Cox Street West - Balsall Heath

[Judith lloyd]

Hi ,
My Great Grandma and Granddad lived at number 30
James and Jessie Sadler .Both had lived in Inge Street and worked at the Hippodrome .My Granddad ,their son was posted to India in the army and then joined the Calcutta police so he could marry my Grandma .
They and my mother ,who was 8 and uncle ,who was 4 came to England in 1939 when my Great Granddad died and stayed for a few months in Cox Street West .It is lovely and sad to see where they lived and walked .
My mother believes that number 30 was bombed in the war and Jessie Sadler was re housed .She was back in India then .
many thanks

 

[Richard Dye]

Hi ,
My Great Grandma and Granddad lived at number 30
James and Jessie Sadler .Both had lived in Inge Street and worked at the Hippodrome .My Granddad ,their son was posted to India in the army and then joined the Calcutta police so he could marry my Grandma .
They and my mother ,who was 8 and uncle ,who was 4 came to England in 1939 when my Great Granddad died and stayed for a few months in Cox Street West .It is lovely and sad to see where they lived and walked .
My mother believes that number 30 was bombed in the war and Jessie Sadler was re housed .She was back in India then .
many thanks

Judith, thank you for a wonderful story!

 

[Lupo]

Hello Folks

Does anyone know when Cox Steet West in Balsall Heath was built? We know The church St. Thomas-in-the-Moors, was started from the estate of William Sands Cox, Esq., in 1868 and finished in1883.

any help appreciated. Thanks

I lived in Cox Street West from 1964 until 1974 when we were moved as a family to Kingsheath, under compulsory purchase. I was a toddler to Young teenager….. i think it was all demolished late 70s… we lived next door to Mrs Kyte the little sweet shop, and Spencer the old scrap yard man was just up the road ….my dad worked at Mosley baths and my mom worked on gooch street …. All looks so different now

 

[suemalings]

I lived in Cox Street West from 1964 until 1974 when we were moved as a family to Kingsheath, under compulsory purchase. I was a toddler to Young teenager….. i think it was all demolished late 70s… we lived next door to Mrs Kyte the little sweet shop, and Spencer the old scrap yard man was just up the road ….my dad worked at Mosley baths and my mom worked on gooch street …. All looks so different now

My mother-in-law's great grandfather lived and worked at 37 Cox Street West in 1881

 

[robbiejd59]

Hi ,
My Great Grandma and Granddad lived at number 30
James and Jessie Sadler .Both had lived in Inge Street and worked at the Hippodrome .My Granddad ,their son was posted to India in the army and then joined the Calcutta police so he could marry my Grandma .
They and my mother ,who was 8 and uncle ,who was 4 came to England in 1939 when my Great Granddad died and stayed for a few months in Cox Street West .It is lovely and sad to see where they lived and walked .
My mother believes that number 30 was bombed in the war and Jessie Sadler was re housed .She was back in India then .
many thanks

Judith, no 30 as far as i know, did not suffer any bomb damage, we lived there throughout the late fifties and left in late sixties. Your grandparents are the 3rd family, plus us , i have heard about who lived in this property . Have you seen the picture of the house..

 

[Judith lloyd]

Hi ,many thanks for your reply .I haven’t seen a good photo of the house .Do you have one by any chance ? My great grandmother ,Jessie Sadler moved out during the war .My mother who stayed there a few on this is now 90 ,she was only 8 then .

 

[paulyx]

I worked in Upper Cox st in the 70s for a rust proofing company named Endrust. who later moved to Tyburn rd

 

[Graham Pallot]

Does anyone have any photos of Cox Street West, Balsall Heath or thereabouts ? A lost street now I believe. Mum grew up there. Hardly any photos of the place.

Hi Almostjones. I grew up in Upper Cox Street when I was very young in the 1950s I used to play with a girl called Susan Jones just round the corner in Cox Street West. Fast forward nearly 70 years and I discovered while researching my family tree that her dad Ernest and my mom were cousins, and so Susan Jones and I were 2nd cousins. I have tried to contact both Susan and her sister but without success. I know it's 3 years since you posted this, but if you get this reply please message me.

