Newspapers : From Birmingham Post 150 years ago

[mikejee]

David
If you feel like wading through it, the eligibility is described at https://archive.org/stream/lawhustingsandp00cookgoog#page/n16/mode/2up . It would seem that your assessment was right, though it seems very complicated, including people such as "potwallopers"(!!). The situation here is described a little more fully in the fuller report (the item I originally posted was editorial comment), which is below. It seems to me that the chap may have been working for the guardians, but the argument is whether this "work" is genuine or contrived, possibly as a political backhander.
Never had that message myself, except when I tried to just post an attachment without words

 

[mikejee]

17.10.1863
Criticism of Snow Hill Station. A couple of days alter the GWR did apologise and made an excuse , saying the rush was unexpected, but this seems like the usual procedure of sweeping things under the carpet employed by utilities generally.
I rather like the cutting comment about boys being better treated in New Zealand. I think they are getting their own back after earlier (on 13th) commenting that they thought they were being treated like children.

 

[DavidGrain]

Snow Hill Station was rebuilt for the first time in 1871, 8 years after this report

 

[mikejee]

19.10.1863

There was mention I think on another thread of the Leopard being a centre for boxing. Here boxing lessons are being held there.
Those complaining of their working hours today should read these thanks to employers for "early" closing on Saturday nights.
There have been many reports of deaths and injuries arising form women's wearing of crinolines. They have not been banned for this, However, when damage to stock arises from their use, this is a different matter.

 

[Wendy]

My goodness I had no idea that crinoline's could cause so much damage!!

 

[Astonian]

hi mike and jenny
Just been reading the thread about crinalin which it said it was dangeros and emediately i thought of the word used
and i beleive is the same name my old me of he materials that wa use many years ago in the early 1900s
and how it came about for me to know of the word ;was because my mother told me of her life growig up when she was young girl
she was a clever woman and a clever girl growing up ; she had a private education from the day she could walk and talk
but i may have mentionioned afew years back about my great grand father whom bought the tea rooms or it was the resturaunt from
pattison and hughes [ pattisons ] resturaunt in the westeren arcade way back in the late 1800s -early 1900s ]
and she said hat the resturaunt had waitress; to serve the people at the tables and they wore a pinnie and a head dress made of this materials
and she said also it was the same for the staff at joe lyons whom was also not far from them in the city useing the same clothing of materials
so in that case there employees could have met with some sort of skin problems then; i wonder if they ever did releaized it in those days
that being the staff i am really surprizd to read that wendy and mike but its there black and white aint it
this was around the time mr pattison asked her out and eventualy asked her to marry him but she made a mistake by marrying the wrong bloke
my old man the gold digger when did they bann this material do you know ;best wishes Astonian;; Alan;;;;;;;;

 

[Vivienne14]

Yes Alan, according to Wikipedia, before it became the word for a dress, "crinoline was originally a stiff fabric with a weft of horse-hair and a warp of cotton or linen thread. The fabric first appeared around 1830....." It was in the 1850s that 'crinoline' came to refer to the dress. I always imagined it would be wonderful to wear one provided you didn't work in to, didn't go too close to naked flames, walk over discarded cigar butts, didn't attempt to do any physical exercise, or in fact do any normal daily activities except stand around and drink tea! Even sitting down could be treacherous and embarrassing. But one point in its favour was it was known to save a woman's life when she jumped off a bridge in Bristol and it also acted as an effective flotation aid when another women fell in a river. Viv.


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[mikejee]

21.10.1863
Navigation St Dining Hall sounds quite a big establishment. The prices show how the value of money has changed (remembering that this advert is in old pence). I was surprosed a plate of ham was the saem proce as a roll & butter. Did not last an enormous length of time though, as the 1867 PO directory does not list it

 

[sylviasayers]

I had a crinoline wedding dress it was lovely, but it was difficult to sit down in, as it lifted up at the back. Luckily I only had to look good and didn't have to do any work of any sort.

 

[oldMohawk]

21.10.1863 The prices show how the value of money has changed (remembering that this advert is in old pence).

Hot meat and baked potatos for 4d ... seems reasonable !
Take your pick of historic price calculators but one I used gave the following ....

Current data is only available till 2011. In 2011, the relative worth of £0 0s 4d from 1863 is:
£1.31 using the retail price index
£1.69 using the GDP deflator
£10.00 using the average earnings
£13.10 using the per capita GDP
£28.00 using the share of GDP

 

[Vivienne14]

21.10.1863
Navigation St Dining Hall sounds quite a big establishment. The prices show how the value of money has changed (remembering that this advert is in old pence). I was surprosed a plate of ham was the saem proce as a roll & butter. Did not last an enormous length of time though, as the 1867 PO directory does not list it

The bread roll price certainly does seem disproportionate to the price of dinners, meat etc. But bread prices were even used in setting wages at this time (via the Speedhamland allowance in the table below - from the Victorian Web site). So I suppose it's no surprise that bread was much more valued and its calorific value being a vital source of energy for labouring men. Viv.




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[Amanda Wright]

I was wondering if any of you could advise me ......

My Great Great Grandmother ... Mrs Elizabeth Coldrick, was found guilty of Serious Child Neglect in 1890..... the newspaper cutting she was sentenced to ..
A fine of 40 shillings or One months imprisonment with hard labour.. in the Newpaper records I can find no further follow ups on this...but I would love to know if she actually went to prison .... or paid the fine..
How would I go about this please ?

 

[mikejee]

22.10.1863
I am surprised that the barrels were left there. I gather each barrel had to be tested, and presumably they had paid for this in advance. I would have thought the firms would be anxious to sell the barrels on as soon as possible.
Gas explosion at Camp hill.(2 parts)
I think many would still have this impression !

