Dennis Williams
Gone but not forgotten
Well, can we hear a small round of applause for one of our most famous Poets?
John Freeth was one of Birmingham’s political and cultural figures at the end of the 18th century. His father Samuel had founded a book club (The Birmingham Book Club) in The Leicester Arms at the corner of Lease Lane and Bell Street and his son John continued its activities. Freeth’s circle – there is a painting of the group that was linked with him - provided a forum where the small masters and artisans in Birmingham and nearby did more than read books.
They could share news and comment on the political matters of the day. It therefore provided a source of information and debate for a different social group than the Lunar Society which was composed of wealthy professionals, industrialists and members of the gentry. Freeth wrote poems on several political, social and economic themes from elections to boxing and canal development. They cover events across the Midlands and beyond and are testimony to the geographical spread of the circle’s interests. The poems are radical in the sense that they show a commitment to the liberty and independence of the freeholder and artisan, but they are also characterised by intense local patriotism and conservatism on cultural matters. Freeth was not sympathetic to slaves and Jews for example. The Political Songster, which went through several editions from 1766, is testimony to the interests and commitments of the self-assertive lower middle and upper working classes in the West Midlands during the late 18th century.
Some more from Wiki on the Birmingham Book Club
John Freeth and his Circle or Birmingham Men of the Last Century - members of the Birmingham Book Club pictured in 1792 by John Eckstein. He is seated, third from left, with the long pipe.
The Birmingham Book Club, known to its opponents during the 1790s as the Jacobin Club due to its political radicalism, and at times also as the Twelve Apostles, was a book club and debating society based in Birmingham, England from the 18th to the 20th century. During the 18th century Midlands Enlightenment, the Radical and Unitarian allegiance of its members give it a national significance.
Little is known of the club's origins, but surviving records suggest that it was in existence by 1745. The club met at Freeth's Coffee House at the Leicester Arms on the corner of Bell Street and Lease Lane in Birmingham from at least 1758 it later became The Grand Turk and suvived until the Bull Ring redevelopment scheme.
John Freeth announced club dinners to its members with rhyming invitations. 24 members were listed in 1775. Liberal and radical, as much concerned with politics as with books, the club formed a focus for local support for John Wilkes between 1768 and 1774, and for opposition to the Ministry of Lord North during the 1770s and 1780s.
The society held an annual sale of its books, and its members provided the nucleus of subscribers to the Birmingham Library which was founded in 1779. He would have been very proud of this legacy...
The club was still in existence, with twelve members, in 1964. Anyone know if it still exists?
John Freeth was one of Birmingham’s political and cultural figures at the end of the 18th century. His father Samuel had founded a book club (The Birmingham Book Club) in The Leicester Arms at the corner of Lease Lane and Bell Street and his son John continued its activities. Freeth’s circle – there is a painting of the group that was linked with him - provided a forum where the small masters and artisans in Birmingham and nearby did more than read books.
They could share news and comment on the political matters of the day. It therefore provided a source of information and debate for a different social group than the Lunar Society which was composed of wealthy professionals, industrialists and members of the gentry. Freeth wrote poems on several political, social and economic themes from elections to boxing and canal development. They cover events across the Midlands and beyond and are testimony to the geographical spread of the circle’s interests. The poems are radical in the sense that they show a commitment to the liberty and independence of the freeholder and artisan, but they are also characterised by intense local patriotism and conservatism on cultural matters. Freeth was not sympathetic to slaves and Jews for example. The Political Songster, which went through several editions from 1766, is testimony to the interests and commitments of the self-assertive lower middle and upper working classes in the West Midlands during the late 18th century.
Some more from Wiki on the Birmingham Book Club
John Freeth and his Circle or Birmingham Men of the Last Century - members of the Birmingham Book Club pictured in 1792 by John Eckstein. He is seated, third from left, with the long pipe.
The Birmingham Book Club, known to its opponents during the 1790s as the Jacobin Club due to its political radicalism, and at times also as the Twelve Apostles, was a book club and debating society based in Birmingham, England from the 18th to the 20th century. During the 18th century Midlands Enlightenment, the Radical and Unitarian allegiance of its members give it a national significance.
Little is known of the club's origins, but surviving records suggest that it was in existence by 1745. The club met at Freeth's Coffee House at the Leicester Arms on the corner of Bell Street and Lease Lane in Birmingham from at least 1758 it later became The Grand Turk and suvived until the Bull Ring redevelopment scheme.
John Freeth announced club dinners to its members with rhyming invitations. 24 members were listed in 1775. Liberal and radical, as much concerned with politics as with books, the club formed a focus for local support for John Wilkes between 1768 and 1774, and for opposition to the Ministry of Lord North during the 1770s and 1780s.
The society held an annual sale of its books, and its members provided the nucleus of subscribers to the Birmingham Library which was founded in 1779. He would have been very proud of this legacy...
The club was still in existence, with twelve members, in 1964. Anyone know if it still exists?
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