INDEX

    Nov 2010    Marie Fogg:The SMALBROKE FAMILY of BIRMINGHAM

    Oct  2010     Patrick Baird:THE HISTORY of BIRMINGHAM

    Sept 2010    David Cadney: THE Origins of GOLF in the WEST MIDLAND

    April 2010    Edna Handley: SOLIHULL NOW and THEN

     March 2010   Laurence Ince  DICKENS, WARWICKSHIRE and the JENNENS’ CASE

    Feb 2010      Dudley Warner:  CINEMAS in BIRMINGHAM & SOLIHULL 

    Jan  2010    Chris Upton: BIRMINGHAM BENEFACTORS

    Dec  2009    Joy Woodall: The Revd. William Greenwood;

                         David Patterson: Solihull Events in the 1930s on Cinefilm

     Nov 2009    John Johnson: THE HISTORY of JOHNSON’s COACHES 1909-2009

    Oct 2009    Mike Byrne:  YARDLEY and BLAKESLEY HALL

    Sept 2009   John Yates:  Civil Registration

The SMALBROKE FAMILY of BIRMINGHAM

 Talk given by Marie Fogg on 15 November 2010 to Solihull LHC

Marie Fogg gave a racy account (with fine illustrations) of this complicated family where, for instance, Richard the Younger was not the son (but the nephew) of Richard the Elder, who in turn was the son of Richard.

 The Smalbrokes had been a long established family in Birmingham. John of Aston committed a felony at Solihull in 1440, and Richard was recorded in the charity deeds of Yardley in 1463. Yardley was in Worcestershire, a linear village in the middle of which was the 13^th century church of St Edburgha. A later Richard owned Blakesley Hall and started to acquire land in Birmingham, including Ravenhurst, a house at Camp Hill, in 1551. He was involved with the establishment of King Edward VI Free School, and became its Bailiff dealing with its lands and income. Richard died in 1575. He bequeathed the glass (then very expensive) from his windows at Blakesley to Ravenhurst, to which he had moved two years earlier. He also had a salt vat at Droitwich. He had married Joan (d 1584) and they had 6 daughters and 2 sons.

Richard ‘The Elder’ married Margaret Greswold (nee Hall) in 1568 and, after her death in 1573, Elizabeth Kinnersley. They lived at Blakesley Hall until 1610 when they moved to Ravenhurst. Richard owned a large amount of land. He built a new Blakesley Hall (the present one) close to the old moated hall. He was not a Governor of King Edwards but rose, through his wealth, from yeoman to gentleman with a coat of arms. He was litigious, and was described in 1604 when claiming some land as being ‘greedy, troublesome and covetous’. When he died in 1613 he left the Ravenshaw estate to his wife, Elizabeth, ‘for the term of her natural life’ and upon her death it was to pass to his nephew Richard. Blakesley went to his grand-daughter Barbara, daughter of his son Richard (who must have died earlier as he was not mentioned in the will).

 Richard’s brother Thomas ‘The Elder’ married Elizabeth Colmore in 1570, and they had 4 daughters and 5 sons. They lived in a house near the Talbot Inn in Birmingham High Street. Thomas was a Mercer, ie a merchant probably trading in spices and cloth, but he also inherited leases of land and shops from his father, and added to them – sometimes jointly with his brother Richard. Thomas was a Governor of the Free School and in 1604 was accused by 17 fellow governors of embezzlement, but the case was dismissed. Other suits were mounted against him by William Colmore, his father-in-law, and clearly there was a family quarrel. Thomas died in 1608/9. His Will was long and detailed, recording all his holdings with their income in the bequests he made.

 Richard ‘The Younger’ (1571-1638) farmed the Blakesley estate. He inherited, ten years after his father’s death, the leases held from ‘the late Queen’. He was married to Margaret Knight and had 8 children. Thomas (b 1584), the second son, was a Mercer who continued his father’s business interests and inherited a number of leases. Thomas also traded in iron, buying 101 tons from Lord Paget’s ironworks at Teddesley (Staffs) between 1582-5 at a cost of £1225-9s-11d (equivalent to £183,000 today) – some of which was sold on to London merchants. He was married three times – to Elizabeth Rotten (d 1628) by whom he had 6 children, Mary Phillips (d 1639) and Hannah Cookes. Robert (1591-1672), the third son married Ann Phillips and had 3 daughters. He had also inherited a number of his father’s leases as well as half his books and writings.

