Recent content by David George

Not strictly St Martin's related but I was wondering if anyone had details of the Street Commissioners circa 1801 - which was when the vote to demolish the 'shambles' around St. Martin's was taken and a levee to pay for the new graveyard imposed. I believe Sampson Lloyd and John Thompson were...

The problem with the churchyard was that although it was Anglican and connected to St Martin's Church, the levee implemented to pay for it was to be paid by all parishioners, whatever their denomination. Many dissenters refused to pay the money owed, and the levee was abandoned from 1806, when...

Worse than that local landowners could actually oversee the election and threaten to evict anyone who didn't vote for their preferred candiate. Dugdale Stratford Dugdale (1800-1871) M.P. for Warwickshire North (and thus, at this time, for Birmingham) had a son who also wished to enter...

Anyone know why Fazeley Street was 'stopped up' in the 1830s? The Vestrey Clerk, Gem stated ' Agreat deal of money was expended in that unfortunate law case, the stopping up of Fezeley Street...' He was quite indignant about a legal ruling that didn't go his way, though I'm unsure what it was.

On the subject of minor officials, I'v e been researching somethhing entirely different but came across a 'Constable of Birmingham'. This was in the early 1830s. Samuel Rawlins had been appointed constable of Birmingham in September 1836, but this was an unpaid, honorary office. [1] He had taken...

Hi everyone, I’m a historian looking into the St. Martin’s church ‘riot’ of 1831, (it wasn’t really a riot at all) and in particular the actions of the reverend Thomas Moseley, and the political struggle between the Birmingham Political Union (who fought for franchise reform and sought to end...