Sherborne Street, Ladywood

[RainbowGirl]

I have today received a copy of my grandmother's birth certificate which shows she was born at 111 Sherborne Street. On looking at Royal Mail I could not see a 111. Does anyone know if part of the street has been knocked down and re-built as something else?

 

[petewhitemdr1]

hi, i am currently working on sherbourne st as a brickie, not much left in the way of old housing its all flats (sorry apartments) standing on the fifth floor its apartments as far as the eye can see.

 

[sospiri]

Well that closed down that thread pretty quickly, but I know what petewhitemdr1 meant - there's not an original matchstick standing. I think I was round there last on a very wet day in 2007 and one of the siteworkers told me that I was three months too late. I'm specifically interested in number 56, which until WW2 was a haulage yard owned by William Henry SHEPPARD, my father's elder brother. With the revival lately of the old street pics thread, has anyone got any Sherborne Street pics that aren't already on Mac Joseph's site and which hopefully might cover number 56 please? If I ask very nicely, mikejee might come along with a pre-war map and indicate just where the building was.

On 23 November 1940, Hitler bombed number 64 and several people with the name SHEPHERD were killed, though I do not believe that they were related. However, perhaps it was enough of a bad omen to persuade William Henry to shut up shop and move out to Linchmere Road, Handsworth. Any pictures or information warmly welcome as there is precious little left of that area now.

Maurice

 

[pollypops]

Maurice do you mean Sherlock Street or Sherborne Street?

 

[sospiri]

Most definitely Sherborne Street, Ladywood, Pollypops. Ooops, I will correct the earlier typo. Thanks

Maurice

 

[pollypops]

I was worried you might get pictures of the wrong street

 

[jjuj]

I was born at 7 Sherborne Street as were 3 generations of us. I was in Sherborne street about 3/4 years ago, it has changed completly except that where our house stood and right up to Grosvenor Street west is a wasteland. There was a tree standing where our front door would have been. Does anyone know if this section has been built on yet?

Just an update. I visited Sherborne Street in August and the area from where the Gas offices were, [this faced the Birmingham Guild] up to Grosvenor Street West is still a waste ground, with the tree still standing. The pub 'The White Swan' in Grosvener Street was being altered inside, but seems they are leaving the exterior intact.

 

[Astonian]

Hi jjuji
Yes they are been built around and all over that area for many years now built yuppie apartments
And I recall as a nipper growing up when they first cleared the good old houses we as kids would go in with torches down the. Callers of the bombed houses looking for German or English war helmets and gas masks we found loads as to loads best wishes astonian

 

[BIGBOY]

My 2 great grandparents lived at 99-100 Sherborne Street George Henry Spicer and Nellie SPicer

 

[jjuj]

Just an update. I visited Sherborne Street in August and the area from where the Gas offices were, [this faced the Birmingham Guild] up to Grosvenor Street West is still a waste ground, with the tree still standing. The pub 'The White Swan' in Grosvener Street was being altered inside, but seems they are leaving the exterior intact.

 

[reghorse]

Well that closed down that thread pretty quickly, but I know what petewhitemdr1 meant - there's not an original matchstick standing. I think I was round there last on a very wet day in 2007 and one of the siteworkers told me that I was three months too late. I'm specifically interested in number 56, which until WW2 was a haulage yard owned by William Henry SHEPPARD, my father's elder brother. With the revival lately of the old street pics thread, has anyone got any Sherborne Street pics that aren't already on Mac Joseph's site and which hopefully might cover number 56 please? If I ask very nicely, mikejee might come along with a pre-war map and indicate just where the building was.

On 23 November 1940, Hitler bombed number 64 and several people with the name SHEPHERD were killed, though I do not believe that they were related. However, perhaps it was enough of a bad omen to persuade William Henry to shut up shop and move out to Linchmere Road, Handsworth. Any pictures or information warmly welcome as there is precious little left of that area now.