 Thomas’s son Richard (1611-68), like his father, also married three times, first in 1635 to Ann Hawkins of Willenhall (d 1647), then to Judith Gough and then in 1657 to Margaret Knight. He continued the process of enlarging the Smalbroke estates during the difficult years of the Civil War and the Commonwealth. Margaret was the widow of a successful London lawyer whose family owned an estate at Rowington. Richard’s son, Samuel, married Elizabeth Knight and styled himself ‘of Rowington, gent.’ thus completing the family’s transition from burgesses to county gentlemen.

 Their only son, Richard (1672-1749), was a priest who became Bishop of St Davids in 1724 and then Bishop of Lichfield 1731-49. He wrote against Deists, attacked popery, was accused of ‘filling the church at Lichfield with his relations’ and was nicknamed the ‘Three Devil Bishop’. He married Catherine Brookes and they had 4 sons, none of whom married. The youngest one was Samuel, who became Rector of Wem and died in 1803 aged 84. The family property passed to the surviving children of his sister Catherine, who in 1733 had married yhe Rev. William Vyse. These were the Rev. W.Vyse, the Rector of Lambeth (d 1816) and General Vyse (d 1825). The latter’s successors were the Howard-Vyse family of Stoke Park.

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Talk by Joy Woodall to Solihull Local History Circle on 21 December 2009

The Revd. William Greenwood

In 1713 a young clergyman, Rev. William Greenwood, became Vicar of St Nicholas Church, Warwick. Within his parish was a large Elizabethan house, The Priory, set in extensive grounds. Built by a Mr Hawkins, a local fishmonger, it was visited by Queen Elizabeth in 1572, and later (1582) was the home of Sir John Puckering, Speaker of the House of Commons. In c1620 his son, Sir Thomas, rebuilt one wing. By c1660 it had 36 hearths – one of the largest houses in the county.

In 1709 The Priory was sold to Henry Wise (1653-1738), the Warwickshire born gardener and designer to the landed gentry. From their nursery in Kensington, Wise and his partner, George London, ran a highly successful fashionable and profitable business working at great houses throughout England – Chatsworth, Burghley, etc. Wise was Royal Gardener to William III, Queen Anne and George I, and became very wealthy. He married in 1695 and had 10 children. By 1706 they were living in Warwick, but a life tenant prevented them from occupying The Priory until 1727.

Despite his wealth, his eldest daughter, Mary, was allowed to marry Rev. Greenwood, a poorly paid clergyman. In 1724 Greenwood also became Vicar of St Mary’s (Warwick’s other parish church), newly rebuilt (1704) and much admired after the fire of 1694. Greenwood lived in style at Eastgate House, even after being appointed Rector of Solihull in 1739. He resigned from St Mary’s but retained St Nicholas, which he would not allow to be rebuilt.

In March 1757 ‘a great hurricane’ blew down a large portion of St Alphege’s spire, the rest falling as the wind continued. The cost of repairs, £3,000, caused The Feoffees to mortgage part of the Charity Estate (including The Barley Mow) for 20 years. Repairs to the chancel roof, Dr Greenwood’s responsibility, cost £100. Dr Greenwood died in 1769, aged 80.

Solihull Events in the 1930s on Cinefilm

David Patterson then showed some of the cinefilms taken by his father. Amongst local events were the King & Queen arriving to open Birmingham CentralHospital in 1939 (which the Queen, by mistake, named after herself), the Solihull Carnival (with Robin Hood and his Merry Men in 1938 and the Court of King Arthur in 1939), the Shirley Carnival, all with their processions of floats and bands, and Eversfield School Sports Day. There were also family scenes (David’s mother, Daye, was keen on dressing up), visits to Dudley Zoo, Lower Slaughter and Bourton-on-the-Water, besides a holiday in North Wales from which the family came home immediately on hearing the announcement of war on 3 September 1939.
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Talk given by John Johnson on 16 November to Solihull LHC              

                              THE HISTORY of JOHNSON’s COACHES 1909-2009

Jack Johnson, the speaker’s grandfather, became the Henley Carrier in 1909 with a horse and cart. His wife Ethel had a shop, which sold everything, at 79 High Street next to the yard, and also helped him with the business. They lived above the shop which also served as an office, whose telephone number was Henley 20. In 1914 Jack bought a petrol driven wagon, manufactured by the Belgian firm ‘Metallurgique’(1898-1928) : this was commandeered by the army and never seen again. By 1925 he had a motorised bus/van which could take passengers and goods, with fold up seats which provided flexibility. Jack provided a regular service from Stratford, Warwick & Leamington to Birmingham – the same route that the company’s Xpress buses (Route 20) have run (hourly, seven days a week) from the start of 2009.  Jack & Ethel later moved to larger premises at 32 High Street, and installed a hand operated petrol pump at the entrance. Jack died aged 62 but his widow (Grandma) lived until 1969 when she was 93, during which time she was the major shareholder. Johnsons became a limited liability company in 1934.

