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Cannon Street Meeting House

W

Wendy

Guest
I thought I would start a thread on this important building. The mural tablets from the Meeting House were taken to Key Hill Chapel but I suppose they were lost after it was demolished.

This is a drawing of the first meeting house before it was destroyed in the riots.

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Here are some drawings of the last building after it was re- built. I have also included a copy of a couple of memorial inscriptions taken from the old gravestones before demolition
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Wendy, I wondered where this meeting house was as I had never heard of it before. What was the meeting house used for?.....Meetings? :rolleyes: and if so who by?
It is very interesting for me to see the inscriptions - at the moment I am trying to find the connection between Arthur Ryland and myself.
Polly :)
 
I think it was an early Non Conformist Church this is why there is a connection to Key Hill Cemetery.
 
Sue, from Joseph McKenna's book in The Midst Of Life; Cannon Street Chapel, A baptist chapel opened in 1738. In the burial register of St Martin's there is an entry dated 6th May 1740, which reads, "Mary Inman, at New Meeting Yard". The last burial here was in 1860. In 1873 the graveyard was closed by order of the Council. Six years later the site was required for the cutting of Corporation Street and the remains of 142 bodies were transferred to Witton Cemetery. Here they were re- interred in a rectangular plot west of the Nonconformist Chapel.
 
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Wendy
I think it was unitarian. There is an article, which i have a copy of for some reason, from midland history, concerning it. Not sure how i got it, I didn't pay, but it says, at a quick glance that it was the first nonconformist chapel built after the were permitted. Will have a proper read ands post anything thta seems relevent (it is by a professional historian and is a bit heavy
Mike
 
That's interesting Mike as Joseph Chamberlain was a Unitarian.
 
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I have to disagree, Mike, I think Wendy is right and it was Baptist. The husband of Mary Smith Rogers who was one of the founders of the Women's Hospital and a saver of fallen women, was a leading figure at this church, and he was Baptist. I am writing this down from memory, as although I have lots of records, I cannot put my hand on all of them, as some are in the loft, so not swift to find. Mary Smith Rogers and her husband are buried at Key Hill.

The mural tablets from the walls of Cannon Street were probably destroyed after Key Hill chapel was demolished. They commemorated the lives of Rev James Tuner, Rev Samuel Pearce, MA, Rev Isiah Birt, Rev Thomas Morgan, Rev Thoms Swan, and Thomas King.

Shortie
 
I have just found some of the records I wanted - William Rogers was a 'consistent worker in non-conformity - especially among the Baptist Churches and distinguished himself as Chairman of the Trust Fund in connection with the sale of Cannot Street Chapel'. He was an architect and builder by trade.

Shortie
 
The Victoria County History (aka British History on-line) has some information on Cannon St Chapel.
The first Baptist congregation, known as 'General Baptists', was formed in 1729 and met in Freeman Street. They were also called Arminian Baptists.
In 1736, Mr John Atwood registered his house in High Street as the meeting place for the Particular or Calvinistic Baptists.
The Cannon Street Chapel was opened in 1738, but there were two breakaway movements. However the congregation was reunified in 1754, only to be split by another secession in 1784-6.
In 1788, the Cannon Street congregation numbered 242.
The Chapel was cleared in 1879 for rebuilding. There is or was a Cannon Street Memorial Chapel in Handsworth.
Wendy's pictures are of the Old Meeting House in Old Meeting Street, which was vaguely Presbyterian at first but soon became Unitarian.
Peter
 
It seems from the old book I have on the burials, the original building was the Presbyterian Old Meeting House. It also has a list of Mayors of Birmingham (Unitarian) some of whom ancestors lie in the Old Meeting House graveyard. I think it was Non Conformist and several denominations shared the chapel maybe this came about after they were demolished in the riots.

This is an inscription from a brass plaque which was once in the Chapel.
To the revered memory of the founders of this church. William Turton, M.A. it's first minister who was ejected from the parish church in Rowley Regis by the act of uniformity A.D. 1662. Thomas Baldwin ejected from Clent and William Fincher ejected from Wednesbury, in whose names the first meeting house erected on this site was licensed July 6th, A.D. 1689.
 
Sorry Peter I posted after your information but it seems we are along the same lines.
 
Shortie
You are correct. the 1855 PO directory lists theb meeting house in Cannon st as Baptist. i was confusing it with the old meeting house in old meeting st.
Mike
 
Easily done, Mike - there were so many small churches for dissenters in days gone by. Birmingham was the centre of non-conformism, so it's very easy to get a bit mixed up, especially with some having similar names.

Shortie
 
This is very interesting, my Redding ancestry shows many of them being baptised or married here, and I've found buriels at Key Hill.
 
My Gt Gt grandfather was baptised at Cannon Street Meeting house at the turn of the 19th Century. No marriages could take place then of course, as the church was not recognised by the Anglican church. By the time my Grandfather's children were born he had moved away from the Baptists and they were all christened into the COE.
The records of Cannon Street show both birth and baptism dates.
 
I was hoping to get a look of the Cannon Street Meeting House but sadly the thumbnails didn't respond trying to open them. I had Baptist ancestors living and working at 7 Bull Street in the early 1840s and have been trying to work out the nearest Baptist chapel - maybe it would have been Cannon Street.
 