Maurice

A bit late i know but just found your reply here.
My name is Horseman and as a 2 year old i was in the cellar of no 64 when the bomb fell on it in 1940. My mother was a Shepherd and we took refuge in my uncle Howerds cellar at no 64. As you know a lot of people were killed that night, though my family would never talk about it. I lost 6 of my family including my grandmother and others.
It would appear that all on one side of the cellar died and those on the other (my) side died.
We actually lived at 2/80 Blythe St and had ironically gone to Sherborne St to shelter.
The very sad part was the fact we had a good cellar in our house in Blythe St.
Their names are on the BARRA memorial which is situated outside St Martins church in the city centre.
Shortly after that we moved to Shropshire, but dad who had been on Air Raid Precaution duty and in the day worked making components for aircraft had to stay on in Brum.
Very sad days, and mom never really got over the trauma and suffered badly with nerves.

 

[sospiri]

Late, but not too late, Reg, as I am still about!

Sorry to hear that it was your family who were there on that fateful night. It must have been a frightful experience. My father's eldest brother, William Henry SHEPPARD had the haulage business at 56 Sherborne Street and he'd taken it over from his father-in-law, John George PICKERING upon the latter's death in 1918. Most of the rest of the story is in my post #3 above.

But I was still a schoolboy when my father died in 1952 and had never met my uncle, William Henry. At my father's funeral only one of his sisters turned up and we all assumed that William Henry had died in the late 1940s. So it was quite a surprise to learn only a few years ago that he outlived my father by nine months. It's a strange world sometimes. Unfortunately and despite much searching, I've never been able to find a photograph of that part of Sherborne Street.

Dad had lived most of his single life in Ladywood - 120 Great Tindal Street and 12 Alston Street - and when he and my mother got married in 1935, they lived in various houses in Aston before moving to a bomb-damaged house at 215 Knowle Road, Sparkhill. Five houses next door to that were destroyed and several people were killed and the morning after was pictured in the Birmingham Mail here https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/knowle-road-sparkhill.43482/#post-622978 but sadly not the Sherborne Street bombing.

Thanks for getting in touch, Reg, and I hope you find this friendly Forum interesting.

Maurice

 

[reghorse]

Late, but not too late, Reg, as I am still about!

Sorry to hear that it was your family who were there on that fateful night. It must have been a frightful experience. My father's eldest brother, William Henry SHEPPARD had the haulage business at 56 Sherborne Street and he'd taken it over from his father-in-law, John George PICKERING upon the latter's death in 1918. Most of the rest of the story is in my post #3 above.

But I was still a schoolboy when my father died in 1952 and had never met my uncle, William Henry. At my father's funeral only one of his sisters turned up and we all assumed that William Henry had died in the late 1940s. So it was quite a surprise to learn only a few years ago that he outlived my father by nine months. It's a strange world sometimes. Unfortunately and despite much searching, I've never been able to find a photograph of that part of Sherborne Street.

Dad had lived most of his single life in Ladywood - 120 Great Tindal Street and 12 Alston Street - and when he and my mother got married in 1935, they lived in various houses in Aston before moving to a bomb-damaged house at 215 Knowle Road, Sparkhill. Five houses next door to that were destroyed and several people were killed and the morning after was pictured in the Birmingham Mail here https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/knowle-road-sparkhill.43482/#post-622978 but sadly not the Sherborne Street bombing.

Thanks for getting in touch, Reg, and I hope you find this friendly Forum interesting.

Maurice

Hi. As I said in my first post that we left Brum soon after the bombing to stay with friends in Shropshire and apart from going back to visit relatives in school holidays that’s it. But I still like to go back and look around, but the only thing that has not really changed is the canal system. The city centre and Bullring is totally modernised, afraid I am not too keen on the new look.
I am very much into sport and still like to visit to see a soccer or cricket match. A day at Edgbaston to watch cricket is my cup of tea.
Times were tough when mom was little, though her auntie was a music teacher and taught mom to play piano, she became very good , and I loved the times as a small boy when the family got together, mom on piano , dad on harmonica, uncles on concertina and banjo and Uncle Harry singing.
Back to Sherborne St. My grandfather although crippled was a self employed Cooper and used to deliver his barrels around Brum on a horse and cart with the kids to help him. He had a long whip to control his horse and he used it at night to control the family.
No tv or even radio back then so not much to do at night. Perhaps that’s the reason that my granny had 18 children of which 12 survived to adulthood.

