Thanks for your reply @TwoJames Turner - Street
From Carl Chinn's Book "The Streets of Brum - Part 3"
James turner was a Birmingham gun barrel manufacturer who tenanted Holford Mill, Handsworth on the bend in the River Tame above Witton in the 1850s and 1860s. It seems unlikely that this road was named after him.
There is another James Turner, who was minister at Cannon Street Baptist Church from 1754-80. This is regarded as the 'mother' church of Baptists in Birmingham. Turner was instrumental in firmly establishing Baptists locally.
"Was James Turner Street in Winson Green named after the gun barrel manufacturer of that name or was the street name derived from James Turner, the 18th century Baptist minister from Cannon Street Church?"
P.S. This thread is not about the Channel Four program but about the origin of the street name
Thanks will follow up that suggestionMight be worth asking about A.H. Bevan's street register in the library.
https://www.newmanlocalhistory.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/history4-vol7.pdf
Thanks we now have a new possibility and this one makes a lot of sense.Is it possible is that the street was named after James Richard Turner of Rotten Park Lodge (d. 1933), who built many hundreds of houses in Birmingham and Smethwick around the turn of the century and was also active in local politics?
Yes a very plausible candidate, Just need to find some contemporary proof.A little more information about JR Turner, my great-grandfather. Born c. 1851 in Tiverton, Devon. Built whole swathes of houses in Edgbaston, Balsall Heath, Smethwick etc. Very well-known in Liberal political circles - Bonham-Carter family etc. I remember him being mentioned in documents held in the David Lloyd George museum in Criccieth. So a plausible candidate, I think.
I am looking for proof not a repeat of Carl Chinn's doubtful assertion who makes it clear in his book he goes not actually know.Article from the Daily Telegraph throws some light on the origin of the street name but not totally proven according to this article.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture...Benefits-Street-Many-people-here-do-work.html
Not sure this is the way to achieve assistance if I may say so. In fact I feel Jenny is owed an apology.I am looking for proof not a repeat of Carl Chinn's doubtful assertion who makes it clear in his book he goes not actually know.
If Jenny is owed an apology - I feely give one.Not sure this is the way to achieve assistance if I may say so. In fact I feel Jenny is owed an apology.
First of all I am not suggesting that "J R Turner" was the name that the street was named after that was suggestedI'm afraid Barnard that your suggestion that the road was named after J R Turner is very unlikely to be correct. The evidence for this, which you could have found for yourself rather than asking for information and being offhand with those who offer it, is that the street name first appears in directories in 1878 and 1879 as just "Turner St", a turning off Foundry Road. The street is not itself listed because either there were as then no buildings upon it , or, more likely, no commercial buildings or those other than domestic houses. By the time it is listed with occupants the name has been changed to James Turner St, presumably because it was realised that there was another turner St in Sparkbrook and people then were beginning to realise having two streets with the same name could cause problems and were thus altering names to eliminate this. It would be very unlikely that a street would be named after someone who was at the very most 27 , however well known a politician he later became, or how many houses he later built.