that they show a commitment to the liberty and independence of the freeholder and artisan, but they are also characterised by intense local patriotism and conservatism on cultural matters. Freeth was not sympathetic to slaves and Jews for example. The Political Songster, which went through several editions from 1766, is testimony to the interests and commitments of the self-assertive lower middle and upper working classes in the West Midlands during the late 18th century. 


Some more from Wiki on the Birmingham Book Club‬

Bisset et al.jpg
John Freeth and his Circle or Birmingham Men of the Last Century - members of the Birmingham Book Club pictured in 1792 by John Eckstein. He is seated, third from left, with the long pipe.

The Birmingham Book Club, known to its opponents during the 1790s as the Jacobin Club due to its political radicalism, and at times also as the Twelve Apostles, was a book club and debating society based in Birmingham, England from the 18th to the 20th century. During the 18th century Midlands Enlightenment, the Radical and Unitarian allegiance of its members give it a national significance.

Little is known of the club's origins, but surviving records suggest that it was in existence by 1745. The club met at Freeth's Coffee House at the Leicester Arms on the corner of Bell Street and Lease Lane in Birmingham from at least 1758 it later became The Grand Turk and suvived until the Bull Ring redevelopment scheme.

John Freeth announced club dinners to its members with rhyming invitations. 24 members were listed in 1775. Liberal and radical, as much concerned with politics as with books, the club formed a focus for local support for John Wilkes between 1768 and 1774, and for opposition to the Ministry of Lord North during the 1770s and 1780s.
The society held an annual sale of its books, and its members provided the nucleus of subscribers to the Birmingham Library which was founded in 1779. He would have been very proud of this legacy...
The club was still in existence, with twelve members, in 1964. Anyone know if it still exists?


Leicester Arms sketch.jpg Grand Turk  Bell St 1910.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Cheers Jennyann...that's where I nicked it from then? I plunder so much stuff I forget...

Well, can we hear a small round of applause for one of our most famous Poets?

John Freeth was one of Birmingham’s political and cultural figures at the end of the 18th century. His father Samuel had founded a book club (The Birmingham Book Club) in The Leicester Arms at the corner of Lease Lane and Bell Street and his son John continued its activities. Freeth’s circle – there is a painting of the group that was linked with him - provided a forum where the small masters and artisans in Birmingham and nearby did more than read books.

View attachment 84815 View attachment 84816

They could share news and comment on the political matters of the day. It therefore provided a source of information and debate for a different social group than the Lunar Society which was composed of wealthy professionals, industrialists and members of the gentry. Freeth wrote poems on several political, social and economic themes from elections to boxing and canal development. They cover events across the Midlands and beyond and are testimony to the geographical spread of the circle’s interests. The poems are radical in the sense that they show a commitment to the liberty and independence of the freeholder and artisan, but they are also characterised by intense local patriotism and conservatism on cultural matters. Freeth was not sympathetic to slaves and Jews for example. The Political Songster, which went through several editions from 1766, is testimony to the interests and commitments of the self-assertive lower middle and upper working classes in the West Midlands during the late 18th century. 


Some more from Wiki on the Birmingham Book Club‬

View attachment 84814
John Freeth and his Circle or Birmingham Men of the Last Century - members of the Birmingham Book Club pictured in 1792 by John Eckstein. He is seated, third from left, with the long pipe.

The Birmingham Book Club, known to its opponents during the 1790s as the Jacobin Club due to its political radicalism, and at times also as the Twelve Apostles, was a book club and debating society based in Birmingham, England from the 18th to the 20th century. During the 18th century Midlands Enlightenment, the Radical and Unitarian allegiance of its members give it a national significance.

Little is known of the club's origins, but surviving records suggest that it was in existence by 1745. The club met at Freeth's Coffee House at the Leicester Arms on the corner of Bell Street and Lease Lane in Birmingham from at least 1758 it later became The Grand Turk and suvived until the Bull Ring redevelopment scheme.

John Freeth announced club dinners to its members with rhyming invitations. 24 members were listed in 1775. Liberal and radical, as much concerned with politics as with books, the club formed a focus for local support for John Wilkes between 1768 and 1774, and for opposition to the Ministry of Lord North during the 1770s and 1780s.
The society held an annual sale of its books, and its members provided the nucleus of subscribers to the Birmingham Library which was founded in 1779. He would have been very proud of this legacy...
The club was still in existence, with twelve members, in 1964. Anyone know if it still exists?


View attachment 84819 View attachment 84817

“The club met at Freeth's Coffee House at the Leicester Arms on the corner of Bell Street and Lease Lane in Birmingham from at least 1758 it later became The Grand Turk and suvived until the Bull Ring redevelopment scheme.”

There is an article in the Birmingham Daily Post from June 1940 on the Book Club which disputes the Wikipedia version...

“…although the name of the “Bell” was altered to the “Leicester Arms,” the ”Pump,” and the “Coach and Horses,” its popular name remained Freeth’s Coffee House. The House was demolished when the Fish Market was extended to the corner of Lease Lane in 1885/6.”
 
“The club met at Freeth's Coffee House at the Leicester Arms on the corner of Bell Street and Lease Lane in Birmingham from at least 1758 it later became The Grand Turk and suvived until the Bull Ring redevelopment scheme.”

There is an article in the Birmingham Daily Post from June 1940 on the Book Club which disputes the Wikipedia version...

