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Anarchists and Birmingham

A

acroamatic

proper brummie kid
Hello all,
I'm new here, so thought I would say hello. As part of doing some research I came across the Orsini case (rather than the much more well known Walsall bomb plot). I have put together an article about Italian nationalists and their ties to Birmingham at;
https://acroamaticonline.com/2017/08/24/a-night-at-the-opera/
I would welcome any feedback you have good or bad, and apologies if this could be interpreted as spam or advertising. I don't make any cash off this, but did think that some of you maybe interested.
Just as an aside, I have also written about Bella in the Wych Elm on the same site, because everyone seems to. Going forwards my plan is to basically use the site as a dumping ground for research, some of which I am sure will be pertinent to the Birmingham area (as that's where I live now).
Hope you enjoy, and please do let me know your thoughts / feedback.
Thanks all, and have a grand day wherever you are.
 
Given the amount of guns and munitions made in Birmingham, there must be many fascinating stories that can be found about Birmingham involvement, including the above.

According to the Birmingham Daily Post of March 1858....

(Conspirators)....how to get some shells manufactured in England who make real shells, and consequently this task was confined to the Englishman Allsop. Allsop applied to Mr Taylor, at Birmingham ....(letters to hasten the manufacturer....Mr Taylor receives 8s 6s 6d postal order for work done)...

...Three of the revolvers, it appears, had been purchased from a Birmingham firm Messrs Gales and Sheath (probably Hollis and Sheath), and we believe the following reference to a professor of chemistry has also a local bearing...

(Hollis and Sheath...Birmingham gunmakers...Weaman Row, St Mary's Square, 1800-1900)
 
A very interesting article, and of obvious interest to Birmingham history. I should point out that the site is mainly for the history of Birmingham ( and the nearby surrounding area). Therefore any later contributions with no connection with Birmingham should go in the General discussion section.
There is one understandable error in your piece. In the 1880s and slightly later the numbering of many ( but not all) streets in Birmingham , which had up till then been numbered consecutively were renumbered odd numbers one side, even the other side. so numbering in the time concerned will be different than today.
I tried to determine what the number was today. However, on looking at Dix's 1858 directory (which I have digitally), I could not find a reference to a Joseph Taylor in Lawley St, and no 49 is a James Evans. I went to the historical directories site in case there were two separate editions, and found the same. I attach a list of the Joseph Taylors from the directories website, and the Lawley st listing. Have I missed something, or was it a different directory you got the address from?

joseph taylors from dix 1858 directory.jpgPart of Lawley st listing from dix's directory 1858.jpg
 
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Hello all
Thanks for the feedback - it is very much appreciated;
mikejee - I pulled the data regarding the erstwhile Mr Taylor from Graces' (as opposed to Dix) which is my error - which has now been sorted from https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/History_and_Directory_of_Birmingham,_1849:_Guns. From what I can tell he started life as a gunsmith / engraver on Lawley Street before moving on to work as an engineer on Broad Street (at least according to Graces' anyway: https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Joseph_Taylor). Human error there and the wonders of poor note taking - let that be a lesson to all.
Pedrocut - Birmingham is full of stories owing to its rich engineering background. WRT the Orsini affair, it is probably *very* likely that Thomas Allsop was involved, but he managed at the time to evade prosecution. At the trial of Bernard (AFAIK) Allsop was blamed for ordering however according to the Dictionary of National Biography; "On the trial of Dr. Bernard for being concerned in what was called the ‘attempt of Orsini,’ it transpired that the shells employed were ordered by Allsop in Birmingham; but as he used no concealment of any kind and gave his name and address openly, it did not appear that he had any other Knowledge than that the shells were intended as an improvement in a weapon of military warfare". That said this is the same Bernard that was later committed to the Brook House Lunatic Asylum so he may or may not have been the most reliable of witnesses. As such although its contrary to accepted wisdom I have made the sweeping generalisation that Orsini orchestrated the purchase of the Birmingham bombs (especially as this saved me the job of having to spend thousands of words detailing the UK radicals of the period many of which were situated in and around Muswell Hill in London rather than Birmingham) ;)
Again thank you both for the feedback - hope you enjoyed and such. I'm currently raking the coals over William Henry Bury (who again has a link to this part of the world) and then workloads and things permitting, I'll be refocusing on Birmingham based radicals, especially nineteenth and early twentieth century terrorist types, as that is one of my areas of specific interest...
Cheers again for taking the time out, and I hope it was worth it from your perspective ;)
 
There was a Joseph Taylor at 49 Lawley Street in 1849 in the PO Directory of 1849 and down as a gun engraver.
 
