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Bromsgrove Street 1907

Molly_MacD

Molly_MacD

master brummie
Hello all,

I'm based in Western Canada, so I need to preface my request with the fact that I have zero knowledge of Birmingham (well I watched a couple of episodes of Peaky Blinders but that's it).

I've recently been able to track down my British Home child great-grandmother to her sending "orphanage" Middlemore. I've been working with a historian regarding that, and have been able to track her to Bromsgrove Street in 1907.

It appears her parents were raided for operating a disorderly house at 7 court, 3 house Bromsgrove street.

My question is what would this area have been like? Would this have been a back to back house? What types of shops/pubs would have been near by? I can't seem to find any information on that address and looking at google maps street view I suspect, much has been demolished rebuilt.

So any thoughts on what i would have been like growing up in this area as a 7 year old, or even as my gg-grandparents?

Attached is the article that was enclosed with her admittance to Middlemore -
 

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Molly. In 1907 the area was an area of mixed industry with housing. Factories and businesses were mixed with courts of houses. Below is a map which is from c1889, but would have been very similar in 1907. I have amrked court 7 in red, with wht I am pretty certain was house 3 (courts were almost invariably numbered from the court entrance) in blue. The house was backed onto another building, as in a back to back house, but the building was a factory/warehouse of some sort

map c1889 showing house 3 court 7 Bromsgrove St.jpg
 
mikejee said:
Molly. In 1907 the area was an area of mixed industry with housing. Factories and businesses were mixed with courts of houses. Below is a map which is from c1889, but would have been very similar in 1907. I have amrked court 7 in red, with wht I am pretty certain was house 3 (courts were almost invariably numbered from the court entrance) in blue. The house was backed onto another building, as in a back to back house, but the building was a factory/warehouse of some sort

View attachment 162440
Click to expand...
Thank you! This is helpful - it appears as there is a car park there today.

Forgive me if this is a silly question (again Canadian lol), but would the entrances to the homes all be directed to the court yard with a main entrance of the court yard facing the street?

TV leads me to believe this may be the case, but TV is not always the best factual portrayal. If that is the case would the street facing buildings be more used for store fronts?
 
mikejee said:
Yes that is correct.
Click to expand...
Ok- thank you, that helps me get my head around it. I'm assuming this would have been a lower/working class type of neighborhood (assuming so due to my gg-grandparents profession. He also did 4 in prison later that year for assaulting a police officer)? And many of those living in the area would have been factory workers?

Is there a directory available (somewhere) to see what businesses would have been near by. I believe the Stag and Pheasant would have been on the corner of that block (if I'm reading the map correctly)
 
We have a thread for Middlemore Homes, will check if anything more can be found...

Middlemore Children’s Emigration Homes

October 1949 Paul Cadbury and the breakdown in family life...Children suitable for emigration. Contrast to John Throgmorton Middlemore. Paul Cadbury produced articles for the Eugenics Review.
birminghamhistory.co.uk birminghamhistory.co.uk
 
Another example from probably the same children’s session, Feb 5 1907, where Middlemore Homes offered to take two children.

Middlemore seem to be proactive In looking for children to emigrate ?

7478995F-3DA5-4008-904B-72C7B10EF503.jpeg
 
A bit of a weird question as you mention that the father's name was George but could it have been Charles?
 
MWS said:
A bit of a weird question as you mention that the father's name was George but could it have been Charles?
Click to expand...
Not a weird question at all- yes it was Charles.
This article calls him George, but the Middlemoore records for the admittance of all the children is listed as Charles. My G-Grandmother also said her parents were Mary Anne and Charles. So many George was a middle name/alias/typo.
 
Ok, not totally sure but they were possibly living on Tennant St in 1901, which is not far from Bromsgrove St.

If it is them, then their 2 elder daughters (which I assume you know about if it's the right family) were both in industrial schools in Yorkshire in 1911. Also appear to have had a number of younger children.
 
MWS said:
Ok, not totally sure but they were possibly living on Tennant St in 1901, which is not far from Bromsgrove St.

If it is them, then their 2 elder daughters (which I assume you know about if it's the right family) were both in industrial schools in Yorkshire in 1911. Also appear to have had a number of younger children.
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I honestly don't know if it would be the same family. I only know what the Middlemore Records can tell me, my G-gmother didn't talk at all about any family in England so we only know if the 4 children who were removed from the home in 2 separate incidences in 1907.

I guess I could move this over to the genealogy forum as to not hijack the place related forum :)
 
I'll list the children that I think may be theirs and if you can match the other 2 then it would seem likely. There are some baptisms available on Ancestry, so if one of them lists an address as Bromsgrove St that would also make it likely.

I have the parents as Charles (Edward ?) Robins and Mary Ann Dix, both from Gloucestershire (Cheltenham & Charlton Kings).

