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Victoria Law Courts

Just to wrap up this concern - It appears that the court buildings are in still use for Civil, Youth and Family work.

Address
Victoria Law Courts
Corporation Street
Birmingham West Midlands
England
B4 6QA

DX 715205 Birmingham 39

Court number 2908
Postal Address
Victoria Law Courts
Corporation Street
Birmingham West Midlands
England
B4 6QA

DX 715205 Birmingham 39

Court number 2908

[h=3]Work type[/h]CriminalYouth CourtFamily Proceedings CourtCivil
 
I think I had to go to Victoria Law Court sometime in the 60s. for my divorce. It certainly looked like a law court and I had to go in the witness box. Everything was going okay until somebody gave me my statement to read and to say it was my signature. I had to say NO because it wasn`t. The place was in uproar, The judge went mad and shouted at the Barrister and he shouted at my solicitor And I stood in the dock quaking in my boots !!. Eventually I was granted a divorce but my solicitor was struck off.Could have been worse. I could have been a baddy !!!!!
Betty.
 
HI BETTY
NICE bit of reading and it made me smile bett; i went in there myself some many years ago and i always remember my mot6her telling me aqbout the jury system and she said way back in time when i was growing up she said one day you will be called up for jury service at that time i never really understood
but lord and behold when i got to an aldult hood i sure was called up to jury for a case; she said most p[eople will be called up bu do you know bett
i am from a family of ten kids 4th oldest in line and do you know not one as ever been called in for the jury service all of good charactors
so i do not know whether or not was that a privaledge or not i know of of other people whomhave said the same about standing before a judge in the dock
how scarery it was for them ; on the subject of solictors being struck off he would not have been the first beleive me i know of a dozen or so in brum wom have been struck off beleive me you would be amazed t the people whom have beenstruck off ; well known people at that ;
any way betty; nice to hear from you take care Astonian;
 
Hello Astonian,

It certainly is an awsome place. the atmosphere is so scary I think you would plead guilty even if you were innocent,
I sometimes wonder if I had said the signature was mine and they discovered it was not what would have happened
to ? I suppose it could have been contempt of court or some such. I wonder how the real baddies feel when they are
stood in the dock.You say you are one of 10 kids, what a wonderful woman your mom must have been. I can't imagine
having to look after that many.
Regards, Betty.
 
Astonian I have done jury service twice,once in Victoria Courts and 2nd time in QE court yet no other members of my family or even friends have been called to date.
Much prefered Victoria courts even it it was more uncomfortable :)
 
HI Betty ;
If you had lied you said it was not yours or vice a vera you say it would have been perjury and you would have go time for i but never nor less
you never did ; on the subject of the bad guys telling lies all depended on there solictors whom would comvay some lies on there behalf
they would get away with it i know of two or three stories where they did do it and got away with it
on the subject of my dear old mother; she was a good mother and she always put us kids first and if the food was short she always left her self out
more often than not she never eaton;my father i cannot speak to highly of him as hewas abit of a bully boy and always dowthe goldn cross
no matter how bad he treated her she always loved him we died when we was kids my mther never ever went out the house at any given time
even when we was kids she never enterained another life for her self with another man ;never went to the pictures nor bingo nor the pubs
she scrubbed and cleaned us all she went to the days of the nabb when he died in 1958 and they offered her a ten shilling note to clothe and feed us
all ten of us she emediately cryed and threw the book back at them then she cleaned at ansells offices and worked out side work making envelopes and shammie leathers for a firm of out side workers on the cross for pennies and worked in a relie fish and chip shop at spring hill and yet her mother died whom was a wealthy woman died in 1953 used to come and see her and bring her things an take us to get clothes but when her mother died her father never came to see her or us his grand children until foty years later and bearing in mind those days was poventy stricken days for every body except him for his chain of shops
of catering and ware house full of food which supplied all there shops ; coffee houses around brum all because she ran away from home in her youth
and married a poorgold digger from astonian;she was brought up on a private education fro birth to school leaving age at 14years even locked her in her room but she broke away and and lived with this bloke they called my father so in fct it was a case from riches to rags and not the other way around as it always seemed thse peole was jelfs coffee houses i tracked dwn a cousin whom his an highly proffessional person in society was my mothers first cousin
and he said they was not aware of the situation of life she was expereaning but the was all less than a mile apart sadly her grand father died years ago
before she expearanced this life he would have interveined as he was a very wealthy guy in birminggham and well known;
sadly my mother died a broken woman at the age of fifty nine ;so life had passed her bye all for the love of her children; AStonian ;;
 
Hello Astonian, What a wonderful picture of different peoples different kind of Life.
Mine was not too good either mainly because we were trapped in the cellar for some time when a bomb was dropped on us.
It seemed from then on to be one long struggle just to survive.Over the years I have given it a great deal of thought and I really think I am a better person because of all the bad situations I have had to cope with.
Having read most of your postings - which I enjoy - I get the impression also that you are a strong person and certainly a very caring one. So, perhaps we were the lucky ones.
Betty
 
