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Birmingham in 1930s

David...

No, sorry, I know very little about Aston Hall. I think you should start a new thread on the subject and I'm sure you'll get some reaction. Do a search of the forum first, though, to make sure it hasn't been covered before.


David and Wally.....

You are probably both aware of the Swanshurst/BARRA website which provides a searchable database of the victims of the Birmingham blitz. https://www.swanshurst.org/barra/default.asp?section=aboutbarra

Chris
 
In one of the last boxes to go back up in the loft, I've just found all my Grandad's and my Dad's Radio and TV licences from 1930 to 1970 put inside one of my early money boxes. The 1930 one cost 10 shillings, not a small amount then for a family who weren't exactly flush! In 1970 it had gone up to £6.
Incidentally, they've given me confirmation of all their addresses from 1930. Great bonus!
 
Hi my grandmother received a Widows Pension with a 15/- a week supplement for one child in 1930 but, although her husband did volunteer and serve in WWI, she wasn't a war widow. Does anyone know what her weekly pension would have been? Thank you.
 
Jane,

The Widows Pension in 1952, when my father died, was a mere ten shillings a week - 50 pence using today's coinage. Mom & Dad had a small mortgage on the house in Kings Heath that they, my younger brother and I lived in, and the mortgage was not insured because Dad's wages of £2. 12s 6d a week as a packing case maker were so low. Mom then took on three jobs until the mortgage was paid off and the house was her own. I always remember that she was so proud that on making the final payment, the manager of the building society called her into his office and congratulated her on her efforts. He never thought that she would manage it, but that was the way things were done in those days.

Maurice. :cool:
 
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My Nan didn't get any widows pension at all as she was under 60 when my grandad died in the late 40's. She had no dependant children though.

She had to sell the house in Perry Barr and she moved out to a small cottage (which had no running water at that time) in a Worcestershire village with the money she received after the mortgage was paid off.
 
My Nan didn't get any widows pension at all as she was under 60 when my grandad died in the late 40's. She had no dependant children though.

She had to sell the house in Perry Barr and she moved out to a small cottage (which had no running water at that time) in a Worcestershire village with the money she received after the mortgage was paid off.
They did it hard didnt they ? I hope she lived a happy life in her cottage even though it would have been hard with no running water.
Wendy
 
They did it hard didnt they ? I hope she lived a happy life in her cottage even though it would have been hard with no running water.
Wendy

Yes, she certainly did, it was a whole new life for her. She made friends, joined the Women's Institute, made a few pennies going out pea picking and onion tying.
She lived there for over 40 years before she passed away.

Of course we benefited too, used to spend holidays enjoying the countryside :)

The cottages did have water installed after a couple of years, we had to go to the well in the garden of another cottage just down the lane at first!
 
The thread is about the 1930's.
No dates in some of the posts but I feel that they re at a later date than this.
There does not seem to be much to find out, but this is what I have found.

The first state pension in the world was offered in Germany in the late nineteenth century. Although the idea had been proposed by some social reformers in Britain in the eighteenth century, it was not until 1909 that a state pension was introduced in the UK following the Old Age Pension Act of 1908. The British Government established two committees in the 1890s to investigate the feasibility of the state providing an old age pension to its citizens: the Rothschild Committee on Old Age Pensions in 1896 and a Select Committee on the Aged Deserving Poor in 1899. The matter was also examined by two Royal Commissions examining the Poor Laws in 1893-1895 and 1905-1909. The parliamentary campaign stalled due to concerns about the cost of financing the scheme and the degree of state intervention the proposals would represent, although support for state provision gathered throughout the 1890s and 1900s within the labour movement, friendly societies, trade unions and the Church. The Pensions Act of 1908 saw the Government providing a modest 5s pension (below subsistence, around £14 in today’s money) to those over 70 who had an income of under 10s a week. The provision was reduced for married couples and subject to a character test. The scheme was administered by local committees, under the supervision of Customs and Excise officers, and pensions were paid at branches of the Post Office. The scheme was non-contributory, relying on government revenue rather than the contributions of the pensioner. The rate of the state pension was increased to 10s in 1919 - £10 in today's money - and provision was made for illness and unemployment insurance through a contributory system established by the 1911 National Insurance Act. However, there was no significant change in the basis of the state pension until 1925 when the Widows’, Orphans’ and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act introduced the first contributory state pension scheme. This scheme was funded on contributions from both the employee and employer. In 1940 the Old Age and Widows’ Pension Act broadened the benefits available to women by reducing the pensionable age to 60 for unmarried, insured women and the wives of insured male pensioners, with an associated increase to women’s contributions. The National Insurance Act of 1946 introduced a universal contributory state pension. This legislation provided a pension of £1 6s for a single person and £2 2s for a married couple (around £30 and £48 in today’s money), paid at 65 for a man and 60 for a woman, funded by National Insurance contributions from workers
also:-
 
I understand that the women's pension age was brought down to 60 at Churchill's insistence as a thank you to them for their efforts during the war whilst the men were away
 
The thread is about the 1930's.
No dates in some of the posts but I feel that they re at a later date than this.
There does not seem to be much to find out, but this is what I have found.

The first state pension in the world was offered in Germany in the late nineteenth century. Although the idea had been proposed by some social reformers in Britain in the eighteenth century, it was not until 1909 that a state pension was introduced in the UK following the Old Age Pension Act of 1908. The British Government established two committees in the 1890s to investigate the feasibility of the state providing an old age pension to its citizens: the Rothschild Committee on Old Age Pensions in 1896 and a Select Committee on the Aged Deserving Poor in 1899. The matter was also examined by two Royal Commissions examining the Poor Laws in 1893-1895 and 1905-1909. The parliamentary campaign stalled due to concerns about the cost of financing the scheme and the degree of state intervention the proposals would represent, although support for state provision gathered throughout the 1890s and 1900s within the labour movement, friendly societies, trade unions and the Church. The Pensions Act of 1908 saw the Government providing a modest 5s pension (below subsistence, around £14 in today’s money) to those over 70 who had an income of under 10s a week. The provision was reduced for married couples and subject to a character test. The scheme was administered by local committees, under the supervision of Customs and Excise officers, and pensions were paid at branches of the Post Office. The scheme was non-contributory, relying on government revenue rather than the contributions of the pensioner. The rate of the state pension was increased to 10s in 1919 - £10 in today's money - and provision was made for illness and unemployment insurance through a contributory system established by the 1911 National Insurance Act. However, there was no significant change in the basis of the state pension until 1925 when the Widows’, Orphans’ and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act introduced the first contributory state pension scheme. This scheme was funded on contributions from both the employee and employer. In 1940 the Old Age and Widows’ Pension Act broadened the benefits available to women by reducing the pensionable age to 60 for unmarried, insured women and the wives of insured male pensioners, with an associated increase to women’s contributions. The National Insurance Act of 1946 introduced a universal contributory state pension. This legislation provided a pension of 1 6s for a single person and £2 2s for a married couple (around £30 and £48 in today’s money), paid at 65 for a man and 60 for a woman, funded by National Insurance contributions from workers
also:-
Thanks I appreciate all the effort to look into this. It looks like back in the 1930s at the beginning of the Great Depression, an English widow wouldn't have got much more than 10/- a week for herself plus a per child supplement so, with only one child, that would be only £1/5/- a week in total - No wonder my Dad always said his widowed mother could never manage on her pension! Cheers, Jane
 
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