That's who my money is on - my *guess* (and I hate doing that) is that it seems likely that he may have kept the workshop on to fabricate the devices in - unless he was making them on Broad Street (or at home) which would actually be massively interesting if it could be proven.
 
Also this does beg the question why arms were purchased in both Paris and in Birmingham - again, the oddities of history etc. ;)
 
That is very much of interest. A bomb maker next to a pub... what could possibly go wrong eh? ;)
Also it is a LOT further down the road than I thought - looks like I'll be having to take my camera out and about to get a picture of a very bleak looking block of flats soon ;)
 
A professor and a well known low comedian seems a very strange mix of folks... I am assuming the cellar was possibly the New Street address of the erstwhile Mr Taylors' employers... The plot does indeed thicken (as plots are loathe to do) and this is entirely new information to me. My sincere thanks for digging this one up. And now to find the details of all the low born comedians of the era ;)
 
I should have said that the letter turns out to be a hoax and the story is quite lengthy. I was going to split it up as thumbnails. Will do so later.

I liked the interpretation put on this letter as the Government willing to play lacquey to the French Emperor!
 
I'm not shocked by the hoax. The media of the past were just as corruptible and eager for a story as their peers today (the difference being that they didn't any any regulation, other than self regulation) ;)
The interesting thing for me about this particular case is that it was in essence a precursor for the Anarchist panic of a few years later, and the difference in response to Orsini by both the press and the public is an interesting one compared that which faced Irish dynamiters or later proponents of propaganda of the deed.
 
Wow... the gall of Allsop; "Dear Sir, where are my bombs?" ;)
Many thanks for the scan of that, it contains a new found favourite phrase that I am sensing I will get much use from, namely, "a speed almost unparalleled for red tapery" ;)
 
Yes, another long article, I was just looking for mentions of Birmingham.

What intests me here is the following description!


IMG_2105.jpg
 
Fascinating... especially as this is the first time, I have ever seen the address of Pieri listed anywhere ;)
It's always amazed me that there wasn't more regulation of the mechanisms of producing very dangerous goods previously. Additionally, outside of the Walsall plot, AFAIK there were very few bomb throwing Anarchist types in Birmingham, which given the availability of explosive materials and the general conditions has always surprised me somewhat.
 
I started a thread...Infamous people associated with Birmingham, and mentioned George Kynoch see post 3...

https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/for...associated-with-birmingham.47071/#post-580970

In December 1867 there were the "Fenian arrests" in London, two prisoners Burke and Casey were charged with treason-felony and the Press commented "Important evidence from Birmingham.”

George Kynoch gave evidence saying he was a percussion cap and ammunition maker, and general firearms dealer of 45, Little Hampton Street. He knew the prisoner Burke, but not by name. He had met Burke who led him to believe he represented a mercantile firm. In the first lot he supplied 250,000 percussion caps and 40 of Lemaitre and Gerard 10-shooter revolvers at around £385....Kynoch had said that he obtained the revolvers from different manufacturers and were examined at his office....in all he may have sold Burke 657 revolvers from 1865 to 1866, at a cost of £1,972 of which all but £18 had been paid, invariably, in cash. There were also rifles and implements....cross examination of Kynoch was deferred.

In May 1868 Burke came up for trial at the Old Bailey and was sentenced to 15 years penal servitude.
 
There are definitely more than a few links to Irish Republicans in Birmingham. I'm going to have a dig into the wider reach of the Walsall plot at some point over the next few weeks too, as their seem to be some tangential links closer to the city centre which I very much want to chase down...
 
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