 

[Astoness]

hi mike could we have a map please showing cox st west and upper cox street...and could you mark out where ryland place was at back of no 5 upper cox st...thanks mike

lyn

 

[mikejee]

Here you are Lynn. Map c 1889 with Ryland Place in red

 

[Astoness]

thanks mike its for new member brian so i will point him to this thread and your map

lyn

 

[BrianE]

Thank so very very much Lyn and Mike for the awesome street plan of Cox Street West and Upper Cox Street. There are several locations that are pertinent to my family here so I will add what I know to this thread. Brian

 

[BrianE]

The above triangle of streets Upper Cox Street, Balsall Heath Road and Cox Street West contains a lot of my family history. My mother Rosina Essery nee Timms and my Grandparents Alban and Rosina Timms nee Kingham lived in this area. My mother b1910, her sisters Elsie b1903, Hilda b1905 and Kate Timms b 1912 and her brother Albert Edward Timms b 1913 were all born in 2 Ryland Place back of 5 Upper Cox Street. My grandparents came to live in this 3 room1 down 2 up house. They moved here from Back of 12 Paddington Street, Hockley between April 1900 and March 1901. The family lived here until about 1914 when a third bedroom was need for Albert Edward, Alban reluctantly moved from here as he loved the small garden, they moved to 6 Arter Street which ran from Balsall Heath Road to Sherbourn Road was up the Balsall Heath Road hill towards Moseley Road. Alban Timms was actually born in York Place Longmore Street in 1874 however by 1881 his family had moved to Malvern Place back of 86/7 Cow Street West where he lived with his parents William & Harriet Timms nee Foster and his siblings until he married Rosina Kingham on 16th September 1899 when the set-up home at 1 back of 1 Mansfield Road Aston before the birth of their daughter Florence Rose Timms on 5th October 1899. My great grandparents William & Harriet Timms continued to live at 2 Malvern Place back of 87 Cox Street West their 3 spinster daughters Fanny, Rose and Kate continued living there after March 1901 however by April 1911 they had moved to 66 Mary Street Fanny died in 1942, Rose died in 1947 and Kate lived there till about 1962 when she moved to Highbury Hall Old peoples home for women. William and Harriet Timms moved from a cottage at Brandwood End to Longmore Street about 1868, the area was very new at this time. William originated from Millpool Hill and Harriet from Alvechurch.
My great grandparents John Edward and Mary Ann Gregory Kingham nee Rowe moved into Balsall Heath about 1873 and the 1881 census finds them living at back of 11 Upper Cox Steet where most probably my grandmother Rosina Kingham was born in 1875. April 1891 finds the family living in Princess Street (later the name changed to Gosford Street,) off Balsall Heath Road, however by April 1898 have moved to 78 Jakeman Road Balsall Heath, but following the death of John Edward in 1906 widow Mary Ann Gregory Kingham have relocated to 29 Balfore Street, Balsall Heath.
At the top of the street plan on the corner of Balsall Heath Road and Longbridge Road is the Baptist Church and School Room, my grandparents Alban and Rosina Timms nee Kingham met each other in the Baptist Bible Class there. Further along Longbridge Road at the back of 11 is the horse shoeing smithy established by my 2nd Great Grandfather James Rowe about 1875 they lived at 11 Longbridge Road. The business continued there until about 1933 finally under the leadership of his youngest single daughter Emma Rowe.

TBC.

 

[TrevSmythe]

My GGG-father is recorded in the Newspaper archive at 'Czar Villa' Cox Street West. He was John Stephen Smythe. a Publican owning the Greenway Arms, as stated in a 3-9-1881 B'ham Daily Post. He was applying for a license to sell liquor. I can find no mention anywhere of CZAR nor GREENWAY in this super forum. His money (he said in 1894 Bankruptcy proceedings) came from gold-digging in Australia. He and his wife died in Aston Union Workhouse in 1910.
I have various cuttings the Newspaper Archive and a Family Tree, eager to hear any more about him or see photo of the Pub. I haven't been to the B'ham Archive, too far away for me.