 Jack & Ethel had two sons. The elder, Philip, ran the business throughout WWII. Roy (the speaker’s father) became a teacher in Smethwick, serving in the RAF during the war. In 1943 Philip was advised to buy two new busses as business would boom as soon as the war ended. He needed to borrow money, but Grandma, who never owed anything, refused to allow this. Philip had them built secretly, but when the builder needed details of livery/signwriting, Grandma told him to sell them – without telling Philip. Competitors gained great advantage at the end of the war, and Philip was able only to buy one second-hand coach. It was not until 1956 that he could afford to buy a new vehicle. At this time he concentrated on carrier work and developed furniture removals.Philip died in 1969, as did Grandma later the same year. This caused major death duty problems, and arguments continued with the taxman for a decade, during which the company only just survived. Roy, who had been helping his brother at weekends and in the holidays, gave up teaching and took over the business with his wife. She gained a Public Service Vehicle licence – one of few women at that time to have one – and is still involved with the company. In 1972 they appointed a manager and he changed the company’s name to ‘Forest of Arden’. This lasted until 1979 when Roy’s sons, John and Peter, both qualified motor mechanics, joined the business, the manager left and the family’s name was restored.

 Roy was a great collector of Victorian bottles (for which he mined former rubbish dumps down to 20ft), old cars, motor cycles, Singer sewing machines, and tools (300 hammers, 50 planes) - all of which he restored. When rubber covered copper wire was being replaced with  plastic insulated wire, he collected the wire and sold it for £800. This immediately prompted questions from the taxman, and further battles ensued.

 The furniture removal business was sold in the early 1980s when Johnsons decided to concentrate on passenger business. Following deregulation, they introduced coach holidays in 1981, with listings on Gestetner sheets: by 1987 they had printed a brochure. A female courier accompanied each holiday, which was almost unheard of at that time. Nowadays, as a further refinement, each traveller is picked up from home and brought to the coach by one of 12 minibuses. Johnsons bought two local operators – Fletchers of Studley and Arnold Shaw of Warwick – and gradually increased their number of coaches. A picture taken in 1994 on the 60^th Anniversary of the limited liability company showed the four family directors: Roy (who died in 1995), his wife, John and Peter. By 2000 the company had 30 coaches, many built in Holland. In 1987 the company moved to Liveridge Hill, and in 2000 built new offices there. A WWII bomb was discovered when the foundations were dug. A disposal team was summoned and the A34 closed. The next day two more small bombs were found and the same procedures occurred. On the third day 170 were found. The office in Henley High Street was closed. In 2000, also, the Company entered the daily bus business, and was acclaimed Bus Operator of the Year in 2006 (having been Coach Operator of the Year in 2005). The parking yard was extended. Each 44 seater coach now costs £220,000. A new livery of blue/yellow/white has recently been introduced.

The Company is signed up to Investors in People; its annual holiday show at Henley High School attracts a 1,000 people; and it supports many charities. In 2007 John and his wife, Anne, ran the London Marathon helping to raise £8,000 for cancer research; in its Centenary Year the company is supporting the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance. Between them John and Peter have 10 children, so hopefully there will be a fourth generation in the company, whose slogan remains Travel with Johnsons, Travel with Friends.

 In questions and discussion afterwards, members of the audience remembered occasions when Johnson’s Coaches had come to their rescue, and expressed appreciation of the friendly, helpful and personal service received.

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 October 2009

YARDLEY and BLAKESLEY HALL:  Talk given by Mike Byrne on 19 October 2009 to Solihull LHC.

The 1843 Tythe Map showed the small village around St Edburgha’s Church (mainly 14^th century with a 15^th century tower and spire) amidst fields, where there was still some ridge and furrow. The Stitchford Brook became misspelt when the railway arrived in 1844, naming the station Stetchford. The manor was given to Catherine of Aragon when she married Prince Arthur in 1501, hence the pomegranate and Tudor rose in the spandrels of the chancel doorway. Adjacent to the south is the early 16^th century Church House, originally the boys Grammar School. Beyond that the little fire station, and then Ye Olde Talbot which closed in 1924 and is now a private house.