 

[sospiri]

Reg,

There's many on here, including myself, who are critical of the way that Brum was redeveloped, but in our cases most of the damage was done long after we had left the city. I've lived in Crete for almost 15 years and it's been five years since I last saw the UK. Some members are spread all over the globe and many of us content ourselves in remembering it how it used to be, both the good bits and the bad. The last time I saw Sherborne Street it was unrecognisable.

Maurice

 

[Astoness]

Hi. As I said in my first post that we left Brum soon after the bombing to stay with friends in Shropshire and apart from going back to visit relatives in school holidays that’s it. But I still like to go back and look around, but the only thing that has not really changed is the canal system. The city centre and Bullring is totally modernised, afraid I am not too keen on the new look.
I am very much into sport and still like to visit to see a soccer or cricket match. A day at Edgbaston to watch cricket is my cup of tea.
Times were tough when mom was little, though her auntie was a music teacher and taught mom to play piano, she became very good , and I loved the times as a small boy when the family got together, mom on piano , dad on harmonica, uncles on concertina and banjo and Uncle Harry singing.
Back to Sherborne St. My grandfather although crippled was a self employed Cooper and used to deliver his barrels around Brum on a horse and cart with the kids to help him. He had a long whip to control his horse and he used it at night to control the family.
No tv or even radio back then so not much to do at night. Perhaps that’s the reason that my granny had 18 children of which 12 survived to adulthood.

smashing post reg thanks....18 children must the most i have heard of but as we often say it was a different world back then

all the best lovely to read some of your memories

lyn

 

[IsabelM]

I have today received a copy of my grandmother's birth certificate which shows she was born at 111 Sherborne Street. On looking at Royal Mail I could not see a 111. Does anyone know if part of the street has been knocked down and re-built as something else?

Hi its probably a long shot as this seems to be an old post. My grandfather was born in 111 Sherborne Street too so I was wondering if your grandmother is his sister.

 

[IsabelM]

Hi I am looking for some information on Henry Stokes and Leonard Stokes who where twin brothers and lived 111 Sherborne Street

 

[reghorse]

smashing post reg thanks....18 children must the most i have heard of but as we often say it was a different world back then

all the best lovely to read some of your memories

lyn

Again a bit late but just to add that Mom told me that her mother actually conceived 24 times but only 18 were born alive. Of which 12 survived. I knew of my Mom, aunties Blanche and Violet and uncles Harry, Wallace , Fred , Ted.

 

[worcspaul]

My great-uncle, then great-aunt then uncle owned J.C.Newey which manufactured navigation lamps for ships. In the family it was always known as "the factory" though there were at most, half a dozen employed there.

My dad worked there for over 40 years as a power press toolsetter and I worked there on Saturdays and holidays in my late teens. My one regret is that I never took any photos of the interior when I had the chance, nor of the exterior before it was all swept away.

I'd be interested if anyone had any photos of the lower end of Sherborne Street where the business was located. The only picture I've found so far is on www.oldladywood.co.uk which shows it next to Sherborne Rubber. I think it would have been roughly where the Voyager building of the Jupiter development is located.

Paul

 

[oldMohawk]

An aerial view of Sherborne Street date 1948. The blue dot marks the junction with St Vincent Street and the red dot the junction with Grosvenor Street West. Unfortunately the resolution is low.

image source 'britainfromabove'

A similar view today ....

 

[Ladypuma]

Again a bit late but just to add that Mom told me that her mother actually conceived 24 times but only 18 were born alive. Of which 12 survived. I knew of my Mom, aunties Blanche and Violet and uncles Harry, Wallace , Fred , Ted.