HI APS ;
Yes i think the victoria law courts is great historic building and fantastic dezign through out and its hopld alot of old crimminal history
of birmingham and there as been huge cases from all over the country there what i cannot under stand why was there a reason to build another court
around the corner i have been inside and it did not feel proper to me as a court should be i spent alot of time down the victoria especialy
when the older court judges was around like michael argle he was a hard judge the story about him and if you seen him in his court no-one
would there to whisper but the story of juge argle would never be taken to the judges quarters up in edgbaston for lunch nor would he stay there at
at evening but he frefered to stay at the plough anf harrow hotel on hagley rd ;which i also know it was a fact when he came to brum for the what they called the quarter session,s for big cases you would see him escorted by police bikes and cars taking him to the front door of the hotel
there he would read the cases and study them for the next morning so he knew excactly what case was what and the term of sentence he was giving to the crimminal on that day ;if you seen him in court he was always reading a book and when every body had finished there talking
he would look up and pass a hard sentence to the person whom commited the offence he alway took a hard line with crimms no matter the offence
and this is needed today ;i personaly think ;why are they passing the buck to probation officerirs they re not saving money because these crimms are born that way and they learn more when inside best wishes Astonian
 
I have very fond memories of Judge Michael Argyle. One day I went into his court whilst waiting for a case, I had, to come up in an adjoining court. I have no idea then or now of the details of the case, he was hearing, and he was adjourning the court as I entered. Instead of leaving the court he sat there whilst the court ended and indicated that he wished to speak to me. I had appeared many times before him, as a witness I assure you, and he knew of me. He asked me to attend a certain pub on that evening to see if a conversation could have been overheard with all the pub's clientele in there at the time and report back to him the following morning. I was in two minds whether to do so but decided that I had best do so. At the appointed hour on the evening I went in and who should be sat in one corner but Judge Argyle. I thanked the angel who had looked over me and told me to attend. He got up and came to the bar and bought me a beer. I returned to his table with him and he during general chit chat said "In my opinion I think someone could overhear a conversation in here" Who was I to argue and agreed. He finished his scotch and bid me goodbye and left. That was Michael Argyle and a view of a British way he dealt with justice. He was a man I had a lot of respect for. He made the famous announcement that anyone coming before his court for burglary (Breaking into a home between 9pm and 6am) he would automatically, with no exception, send to prison. I can tell you that the surrounding county police officers were not enamoured with this, for their burglary rates increased dramatically, whilst they dropped in Birmingham
 
hi will
yes he was well known for that he did not tollorate burgalars they got the full weight of the law for such crimes
the crimms feared going before him at the quarter sessions its a pity we do not have many more like him on the circuit
did you ever get your bike back ; i was talking with a gentleman whom is a customer of mine in technolgy whom i supply
and he told me he his an ex police officier from the motor cyclist division ; he as not long retired from the force
any way will nice to hear from you again best wishes Astonian
 
Astonian, You have a good memory - no that has long been delivered to some scrap yard and ended up in the steel mills of South Wales. Who knows it may form part of the tin lids around - is it Debenhams in Brum.?
 
HI WILL
Actualy if i recall correctly in all my years of knowing old dudley rd shop back at the office;and knowing the team of most of them
workng at the nick for many yeas and in the mid seventys there was oly one young constable i actualy met and at the time he was new there for a stint
was the only constable i ever seen and speaking with him on a couple of occasions ever came out on duty riding a bike
i wonder if it was yours ;?. i will not repeat what he said to me and what he was up to and where he was going as it was political
still not to worry i say;
As you are aware the old nick is still standing but lays emty and they built a new one around the corner just where the old porn shop used to be many years ago facing the old garage and wher the old terrace houses used to be its a tall building but you never ever see anybody coming and going just like the old days
at the park to me its a white elephant but its a different area now will and very dodgy area after dark beleive me i had a young brother whom lived down around there and they call it gun slinger avenue
have a good day will best wishes Astonian;;;;
 
I must have gazed at this architectural gem dozens of times,all those quirky window reveals and doorways,a real beauty and long may it remain so.
 
Apologies for being off topic but briefly to answer Astonian's query. Some twenty odd years out, my friend, for I was there in the late 1950's and gone by 1960.
 
Hi Will;
I am sure we will all excuse you on this moment for answering back ; i did not think it would have been you
it was well after your time there the guy was an irish fella ; cannot mention is name for political reasons you understand but by is conversation
with us on that particulr day it was quite clearly the ones above him had schooled him well
have a nice day will best wishes Astonian;
 
I have a large framed coloured etching by J Surman (at least I think its an etching) of the Victoria Law Courts. It is framed. Free to anyone who would like it and who can collect please from Solihull.
Thank you.
PS mods please feel free to move post if there is a more appropriate corner for it !
 
I have a large framed coloured etching by J Surman (at least I think its an etching) of the Victoria Law Courts. It is framed. Free to anyone who would like it and who can collect please from Solihull.
Thank you.
PS mods please feel free to move post if there is a more appropriate corner for it !
Sue, I have sent you an I M, I would be happy to take it off your hands.
jimbo
 
about 50 years ago I was on jury service and it gave me a chance to explore the interior, it was so impressive and mind boggling, it even as a cinema (it was a pornography trial re a newsagent which was by the Aston Hippodrome and we had to watch the films and read the books with the Judge !!!). I should imagine it is a listed building, they have destroyed so many beautiful old buildings surely they would not demolish the Law courts, although its hard to see what other use they could put it to ?? Eric
 
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