 

[MWS]

I see he was also the proprietor of the Caledonian Inn and Concert Hall also on Cox St West. Were they all on the same site, with name changes?

 

[mikejee]

In the 1882 Kellys he is listed as at what was then no 23. In the Birmingham mail of 13.8.1878 he is stated to be living in Cox St West and states his intention to apply for a license in Cox St West which is known as Czar villa. I would think it is likely that where he is stated as living is the same as Czar villa.




No 23 is shown in red on this c1889 map

 

[mikejee]

I see he was also the proprietor of the Caledonian Inn and Concert Hall also on Cox St West. Were they all on the same site, with name changes?

Up till the 1895 Kellys, no 23 was the only property listed under John Smythe in Cox St west. In the 1896 edition it is being run by William Hill

 

[TrevSmythe]

Thank you MikeJee and MWS for such wonderfully helpful information.
A news item on 3-9-1881 states that John Stephen Smyth's application for alcohol consumption on the premises was again refused, and that despite 700-800 houses being in the immediate vicinity, there were no Premises in Cox St West licensed for consumption of liquors'. The nearest licensed Pub was 150 yds away (owner William Henry Greaves). So why a refusal ?
News Item 24-8-1889: his application for a 'victualler license was heard again, 'John Stephen Smythe of The Greenway Arms'. Not clear whether his application was accepted.
News item 27-4-1890 Lloyds Weekly which states 'John Stephen Smythe, proprietor of the Caledonian Concert Hall, Cox Street West was summoned for permitting stage plays to be enacted'. He was fined 20 shillings.
News item16-5-1890 he was fined £5 for having a child entertainer at the same venue.
Maybe Caledonian Concert Hall did not serve liquor ?? Maybe it wasn't a Pub ?
Then in 1894, John is in Bankruptcy proceedings, John Stephen Smyth, Erdington, near Birmingham, Warwickshire, lately carrying on business at the Caledonian Inn and Concert Hall, Cox Street West, Balsall Heath, Worcestershire, and lately residing at Eaglescliffe, Strensham Road, Moseley, and at 45 Balsall Heath Road, late licensed victualler and concert hall proprietor.
So..... I can only assume John ran Greenway Arms as an off-license at no. 23, but his application for a Victuallers license was refused. Within 4 months, he is now at Caledonian Inn and Concert Hall, and maybe he got a license for this ? I assume that both businesses were at 23 Cox Street West, but maybe not !

 

[mikepd]

Can I please ask what district Upper Cox street is located ? - I've established that my ancestors lived at No 72 Upper Cox Street in 1881
Problem is their records for district are showing between Kings Norton and Aston - so Im confused

If anyone can please clarify, would be grateful Mike

 

[mikejee]

It led off Balsall Heath Road, and was in Balsall Heath. Map c1913 below

 

[mikepd]

Thanks, Mike, that was great help, thanks. I can see on a modern map this area has been demolished. My Great Grandfather lived here at No 72 in 1871. Records show he married his first wife (had 2 girls) who was resident in a workhouse. She also worked with horse shoes - looking at this map. I appear to be able to put the two together, which my Gran overlooked. Bottom of map looks like a workhouse associated with horse shoes. MY Great grandfather went on to marry once more as his first wife dies in childbirth - my Gran was 2nd eldest of that second marriage, born in Tipton. It's great howe a simple snippet can put a string through many memories and stories from my gran. Best wishes Mike

 

[mikejee]

The map is 1913, so buildings then are likely to have different uses. The Workhouse was a local building run by the local authority, and would have been labelled as such on the map. Whites directory of 1873 lists Upper Cox st as below. No numbering, and at that time only firms and well off people would usually be included.


The c1886 map does show that there were two establishments then involved with horseshoes. The largest was Joseph Winsor Bond & Co. The smaller establishment does not seem to be listed in directories as horseshoe manufacturers. Inj the 1873 directory no horseshoe manufacturer is listed and street is not numbered, but the building referred to previously is likely to be that marked as Charles Wassall , hinge manufacturer