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How many trades ?

Heartland

Heartland

master brummie
It is said that Birmingham was a city of a thousand trades, but I seem to believe that there were more. The businessmen of the town or the later city grasped invention and pursued new trades aided first through being the centre of a canal network and then a railway network. The diversity of trade is reflected in the many trade directories of the period and in the newspapers.

This advert for 1879 is an example of that diversity.
GB0691-00680.jpg
 
I wonder if these are still available. Over here, roof ventilation is required, and we have a simple fan unit in the loft piped to ceiling grilles. However, this does not cope too well with "accumulations of hot air, sulphurous gases, dirt, waste flyings and other injurious effluvia". :mask:

Andrew.
 
"As the UK’s second city, Birmingham has certainly made a significant impact on Britain’s industrial and technological development over the past three centuries. Branded “the city of a thousand trades” and “the engine room of the UK” after its huge contribution to the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, Birmingham’s factories and workshops have been the lifeblood of its citizens since the 1800s."
Source: https://www.grapevinebirmingham.com/is-birmingham-still-the-city-of-a-thousand-trades/

That is a start point for the 'when'. A Brummie industrialist was probably the 'who'.

Andrew.
 
At present the first mention to Birmingham being termed as the City of a thousand trades that I can find is in September 1925 by the Birmingham Publicity Club.

In 1931 H Eyes, Secretary of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, estimated the actual number of trades to be 1201 trades.
 
It is stated in a few sources, including the book Birmingham: The Workshop of the World (editors including Carl Chinn), that Edmund Burke (1729-1797), in the late 18th C, was the first to refer to Birmingham as the City of a Thousand Trades. “…Whether or not Edmund Burke was accurate in describing Birmingham in the late 18C as the city of a thousand trades, it is a catchphrase that has become associated with the town's public identity…”

Burke is also said to refer to Birmingham as The (Great) Toyshop of Europe.

But as Birmingham was not a City until 1889 it seems unlikely that Burke would call Birmingham a city. The speech in which Burke referred to Birmingham being the Toyshop of Europe is widely said to be in a debate to Parliament in 1777, and there are many mentions of the Toyshop after that date. One interesting one is shown below from The Morning Herald of February 1818 and quotes a French traveller in 1810/11, and referring to Edmund Burke.

Also mentioned in 1803… “Burke called Birmingham the toy shop if the World. He was right for Manufacturers of that town have lately found their way not only to the Indian settlements of America, but to the extremities of Japan.”

9A07C327-ECA6-4053-BDDF-3848738E8B1B.jpeg
 
Many trades went overseas, here is an article concerning the trade between Portugal and Birmingham…
Birmingham Mail, October 1910

6EEF086F-B480-439A-8FCE-829845C8E34E.jpeg13C0F0FD-B613-440C-AD85-4D0CED37DE0B.jpeg
 
A Luso-British Controversy: The Case of Cacao de
Saint Thomas*

Introduction
THE
tension in Portuguese-British relations at the end of the
19th and early 20th century was largely due to
to the Ultimatum of 1890. The fragile relationship between Portugal and the
Great Britain got worse with a controversy that led the
English chocolatiers to boycott cocoa imports
from São Tomé and Príncipe, which, in turn, generated a
scandal in the national and international press.
Starting from an analysis of several news from the newspaper O Século,
published between 1907 and 1913, it is intended to reflect on the way
how the Portuguese press perceived this boycott. Having
Based on this analysis, an attempt will be made to identify the image that the Portuguese had of the British in a context of such great tension regarding the Anglo-Portuguese alliance.
This article is divided into four fundamental parts that
aim to contribute to a better understanding of the echoes of the scandal
in the press and the way in which the boycott negatively influenced
 
Brummie a long time ago said:
I wonder if these are still available. Over here, roof ventilation is required, and we have a simple fan unit in the loft piped to ceiling grilles. However, this does not cope too well with "accumulations of hot air, sulphurous gases, dirt, waste flyings and other injurious effluvia". :mask:

Andrew.
Click to expand...
Andrew, they are used decoratively in the US sometimes. Although for pure extraction domed louvered fans are more effective. Personally, I think they are very nice and trim a building or even shed with good taste!
 
Pedrocut said:
It is stated in a few sources, including the book Birmingham: The Workshop of the World (editors including Carl Chinn), that Edmund Burke (1729-1797), in the late 18th C, was the first to refer to Birmingham as the City of a Thousand Trades. “…Whether or not Edmund Burke was accurate in describing Birmingham in the late 18C as the city of a thousand trades, it is a catchphrase that has become associated with the town's public identity…”

Burke is also said to refer to Birmingham as The (Great) Toyshop of Europe.

But as Birmingham was not a City until 1889 it seems unlikely that Burke would call Birmingham a city. The speech in which Burke referred to Birmingham being the Toyshop of Europe is widely said to be in a debate to Parliament in 1777, and there are many mentions of the Toyshop after that date. One interesting one is shown below from The Morning Herald of February 1818 and quotes a French traveller in 1810/11, and referring to Edmund Burke.

Also mentioned in 1803… “Burke called Birmingham the toy shop if the World. He was right for Manufacturers of that town have lately found their way not only to the Indian settlements of America, but to the extremities of Japan.”

View attachment 169234
Click to expand...
Pedro, just rereading this..........I think the reference to Edmund Burke is correct and based on the work by Boulton, Watt, Murdoch et al. During their time (and others) 50+% of the worlds manufacturing took place in Birmingham (I'm not prejudiced :cool: ) and that a very large % of patents were from Birmingham. I may not be exact with the numbers, but I think directionally correct!
 
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