First 2 daughters Mabel Ann (1895) and Florence Caroline (1897) were born in Gloucestershire but baptised in Bham (St Jude).

Others children were born in Bham - Ellen Kate (1898), Charles Edward (1901), Mary Ann May (1903), John (1906), Thomas (1907), unnamed son (1909) and Edward (1913). There are baptisms for Charles & Mary (Immanuel) and John (St Jude). John would seem the most likely to have a Bromsgrove St address.

Thomas and the unnamed son both died young, and I suspect that Edward was probably not Charles' son as although he was registered as Robbins he appears to go by the name Dix afterwards.
 
MWS said:
I'll list the children that I think may be theirs and if you can match the other 2 then it would seem likely. There are some baptisms available on Ancestry, so if one of them lists an address as Bromsgrove St that would also make it likely.

I have the parents as Charles (Edward ?) Robins and Mary Ann Dix, both from Gloucestershire (Cheltenham & Charlton Kings).

First 2 daughters Mabel Ann (1895) and Florence Caroline (1897) were born in Gloucestershire but baptised in Bham (St Jude).

Others children were born in Bham - Ellen Kate (1898), Charles Edward (1901), Mary Ann May (1903), John (1906), Thomas (1907), unnamed son (1909) and Edward (1913). There are baptisms for Charles & Mary (Immanuel) and John (St Jude). John would seem the most likely to have a Bromsgrove St address.

Thomas and the unnamed son both died young, and I suspect that Edward was probably not Charles' son as although he was registered as Robbins he appears to go by the name Dix afterwards
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Your names do match the ones I have (Charles and Mary Anne Dix as well as Ellen Kate (my g-gm, Charles Edward and Mary Ann May)!!!!!
Can you message me with where you located this info as it's AMAZING and much appreciated.
 
I can't find any for Ellen, Thomas or edward. The two eldest were baptised as children not babies.
All on Ancestry.
 
Molly_MacD said:
Your names do match the ones I have (Charles and Mary Anne Dix as well as Ellen Kate (my g-gm, Charles Edward and Mary Ann May)!!!!!
Can you message me with where you located this info as it's AMAZING and much appreciated.
Click to expand...

All I've found is available on ancestry websites. Familysearch, Ancestry, findmpast, freebmd & GRO.

Luckily there seemed to be only one Ellen & Charles of the right age that matched your original message. Though the George put me off a little and the various spellings of the names didn't help. Also Mary appears to be listed as Clara in 1901 for some reason.

On the 1939 register and some censuses Edward is with his brother John in Camden St and it is then he is listed as Dix.
 
1901 also has Ellen as Helen and the Clara did throw me as well. However, address matches the Tennant Street baptisms.
 
pjmburns said:
I can't find any for Ellen, Thomas or edward. The two eldest were baptised as children not babies.
All on Ancestry.
Click to expand...

No, I couldn't find one for Ellen either which is a shame. Thomas' death is in the same quarter as his birth so may have not lived long enough.
 
MWS said:
Brilliant, they match up nicely.
Click to expand...
Since I'm still learning all this British industrial age lingo, would the fact that the older children (Florence and Mable) were in an industrial school indicate that the had likely been previously removed from the home, and that is why they were likely not taken in the February 1907 raid? Is Instrustral school similar to an orphanage/Middlemore ? Would children be removed and placed there or would they apply/be sent?

I assume John would have been left in the both the1907 removals of children as he was young and Thomas/edward not yet born, but I wonder why they would not have taken Mary Anne May until the fall of 1907?

So many questions lol. That said a few months ago I had almost no information.
 
Middlemore Child Emigration Homes often stated that the children were well prepared before being sent to Canada. But there seems to be several children that were sent after a very short time. Do you mind me asking if you know the time of arrival in Canada of the Great Grandmother ?
 
Mabel and Florence probably ended up in Industrial School due to their age. There appear to be a number of reasons why children could end up there - begging, vagrancy, etc - and they seem to be more akin to workhouses rather than orphanages.

Not sure you'll ever no the complete whys and wherefores of how all the children ended up where they did.

On the subject of names, it is probable that her parents were illiterate, so all they did was say what they wanted to call the children and whoever wrote it would have spelt it however they liked, so minor variations mean little, though can be frustrating.
 
Molly_MacD said:
Nanny B went by Nellie and Helen as well as Ellen in Canada too. I honestly don't know what her real name was.
Click to expand...
The birth was registered as
1634152689624.png
Nellie's often had the name Helen or Ellen.
Mabel's birth was registered as Robbins - again as MWS said it was spelt as the registrar thought.
 
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Pedrocut said:
Middlemore Child Emigration Homes often stated that the children were well prepared before being sent to Canada. But there seems to be several children that were sent after a very short time. Do you mind me asking if you know the time of arrival in Canada of the Great Grandmother ?
Click to expand...

Sailed on the Carthaginian, left Liverpool 11th May 1907.
 
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