Court 8, William Edward Street

[simpsonnz]

Hello, I'm writing a family history and while I have the genealogy well under control, I'd like to know a bit more about where my family lived in Birmingham. In 1867 there were living at 10 Court, St Martin Street but by the 1871 census were No 1, 8 Court, William Edward Street, where they stayed until emigrating to New Zealand in 1874. I've had a good read of the memories shared on this forum about back-to-backs and that's been very helpful. I've also got the 1868 list of businesses in William Edward St and know that the Vaughton Works, a metal bedstead manufactory owned by James Tombs, was adjacent to Court 8.
My g-g grandfather was a carpenter who worked for George Ravenscroft of 41 Gooch St, where he also had a publican's licence.
Any ideas about what that part of the city was like at the time would be welcome. My people were very 'ordinary' so I'm attempting to give them context where I can. Many thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Astoness]

hi and welcome...not court 8 but i have this photo of court 11 which gives you an idea of what the courts were like...if our map expert mike spots your post he will be able to supply maps highlighting court 8 william edward st and court 10 st martin street...i will also search my photos to see if i have anymore for you

lyn

 

[brummy-lad]

Is this map any help? perhaps you already have it.

 

[brummy-lad]

I can find no aerial views of William Edward Street but have this one for St Martin's Street.

 

[mikejee]

Below is a not very clear map c 1889 of William Edward St with court 8 in red. The court still seems to be in exisence in the 1950s (second map), though then there do not appear to be any houses in it

 

[brummy-lad]

The only other images I can find of William Edward Street, one shows the last family living in the street before demolition in 1969, the other just a glimpse of the street on the far right-hand side. They give a flavour of the area and many of us older members of the forum can relate to them.

 

[MWS]

The Mace archive have a short film that contains a couple of snippets of William Edward St...

Downton: William Edward Street

Downton family home movie showing the back to back housing and area of William Edward Street, Birmingham in the 1960s.

www.macearchive.org

 

[brummy-lad]

The Mace archive have a short film that contains a couple of snippets of William Edward St...

Downton: William Edward Street

Downton family home movie showing the back to back housing and area of William Edward Street, Birmingham in the 1960s.

www.macearchive.org

Brilliant find Mark.

 

[simpsonnz]

Thanks so much everyone, that's very helpful, especially the maps. I will look at the movie in a few minutes. Hard for me to appreciate how crowded the living was, but the more I read about Birmingham in the industrial revolution, the more I understand what at least some of his motivation was to get his family away. There were 2 adults and 6 children, one an infant, living in the William Edward St Court in 1874.
From my jottings so far: Grim humour of the time had it that generations of people in England’s industrial areas thought that the sky was naturally black and vegetation grey. In 1866 Sir Robert Peel, son of the former Prime Minister, made a lengthy speech in Parliament calling for an end to the ‘pestilential atmosphere’ of the industrial towns. Some of the places he had visited recently, he said, could hardly be seen for the smoke.
And apologies for not realising my first name didn't appear in my first post - I'm Sandra.

 

[simpsonnz]

The only other images I can find of William Edward Street, one shows the last family living in the street before demolition in 1969, the other just a glimpse of the street on the far right-hand side. They give a flavour of the area and many of us older members of the forum can relate to them.

Interestingly, your still of the family makes me wonder if this was the same family in the movie clip. The Dad looks remarkably similar in both.

 

[brummy-lad]

Interestingly, your still of the family makes me wonder if this was the same family in the movie clip. The Dad looks remarkably similar in both.

The still was taken in 1969 and the movie 5 years earlier, there are some similarities. What I like about these 60s pictures is that the children always look happy, I certainly was happy as a child and spent the first 7 years of my life in a similar environment.

 

[simpsonnz]

I can now see from the maps that Court 8 was sandwiched between the bedstead manufactory and a ' Spring Works' - must have been noisy and smelly (without the privies in the backyard) - and Wikipedia has come up trumps with a plan for a Court in the Jewellery Quarter which adds to my understanding of these houses. Thanks so much!

 

[Astoness]

The still was taken in 1969 and the movie 5 years earlier, there are some similarities. What I like about these 60s pictures is that the children always look happy, I certainly was happy as a child and spent the first 7 years of my life in a similar environment.

same here john..born in nans back to back sharing 1 bedroom and 1 attic with mom..dad..nan and my younger brother then moved to a larger house built about 1860 the conditions were not the best..ended up the eldest of 6 children...think that those younger than us have to remember that those conditions were the norm back then...we just accepted it and and got on with it...i can honestly say hand on heart i never had a day of unhappiness and all my siblings have said the same...

lyn