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Dunno about W&M in Brum but I do remember that 1974 "reorganisation of Local Government". Perhaps uncharitably, I regard pre-1974 as an era when public servants prided themselves on being that and Town Clerks cherished both title and tradition. Post-1974, and apart from the established fact that...

Thanks, Janice. Appreciated as ever. Reckon you're right: it's something to do with the age of things, that when they're of a very recent past, commemoration is never considered; a more distant time, and suddenly, let's re-name everything to hearken back to that era. Anyway. I've just been...

They certainly have changed, Dave. I'm trying hard not to say, "and not for the better", because that's the utterance of an old grouch. But really . . . Birmingham in the days when the presses thundered and the building vibrated and all news was (fairly) genuine and only the birds. . . tweeted ...

Posts crossed! Ye Gods carolina: it must be -- I've just enlarged and re-defined the image and you can just about make out the Brasshouse Passage nameplate on the wall of Duggal Brothers' store. (Currently listed as being in the "clothing and fabrics industry" and operating nowadays from...

Thanks again to everyone for all the help here. The irony, for me at any rate, is that I spent six months in Birmingham in 1965 as a trainee (sic) reporter on the Birmingham Post, but either didn't know, or was too busy to find out, that my father's home had been in Brasshouse Passage. So now...

Oh. . . My. . . God. Unbelievable . . . Pathe News from the days when YouTube represented merely a choice between London Underground or hailing a black cab. However did you find this??? Thank you so very much, farmerdave: treasure beyond compare. Having just gotten over the shock of seeing the...

Thanks for this, Carolina: much appreciated. Taking the two versions kindly provided by you and postie and running 'em through Photoshop seems to suggest that Brasshouse Passage lingered longer than I'd realised. The signage and presence of the tall building to the right -- compared to the rest...

Postie: Don't know what to say but hopefully, sincere thanks might do. I really hadn't expected to find this much help here, seeing as how Brum is a big city with a big history; the minutae of a glorified alley could easily have proved to be just a bit too minute. Thank you so much for the scan...

Not sure if this adds anything much to this thread -- I'm a newbie here, so apologies if I've missed anything in a quick read-through (there's so-ooooo much to read, forum-wide, here: amazing.) If it's of any interest, I remember how we Birmingham Post editorial staff decamped from the quirky...

Thanks, Bee Gee. It's the kind of insights like yours that are. . . invaluable. The past is indeed another country; a pity so much got torn down.

Hi Alberta: I wonder to what extent human agency is actually involved in these transcripts? I really don't know anything about genealogical research but the transcripts I looked at seemed to be batched OCRs. As for Ellis Island, you're absolutely correct. One of my US friends is called Severn. I...

Hi Lady P: LOL.:) And you're right. A thread about mistranslations could be fun. I have friends who live in Bolsover Road, Worthing, and if OCR doesn't improve, I shudder to think what their descendants will encounter when doing their research. As for me, not only has an unsuspected Scots...

Janice: MANY many thanks for this. Instant solving of this particular mystery. I shall send you porridge by return. FT.

Brasshaire Porrage Birmingham, Bras SH Porrage Bham, and Brass H. Porrage. As a retired journalist, it has belatedly occurred to me, in my dotage, that I know more about the life of many another than I do of my own. Accordingly, I recently decided to indulge in amateur genealogy. With the...