“…although the name of the “Bell” was altered to the “Leicester Arms,” the ”Pump,” and the “Coach and Horses,” its popular name remained Freeth’s Coffee House. The House was demolished when the Fish Market was extended to the corner of Lease Lane in 1885/6.”


In Aris’s B’ham Gazette of February 1858 a chap had been talking with Freeth's daughter and contested a statement in a previous edition. The Poet's house was not the Plough Tavern but Freeth's Coffee House, that it had not been pulled down, but still remained at the corner of Bell Street and Lease Lane. Another source added that it was now known as the Coach and Horses, the sign had been transferred when the original, in Worcester Street had been taken down to make room for the Central Railway Station.
 
Looking through the information for the "Poet Freeth" has, well anyway for me, thrown up a puzzle.

Information from several sources say Freeth was buried in the burial grounds associated with the Old Meeting House in 1808. In the Newspaper Archives it mentions that in 1882 the Old Meeting House and its burial grounds were to be taken for the new Station. The vaults and graves, including that of Poet Freeth, would be carefully removed and re-buried at Witton Cemetery.

I cannot find any information further to this. So is Freeth now lying in an identifiable grave at Witton?
 
you could try asking witton if freeth is with them but dont be surprised if they do not have a record of him...quite a few burial grounds had bodies removed from them but they did not always re bury them in separate graves..instead the remains of many were just shovelled up and all buried together in different cemeteries with no marked graves and no list of who they were..but i guess its worth asking

lyn
 
as suspected the remains of all the dead are buried together at witton and the site marked with an obelisk

he Old Meeting
The Presbyterians, later Unitarians, first worshipped in a small room somewhere in Digbeth which was licensed after the 1672 Declaration of Indulgence allowed non-conformists to build places of worship. Under James II worship had to be held in secret, but with the passing of the Act of Toleration in 1689 the (Old) Meeting (House) was built in Phillip Street. This lay off Dudwall Lane, later known as Pinfold Street, a site now under New Street Station. The Meeting was burnt down in high-church riots in 1715 and wrecked again in the Priestley Riots of 1791. It was again rebuilt in 1794 with schoolrooms and a library attached.



The burial ground was used from 1696, enlarged in 1779, 1869 and 1870; it was closed for burials in 1873 for all but reopened family graves. The building was demolished 1882 for the enlargement of New Street Station and the remains of the dead belonging to both the Old and New Meetings reinterred at Witton Cemetery where an obelisk marks the site. A new chapel in gothic style was built on Bristol Street in 1885.





lyn
 
Looking through the information for the "Poet Freeth" has, well anyway for me, thrown up a puzzle.

Information from several sources say Freeth was buried in the burial grounds associated with the Old Meeting House in 1808. In the Newspaper Archives it mentions that in 1882 the Old Meeting House and its burial grounds were to be taken for the new Station. The vaults and graves, including that of Poet Freeth, would be carefully removed and re-buried at Witton Cemetery.

I cannot find any information further to this. So is Freeth now lying in an identifiable grave at Witton?

Hi everyone,
Only just spotted this thread but I've long been interest in Freeth. There is indeed an obelisk (pink if I remember rightly) indicating the removed stones but the poets grave is definitely there. I searched, along with faithful Parker, one rainy day last year and found it. It was overgrown but we managed to clear away the grass and dirt. He is buried, if I remember correctly, with his wife Sarah. I do have a photo somewhere but which PC it's on and where it is I don't know. However, I shall go and look for it now. I may be a while. The staff at Witton told me that if the remains were movable then they were taken to Witton and re-interred and the stone laid flat over the top.
 
My last post doesn't seem to be coming up in new posts yet but I've just found these in the same place which may be of interest in connection with the Meeting House and Freeth. Hope I can attach this.
 

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My ancestor was Samuel Toy (1748-1811) and is purported to be 1 of John Freeth`s 12 apostles; is the 5th from the right (looking away from the group) in Johannes Eckstein`s 1792 portrait. I've searched online but have yet to find a definitive list of these men. I'm also intrigued at the significance of Samuel looking away. Might someone know art and if this stance holds any significance? Finally, I've read several (conflicting) sections of books online and am confused; were these men dissenters or not?, were they against the American Revolution due to business (feared lack of possible import/export opportunities)?, and were they against slavery?
 

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For a list of the men pictured it could be that you would have to go to Birmingham Art Gallery and ask them to turn the picture over, as a list is on the back!
 
Thank you, Pedrocut. I'd love to be able to do that but I'm not in England. :( Perhaps I'll call the art gallery. Thanks, again, for the idea!
 
My ancestor was Samuel Toy (1748-1811) and is purported to be 1 of John Freeth`s 12 apostles; is the 5th from the right (looking away from the group) in Johannes Eckstein`s 1792 portrait. I've searched online but have yet to find a definitive list of these men. I'm also intrigued at the significance of Samuel looking away. Might someone know art and if this stance holds any significance? Finally, I've read several (conflicting) sections of books online and am confused; were these men dissenters or not?, were they against the American Revolution due to business (feared lack of possible import/export opportunities)?, and were they against slavery?

Some info about Samuel Toy can be seen here...including list...
 
I am a descendant of John Freeth. I never knew my ancestors played an important role both in UK and America.
Karen
There were several John Freeths in Birmingham at this time. The Poet Freeth had only one son (another John Freeth) who survived beyond infancy, although he had 8 surviving daughters. John Freeth junior (1775-1855) became the senior clerk at the Birmingham Canal Navigations. He married but had no children.
So I suspect your ancestor must have been one of the other John Freeths.
Nick
 
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