Newspapers : From Birmingham Post 150 years ago

[mikejee]

26.9.1863
Would this be what I have heard called the Kings Norton Mop ?
A free library, though, if the main content is similar to the added content, somewhat heavy material. Maybe it was provided by St Martins church.
Am reminded of Al Capone, where they couldn't get him for his real crimes, so got him for income tax evasion/
Have got so used to hearing of crinolines catching fire and being death traps that it was surprised to hear that, on occasion, they can be the opposite.

 

[Phil]

Mike,


Mops were held annually at places like Kings Norton and Stratford upon Avon along with other venues. At first these mops were held to find agricultural workers for the coming year but eventually they became just a street fair and market as workers moved away from agriculture into the cities because of new machinery.

 

[brummie nick]

This site explains it.

https://www.kingsnorton.info/articles/mop_fair.htm

 

[DavidGrain]

Hiring fairs usually took place around about Michaelmas (29th September) often in many places in early October

 

[mikejee]

I had heard of the mop, but always just as the mop. I had not before heard it referred to as in the advert . but obviously, from Nick's link it was so-called..

 

[Phil]

Mike,

Stratford upon Avon, Mop Fair. It looks pretty crowded.

 

[DavidGrain]

Nottingham has a Goose Fair in early October as do a number of other towns. This was also the Michaelmas Hiring Fair.

 

[mikejee]

28.9.1863
The Stourbridge railway is almost completed.
Out of luck for this day '
Mutton chops for the beggar.

 

[mikejee]

29.9.1863
Is this the 1860s equivalent of a card in the window offering french lessons?. Examined by a bishop as well - must be expensive !

 

[DavidGrain]

Could do with a lady like that to explain the Latin jokes in the Asterix books

 

[mikejee]

30.9.1863
Am trying to work out what happened with the parcels they mention. did they accept them and the conductor deliver, or did you get charged for each parcel you carried?
This would probably have been viewed with horror by many at that time, and today he would probably be arrested.

 

[mikejee]

1.10.1863
Regarding the first report, after seeing the evidence in support of the defendant at the end of the article, I would think most people would avoid american bacon. However the second item shows an advert from the same issue , which had been running regularly for at least 6 months in the paper. Possbly it might not run again!
The power of suggestion can be very great , especially when it arises fro something consumed.

 

[mikejee]

5.10.1863
Renovations at the Prince of Wales theatre.
Life of William Buckle.
Masque at Grand Sultan Divan. I wonder if the venue had yet reached the stage of being the "den of iniquity" it was described as immediately before being taken over by the YMCA.
I knew there must be a use for guardian angels !

 

[mikejee]

7.10.1863
If you go by the applications for firework licensees, then the place to go for fireworks in 1863 seems most likely to be the hairdressers. Can't think why so many applied.
An earthquake felt all over the midlands and further north. Here is an extract of comments from Birmingham.

 

[barrie]

Earthquakes 'eh. We had one here in North Worcestershire, all the neighbours were talking about their experiences, my wife and me just smiled, we had slept through it all.

 

[mikejee]

8.10.1863

I rather like the idea of a waiting room in a pub for waiting for the bus !
He is putting out the boat for his friends after getting his spirits licence. wonder if it is free spirits.
I have never heard them called this, but know exactly what they are, and can see why the author would prefer a different pavement to one of "petrified kidneys"

 

[Astoness]

great snippets again mike....i also love the idea of a waiting room in a pub..trouble is i would have probably missed many buses lol

lyn

 

[DavidGrain]

Waiting room for the bus in a pub was only an up date on a coaching inn.

I wonder what petrified kidneys were. Do you think this was a sarcastic reference to cobble stone? I still see an occasional kerb stone of Rowley Rag

 

[brummie nick]

Petrified kidneys get a mention on this site.

https://mises.org/daily/3072


Quote As if all the noise and grime weren't bad enough the walking itself will be rough going: those egg-shaped cobblestones under our feet are known to locals as "petrified kidneys," and although the name is supposed to refer to their shape, the juxtaposition of "kidney" with "stone" also serves as an apt indicator of how unpleasant walking on them can be. Carlyle described doing so as "something like a penance":

 

[mikejee]

I certainly assumed that they meant those long cobble stones that do their best to sprain your ankle as you traverse them

 

[paul stacey]

There used to be a pub in Rowley Regis called the, 'Rowley rag'. paul

 

[mikejee]

9.10.1863
This was from the very early days of football, when it was played for pleasurable enjoyment
"Lady" refuses oath, and gets away with it.
This might be a bit of Dickens prose that is not in the anthologies

 

[DavidGrain]

If Lady Glamis was a potential witness what was she doing sitting on the bench?

 

[mikejee]

The aristocracy could probably do whatever they wanted then.

 

[mikejee]

10.10.1863
An interesting method of charging by a hotel. Wonder if it would stand up in court today.
An indignant ratepayer

 

[mikejee]

13.10.1863
Visit of Maori chiefs must have seemed a bit exotic to Brummies, but they obviously did not like being treated like young children.
To early for the Peaky blinders, and in Great Barr rather than Birmingham , but reminiscent of them.

 

[mikejee]

15.10.1863
Extract of Report from Board of Guardians meeting. I seems that the real name of Dickens' Scrooge was Barwell.
From this it seems that rates paid to the council will vary street by street depending on whether they have gas lighting in the street.

 

[mikejee]

16.10.1863
New Wesleyan Chapel in Nechells.
Horse scared by elephant.
Tories do not think that those on benefits should be allowed to vote, even if only a temporary situation.
A little disagreement as to the situation.
Can anyone explain what this advert might mean ?

 

[Vivienne14]

On the last article, maybe "state of the poll" means either head count or state of mind or general consensus. Poll was sometimes used to refer to the top of the head or pate. Today the ad isn't a very helpful notice, although doubtless it's meaning was clear in the 1860s. Given the incident in Smethwick with elephants and camels roaming around, (and of course the earlier Blondin incidents) well some people must have become increasingly nervous about setting up these events. Viv.



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[DavidGrain]

16.10.1863

Tories do not think that those on benefits should be allowed to vote, even if only a temporary situation.

I don't know what the qualification to vote in local elections would have been at that time but I think to vote in general elections you had to be forty shilling freeholders ie have a house with a ratable value of at least £2. Paupers as such would therefore have been excluded.

I agree with Viv on the meaning of the state of the poll as I think it means public opinion and perhaps the financial standing of the of event organisers.

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