Again a bit late but just to add that Mom told me that her mother actually conceived 24 times but only 18 were born alive. Of which 12 survived. I knew of my Mom, aunties Blanche and Violet and uncles Harry, Wallace , Fred , Ted.

Hello, years late but having just seen this I think you are a distant relative of my husband. Your grandmother I think was Amy Shepherd nee Cooper? Amy's brother Arthur was my husband's great grandfather. Amy's mother Charlotte had 19 children, so it doesn't surprise me that your grandmother had 18.
The loss of life in one family on one night was awful, but no-one in the family talked about it, it was me who discovered the facts.

LadyPuma

 

[Goflyfalco]

A bit late i know but just found your reply here.
My name is Horseman and as a 2 year old i was in the cellar of no 64 when the bomb fell on it in 1940. My mother was a Shepherd and we took refuge in my uncle Howerds cellar at no 64. As you know a lot of people were killed that night, though my family would never talk about it. I lost 6 of my family including my grandmother and others.
It would appear that all on one side of the cellar died and those on the other (my) side died.
We actually lived at 2/80 Blythe St and had ironically gone to Sherborne St to shelter.
The very sad part was the fact we had a good cellar in our house in Blythe St.
Their names are on the BARRA memorial which is situated outside St Martins church in the city centre.
Shortly after that we moved to Shropshire, but dad who had been on Air Raid Precaution duty and in the day worked making components for aircraft had to stay on in Brum.
Very sad days, and mom never really got over the trauma and suffered badly with nerves.

My mother-in-law, Margaret (Madge, Marge) Taylor lived at 6 back of 139 Sherborne St until her marriage in 1938. Her mother’s name was ”Lou” and her father was Arthur. There were ten children, Fred, Madge, Arthur, Lily and Rose, (twins), Winnie and Bernard. A pair of twins died very young.
Marge was born in 1915 and died in 2002. Her mum moved to Cannock after the war.
Just before she died, I chatted to her about her home in Sherborne Street to see how much she remembered despite her dementia. She remembered the names of all the neighbours in the yard and the shopkeeper nearby!

 

[Teppsta]

Hi all. as some of you obviously know the area, I wonder if anyone has any info at all about a pub called the Sherborne Tavern, which I believe was at no 1 Sherborne Street. I haven’t been able to find anything on the web. I believe my great grandfather was the publican, hence the interest.

 

[MWS]

There are a number of mentions of the Sherborne Tavern in the newspapers on findmypast, from at least 1867 to 1909.

 

[pjmburns]

In the 1868 director it has no name and is listed just as a beer retailers

Similarly in 1878

 

[pjmburns]

1883


1890


1900

 

[mikejee]

Teppsta
If you give the name of your grandfather , we will probably be able to confirm the information

 

[Teppsta]

@mikejee thanks. It was my great grandfather, William Collins, and it would have been around 1900. He married a lady called Anne Bartlett In 1894.

From the internet I see more info about a different pub called the Rose Tavern - but nothing about the Sherborne Tavern.

@MWS thanks - I will take a look at Find my Past.

@pjmburns thanks for all the snips. Could you confirm they are for the Sherborne Tavern at No 1 Sherborne Street? Many thanks

 

[pjmburns]

The snips are all no 1 Sherbourne Street but at no point did I find the name Sherbourne Tavern.
I posted them because you put no. 1 as the address.
I think there was a Sh.erbourne Hotel further down the street so will check names later - unless someone beats me to it.
Where did you see it called Sherbourne Tavern?

 

[mikejee]

Looking at Kellys Ditectories
There is a William Collins listed as a beer retailer at 25 Cardigan Street in 1899 and 1900 editions
He is listed as at 1 Sherborne St in the 1903 , 1904 , 1908 and 1910 editions
In 1912 he is a beer retailer at 81 King Edwards Road
In 1913 edition he is no longer listed as a beer retailer
The year is the publication date and likely refers to the year before