Sheep Street photos from around 1880.

[LindaD]

Hello. I live in Norway and am writing a book about my ancestors. My Great Grandfather lived at Court 6, Apartment 16, Sheep Street in Birmingham. He was born in 1865 and lived there until about 1885. His father was George Bennett and he worked as a Site Filer for guns. Henry Alexander (my Great Grandfather) followed his trade and later joined the navy putting his knowledge to good use. My questions are to anyone who reads my post; do you know the history of this street and why it is called Sheep Street? What sort of status did people have who lived in this area? Does anyone know of any gun factories in Birmingham during that time? Lastly, does anyone have any old photos of Sheep Street to share with me? I will be most grateful. Best regards and thank you for your time. Linda

 

[sylviasayers]

I too would be interested in any information of photos of Sheep Street. My g.g. grandfather John Raybould ran the Dog & Duck public house at 40 Sheep Street in 1861 when he was then aged 55 years with his 2nd wife Harriet, and their 2 children
Priscilla age 6, and Agnes 3 and baby Alfred Charles, together with my g.grandmother Mary 21 and John 18 from his first marriage.

 

[LindaD]

Yes, I hope somebody spots our appeals. I am deeply interested to learn about the how life was back then in Birmingham. I gather this district would have been for the working class, for my g. grandfather never went to school. He ended up in Kenya, East Africa as a coffee farmer and died there at the age of 47. He married a woman from Farlington, Portsmouth. They had 11 children, but only 6 lived to reach adulthood. Life was tough in Kenya those days. They arrived in Nairobi in 1904. Here is hoping that we get some replies Sylvia

 

[MWS]

There's another thread about Sheep St and surrounding area but there are no photos on there so I'd suppose they are few and far between especially that early.

Here is a map though from 1889...



...and a link to info about Gosta Green, the area where Sheep St was...

Gosta Green

William Dargue A History of BIRMINGHAM Places & Placenames from A to Y

billdargue.jimdo.com

 

[LindaD]

Thank you so much for the information your provided. All read with great interest!

 

[OuterCircleBus]

I'm a bit late replying to your enquiry. It seems that Sheep Street was in the Gosta Green area to the north east of Birmingham City Centre (or town centre then as Birmingham did not become a city until 1889). My map (attached) from the 1950s shows Sheep Street and landmarks at the time would have been the public baths in Woodcock Street (to the right) and the Central Fire Station, in the top left corner of the map. The whole of this area and many of the streets including Sheep Street have disappeared to become the campus for Aston University.
In the map you can see the two remaining courts in Sheep Street (in the 1950s) 11 & 12 to the to right side near to the top. Further down on the same side you can see the house numbers 37, 38 & 39. Next is an area with the word "Warehouse" and this may be where your ancestor's court (Court 6) would have been. Sylvia Sayers says that her relative John Raybould ran the Dog & Duck pub at number 40, so that would have been just there, next to number 39.
Taking a look at the map posted by MWS, which is very blurred, it seems that court 6 may have been on the opposite side of the road where Kyle Hall was built around 1893, this was a public hall and used as gymnasium.
I've attached a photograph of Kyle Hall (which may have been built where court 6 was, maps of Sheep Street from c1893 and c1950, along with a photograph of Aston Road from the north end of Sheep Street and a photograph of some typical court houses from Birmingham in around 1910.
It's worth noting that the census shows the address as 6ct 16H. This means court 6, but the 16 refers to the house number in the court. They would not have been apartments, but back-to-back houses.
I hope this helps.

Kyle Hall - c1893


Sheep Street - map c1889


Sheep Street - map c1950


Aston Street - looking south from corner of Sheep Street - 1934


A typical Birmingham court - Court 10 Cheapside - c1910