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Newspapers : From Birmingham Post 150 years ago

14.1.1865

It must be quite a large part of Bridgenorth (90 buildings) that is up for sale.
Halesowen had some misfortune with its bells, one cracked because it was being rung to celebrate a victory in a court case, and one because "it was being rung in a peculiar way"


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I don't what the "peculiar way" was that the bell was rung on Shrove Tuesday but the origin of the pancake race is said to be when a woman was making pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, she hear the "shriving bell" and rushed out of the house still clutching the frying pan.

Bridgnorth still returned two MPs in 1865. I wonder if this was classed as a "pocket borough". Amongst the particulars it said it was suitable for someone wishing to secure a seat in parliament.
 
16.1.1865
House wall on building being erected in wheeler St blown down. No health and safety in those days.
Looks like some competitors of the theatre Royal were trying to put the theatre down.
This must be one of the first instances of warnings of practices (false meter readers) still prevalent today.
Can't think why people might wish to visit a late poor rate collector, unless he was giving advice as to how to fiddle the rate they paid.


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That first report that the 'house' had blown down is misleading. Only part of a wall was blown down, not the whole structure. Exaggerated and misleading press reports are nothing new. Viv
 
19.1.1865
A rather strange letter concerning the arguments of "undesirable" visitors to Malvern. He refers to his people as "blacks", but, from his referring to workers in pits etc, and the fact that the number of coloured people in the area at the time must have been very small this must be a reference to those from the black country (well I think so)
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David.
That was the reason I added the last comment in brackets. I'm not sure if the reply the next day (20th) makes it any clearer (below). This writer definitely thinks the writer is using the term "blacks" perjoratively.

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I think it's a reference to slavery. The miners would at this time still be working in horrendous, unsafe conditions and getting fresh air in the hills would be liberating as well as healthy. So maybe it's saying miners were still effectively working as slaves despite its abolition in Britain. By taking away choices or freedom to take up the opportunity of these excursions reinforces that issue. Just a thought. Viv.
 
I have just remembered an old phrase we would not use today, "Working like a black". But then in two different places were I have worked, I have heard another old phrase used, followed by an immediate apology, "Play the white man" meaning do the right thing. As it happened both these times the phrase was addressed to men of Indian origin. They both took it in the spirit it was intended and one of them even used it himself saying about something, "he's not playing the white man".
 
DavidGrain said:
I have just remembered an old phrase we would not use today, "Working like a black". But then in two different places were I have worked, I have heard another old phrase used, followed by an immediate apology, "Play the white man" meaning do the right thing. As it happened both these times the phrase was addressed to men of Indian origin. They both took it in the spirit it was intended and one of them even used it himself saying about something, "he's not playing the white man".
Click to expand...

Back in the day we would have said "He`s working like a N...er" meaning someone was working really hard. It wasn`t racist, but say it today in this namby pamby pc country of ours & you`d have your collar felt by the old bill. ( is it ok to say old bill?)
 
I agree with you Viv. People often forget adults and children were often worked to death like slaves in Great Britain. The Mines, Mills, Factories etc. How good we have moved on with our way of life, the words we use and tolerance I hope.

Vivienne14 said:
I think it's a reference to slavery. The miners would at this time still be working in horrendous, unsafe conditions and getting fresh air in the hills would be liberating as well as healthy. So maybe it's saying miners were still effectively working as slaves despite its abolition in Britain. By taking away choices or freedom to take up the opportunity of these excursions reinforces that issue. Just a thought. Viv.
Click to expand...
 
21.1.1865

A new form of hansom cab manufactured by a Bradford St manufacturer, iron frame with papier mache skin.`I suppose it might be thought of ab the Victorian equivalent of glass fibre.

Problems reported on the results of the 1861 census.

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23.1.1865

Fire brigade tries to take credit.
The Conservative view of Birmingham As expressed by their supporters.
Meeting to discuss implementation of the Factory Acts as regards children.

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25.1.1865
Wrights keen to protect their product. Unfortunately the cable to which they refer was one of the last cables to use this protection method, as it was found to increase decay of the cable relative to other methods of protection.

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Below is the Wikipedia description of the cable's construction. Unfortunately it broke several times while splicing it mid-Atlantic. The first attempt was in 1857 but it wasn't until July 1858 that the cable was successfully spliced. The correspondent in 1865 talks about the 'Atlantic cable being made', surely they were't replacing the original cable? Or was it still called Atlantic cable and being made for another purpose? Viv.

"The cable consisted of seven copper wires, each weighing 26 kg/km (107 pounds per nautical mile), covered with three coats of gutta-percha, weighing 64 kg/km (261 pounds per nautical mile), and wound with tarred hemp, over which a sheath of 18 strands, each of seven iron wires, was laid in a close spiral. It weighed nearly 550 kg/km (1.1 tons per nautical mile), was relatively flexible and was able to withstand a pull of several tens of kilonewtons (several tons). It was made jointly by two English firms – Glass, Elliot & Co., of Greenwich, and R. S. Newall & Co., of Birkenhead. Late in manufacturing it was discovered that the respective sections had been made with strands twisted in opposite directions. While the two sections proved a simple matter to join, this mistake subsequently became magnified in the public mind."
 
Thanks Mike. Must be a lot of cable lying on sea beds across the world! According to the list a common part of the cable is gutta percha. I assume it acted as another layer of waterproofing. I've used it in floristry to wrap the stems of flowers for corsages, hence retaining the water in the stems and prolonging the life of the flowers. Amazing, I've managed to make a link between Atlantic telegraph cable and floristry! Note future question for University Challenge. Viv.
 
Second reference to Gutta Percha in two days. First the fire in Lancaster Street then the insulation on the Atlantic cable. I didn't know what it was until I just looked it up.
 
26.1.1865

Very small Extract from part of the Children's Employment Commission Report, which led eventually to restrictions on child labour, regarding education.
Report of sale of wife and two children. Shades of Thomas Hardy, but the person concerned had to pay a bit more.

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Unsurprisingly both extracts illustrate the total disrespect for women and children in the early victorian period. The children in the first extract had such low expectations and the blasé attitude in the second extract about the man's wife and children being of more value as saleable items is sickening. At least times have improved their prospects, even if there is today still concern about inequalities. Viv.
 
Actually the sale of the wife and children could have been a put up job as in those days ordinary working people could not afford a divorce. People genuinely believed that a "sale" in open market was perfectly valid. However the price was usually a nominal amount.
 
Surprised that "Baiting" was still a valid sport in the 1860's, I though it was prohibited by town statutes in the early 19th C. paul
 
I don't think it was Paul. The events happened in 1833, and I think that the paper was saying that they had omitted sections which were of opinion, rather than historical value
 
28.1.1865

Desirability of an exhibition hall, which has already been named Curzon Hall.
And snow still causes chaos, but at least the children enjoyed it.

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30.1.1865

List of industrial injuries to those workers under 18 treated as out patients at the General Hospital over 2 months in 1862. Note this included 7 10 years old or under, on of which had to have a finger amputated.

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31.1.1865

Fined for sliding in the streets. I wonder what it would have been if it was skateboarding (if they had existed then)

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