Thank you for the picture Dennis. I also had family members who worshipped at Cannon Street Meeting House and I have never seen a photo of it before. Mine lived in Steelhouse Lane.

Judy
 
Many thanks for the picture Dennis. I will check to see what records exist; might strike lucky.

Nickie
 
Two more views Nickie, the first a drawing (sorry, no date but could be the one Wendy refers to in post #1. You may know many images on the forum were lost after it was hacked some time back). The second is a photo from 1905. Again this may have been posted before and could be one of the lost images. Viv.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1365150141.515519.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1365150150.160305.jpg
 
I have replaced the missing photo's at the begining of this thread.
 
Excellent drawings Wendy. They give a better idea of the size of the chapel. Viv.
 
Wendy said:
I thought I would start a thread on this important building. The mural tablets from the Meeting House were taken to Key Hill Chapel but I suppose they were lost after it was demolished.

This is a drawing of the first meeting house before it was destroyed in the riots.

View attachment 85461
Click to expand...

I posted lots on the Meeting Houses in various places Wendy...but Cannon Street was never mentioned much..? The one you picture was in Colmore Street...as explained below...I am confused as to the link betwixt Unitarian and Baprist...but then I'm a Heathen...can you enlighten this miserable sinner?


In that late 18th century, while Revolution raged in France, many in Birmingham feared that religious dissent might lead to revolution against the Church of England and the British monarchy. Dissenters are those that refuse to accept the doctrines of an established church, in this case Protestants who dissented from the Church of England.

Joseph Priestley, a dissenter, was minister of the Old Meeting House (which Hutton describes in detail). Priestley had written an inflammatory pamphlet that described 'laying gunpowder' under the 'old building of error'. This had caused alarm among supporters of the established church, who believed they were under threat. Priestley had already gained notoriety for his criticism of an attack on the French Revolution by Edmund Burke (a conservative statesman and political thinker).

On 14 July 1791 Priestley and his followers met at a dinner in the Dadleys Hotel, Temple Street, to celebrate the second anniversary of the storming the Bastille. Their opponents took this as an opportunity for full-scale riot. They attacked and burned the Meeting Houses and the homes of a large number of Priestley's friends and supporters, many of them respected Birmingham citizens.



In her tome, Kate mentions that the Unitarian Old Meeting House built in 1689 was so popular that they had to build an overflow one in DERITEND, of all places. This they called the LOWER MEETING HOUSE, because of it’s geography. Anyway, to cut a long story short, this was also burned to a crisp by the rioters, and the ruins became a workshop. From the enclosed piece from her book you can see that this area was entered via MEETING HOUSE YARD. Now this is red meat and drink to an Alleyway freak, so I thought where was this please Miss? Why haven’t I heard of it before? So I looked it up.

Blimey Matron, some clever clogs University types had only gone and done an architectural dig in my old rellies stamping grounds of Moores Row and Milk Street in Deritend, AND mentioned Lower Meeting House Yard by name, hadn’t they? And look what they discovered?







 
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One of Brum’s most famous Pubs was also The Eagle and Ball, or 'The Eagle' as it was better known. There was a large carved figure of an Eagle perched upon a Globe over the door that gave it some extra swagger and class…

The Inn was upon the south side of Colmore Street, and a clue to its exact location is gained from Eliezer Edwards’ OLD TAVERNS OF BIRMINGHAM, from which this tale is largely plundered, who in 1879 said “Its site is now within New Street Station, but the roadway of Great Queen Street passes over what was once the Inn yard, and the present open railings of the Old Meeting Hose burial ground stand upon the foundations of the wall which originally separated the Inn premises from the chapel yard.“ So although we have no picture or drawing of this place, we can at least have some accurate idea where it was…








Edwards notes that the Inn was not anything pretentious nor memorable in architecture, but it had a large commodious room at the back which became one of Birmingham’s first ever marble alleys. Bit like the Dirty duck in Harborne for them’s that know these things. There are tales of Birmingham’s finest like “George Dixon, and a Mr Kynnersley scrabbling round on their padded knees, playing marbles against Mr Holliday and Oliver Pemberton, whilst Alderman Manton, Mr R.W. Dale, Mr Sampson Lloyd and Alderman Avery, each with a long pipe and beaker of ale, looked critically on…”
 
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I read your thread with much interest. I've just discovered from an old newspaper article that my Great-Great-Great Grandfather, John Sabell, was associated with the Cannon Street Meeting House for more than 50 years, initially as a scholar with the school, and then as a teacher - I presume that this must have been a Sunday School. At that time, (1801), the school was in Weaman Row, and, every Sunday, the scholars would walk from there to the chapel in Cannon Street. I would like to know more about the school in Weaman Row, and if there was any record of the attendees there. Does anyone know?
 
Dear members,
I note it has been some while since this thread was viewed, but I never give up! I am hoping I can strike up some more conversations and research. My GGGrandfather was living at 6 Meeting House Yard Aston Deritend in 1851. He was 20 years old and a sawyer, and lodger. Another resident was a French Polisher. I am very grateful for the information here already. I wonder if you can point me in the right direction to discover more about this location. My GGGrandfather's name was George Morris born 1832. He married Eliza Warwick and they had 9 children together, he had two others later in life too. Many thanks Loraine
 
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