 

[paul stacey]

Very Interesting, would have liked to read #2/1093, but it is out of focus when enlarged.paul

 

[BernardR]

Mike is it possible to scan the item regarding the Gas Explosion at a higher resolution please as [the print is very small] it pixelates when enlarged? I recognise that newsprint often does not scan well due to the printing methods and paper used.

Many thanks.




Bernard

 

[clarkie]

Amanda if you look on find my past you can pay to view the following report.

SHOCKING NEGLECT OF A CHILD IN BIRMINGHAM.
Children. Elizabeth Coldrick, wife of Alien Cold- rick, hackney-carriage driver, of Tennant Street, was summoned by J. Thompson, the representative of the society, for neglecting Ada Aulton, aged six years and eight months; in such a manner as to be injurious
Birmingham Daily Post
West Midlands, England
14/03/1890

Regards
Clarkie

 

[mikejee]

Its not just a matter of rescanning, Bernard. There must be some change when it is put into coppermine, or else, more likely when it is posted from coppermine to the forum, as my original scan was perfectly readable. Any way , have divided it into two and replaced the snippet in two parts in the original. Hope that works for you. If not , I will divide it further. It is for this reason that I only occasionally post larger items like this.

 

[Wendy]

It's fine for me Mike an interesting if rather sad read. I had never heard of a water slide chandelier, it sounds like they were a big problem if not topped up with water.

 

[BernardR]

That's great Mike I can now read it fine even on my tablet.

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[mikejee]

Wendy
Neither had I heard of them. there is a picture of one in the Science museum library apparently, but there is no online image and they won't let you see it unless you sign a document swearing to use it properly and not show to other people and pray to the science museum daily (well- not quite, but you get the idea). It is also metioned in two google books which only allow you to see that it is mentioned, and no detail. It seems to habve been a constant pressure device to keep the flame steady and bright. I have a vision in my head of a tiny device liek a mini-gasholder, with the gas kept in by the water, but this may be wrong. If it isn't wrong then its no surprise that they were dangerous.

 

[BernardR]

Water Slide Chandeliers - Have a look at this for a bit of info. Seems the water was to act as a seal at the joints.

 

[pollypops]

I had never heard of a water slide chandelier either. They sound very dangerous :upset:

 

[mikejee]

Thanks Bernard. The idea that a liquid that evaporates could be even suggested as a seal at a joint is amazing to me

 

[pollypops]

Mike, I asked my hubby about the water slide chandeliers and he said he thought the water might be used to seal in the gas. Apparently (if I have understood it right :culpability: ) some of the big gas holders (gasometers) are surrounded by water which seals in the gas. I am afraid I'm not very technical so probably haven't explained it correctly but it seems this way of keeping gas in might be still used today.

 

[BernardR]

No you are bang on Polly

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[mikejee]

Yes it is Polly, but there you have probably hundreds of gallons of water , and a bit of evaporation won't make much difference, whereas in the chandeliers there would presumably be only a few mls.

 

[mikejee]

23.10.1863

Walsall boy goes to jail after a game of marbles

 

[mikejee]

24.10.1863

£150 would have been a lot of money to be carrying around the, particularly if you were thinking of visiting a brothel !

Interesting info from the 1861 census. Would never have thought that then there were then 10 female bankers and 13 female doctors, though they may have been stretching it a bit , especially with the doctors. Incidentally glyphography was a method of making printing plates, and kamptulicon was a compound of cork and rubber (or similar), used for floor covering
Pickled feet - no, not a new black country delicacy

 

[Astoness]

great snippets again mike...

thanks for posting them

lyn

 

[pollypops]

I hope you don’t mind me going back to the article in post#1093 about the explosion/Gas water slide chandelier but I have managed to get some photos of one.
I am told this one is dated approx pre 1880 as they changed in design afterwards.
Because it is on the ceiling some of the photos had to be taken by holding the camera up high and it was not possible to inspect it closely but it was possible to pull it down and I think we have figured out how it worked.
Basically it is in two main parts. There is a narrow brass pipe that is attached to the Gas pipe on the ceiling and then there is the chandelier which is attached to a slightly wider brass pipe.
The narrow pipe fits inside the wider pipe enabling the chandelier to slide up and down telescopically.
Fixed to the top of the narrow brass pipe (by the ceiling) is a pulley mechanism which has 3 brass weights on chains. The end of the chains are attached to a cup shaped fitting at the top of the wider brass pipe. As the chandelier is pulled down the weights go up and stop the wider pipe from completely sliding off the narrow pipe.
It seems the water (about a pint?) is poured into the fitting with the scalloped shaped top (where the main part of the chandelier starts).
This water provides a seal to stop any gas from escaping from the joints/telescopic action of the chandelier. Because of evaporation this water needed to be kept topped up also a drop of oil (not sure what type) could be added to stop it evaporating so quickly.
The reason they needed to pull the chandelier down was because the light only shone upwards so lowering it illuminated more of the room.
It must have seemed a wonderful invention at the time but the risk of gas escaping was great - there are quite a few reports of explosions/deaths/damaged property due to lack of water or it being pulled down too low – because of faulty/missing weights or just too much force.
Many thanks to the National Gas Museum, Leicester, for allowing these photos to be put on our forum.
Unfortunately the Museum is closed to the public at the moment due to refurbishment of the building.

On the pictures ignore the large round light fitting to the left - that is nothing to do with the chandelier.
Picture 1: chandelier in it's normal position
Picture 2: chandelier pulled down
Picture 3: the weights/pulley
Picture 3: one of the glass shades
Picture 4: gas fitting inside the shade.