 The village was made a Conservation Area in 1969 and Church Road (most of whose buildings opposite the church are 18^th century) was closed to traffic in 1976. The former farm was owned by the Yardley Charity Trustees in 1463, though most of its buildings date from the 1840s and are now private houses. To the north of the church is the Sunday School built in 1832, which was the girls’ school between 1836-1908. Its windows are now bricked up (and plastered) to stop it falling down. The Institute, on the site of the Ring of Bells, was built by James Hoskins, a manufacturer of hospital beds, ‘for the encouragement of gardening and individual works’; it closed in 1912. The Cottage (originally May Villa), with an 87 yard frontage to Vicarage Lane, was occupied by John Sumner, the founder of Typhoo Tea, between 1890-1916. It was demolished for more intensive housing which transformed Yardley in the 1930s. Canon Cochrane (Rector 1923-47) opposed some of this and advocated road widening beside the church, but lost all these campaigns.

   Blakesley Hall was built in 1590 for Richard Smallbrook. On his death in 1613, since his sons had already died, it passed to his grand-daughter Barbara and the Foliot family. The detailed inventory made on Ailmer Foliot’s death in 1684 survives. The estate was then purchased by Henry Greswolde, Rector of Solihull, and remained in that family (many of whose memorials are in Yardley church) until 1899. The house was let out and deteriorated. Thomas Merry purchased it in 1901 and lived there until 1932 when it was acquired by Birmingham Corporation. It opened in 1935 as a museum, but was bombed in 1941 and did not reopen until 1957. It was closed 1999-2002 for restoration funded by lottery money.

Mike Byrne ended his talk by referring to Yardley House, occupied by the six Miss Bosworths in the late 19^th century, and by George Minshull, the toy manufacturer, before its demolition in 1931. ‘The Barn’ dating from c1840 in Hobsmoor Road was probably a Catholic chapel. The Hay Mills Rotorstation opened in 1951 and offered helicopter flights to Heathrow thrice daily for £2-10s.  The first in the UK, it closed a year later.

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  September 2009

CIVIL REGISTERATION

    A full house, including 30 visitors, got our new season off to an excellent start on 21 September with John Yates of the Birmingham Registry Office giving us a fascinating talk about Civil Registration. Introduced in 1837, it was initially opposed by the Birmingham clergy who feared a drop in their baptism fees. Six weeks were allowed in which to register a birth (the same as today), but the 8 days for a death has been reduced to 5. Birmingham had 9 Registration Districts (soon reduced to 4), excluding Aston which was a large, separate District. In 1912 they were amalgamated, but Aston lost much of its area. Registrars were badly paid so many had other jobs, and some made fictitious entries to increase their pay. Their special ink lasts for 200 years. The Solihull Register Office was initially in the workhouse, and in the first 18 years it had 4 Registrars. Then George Henry Stafford was Registrar from 1855-98, and thereafter there were several Thompsons.

    Birmingham currently has 18,000 registers containing 6.5m entries. They include several famous names – George Cadbury (whose birth was witnessed by Samuel Lloyd, the banker), Cardinal Newman (whose death was witnessed by a Pope – Richard Pope to be precise), and John Enoch Powell. Names which are offensive or contain a number cannot be registered; nevertheless there are curiosities. ‘Superman’; a child with 27 christian names of boxing champions; a girl with 5, whose initials spelt ‘Madam’, which was what she was called. Curious occupations included Bone Gatherer, Retired Squatter and Idiot. In the early days the cause of death did not have to be certified by a doctor, so ‘Visitation of God’ was a common entry. Chamber pots caused death in various ways.

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      December  2008

    As is our custom at our Christmas Meeting , two members spoke about their own research. Laurence Ince started with picture of the remains of Neath Ironworks (past which he had walked to school) which made stationary and marine engines. The owners were friends of Boulton & Watt, who never themselves made a steam engine until near the time that their patent expired in 1800. The Soho Manufactory was replaced by the Foundry, making engines for breweries, sugar plantations, pumps and ships. Those for the Great Eastern propellers were made here, but Brunel was unpopular for not taking expert advice and changing his mind. Later under Henry Walleston Blake there were coin presses. It closed in 1896, and Laurence concluded his talk with pictures of his favourite 19th/20th century industrial buildings in Birmingham.

    Trevor England spoke on New Berry Hall. Joseph Gillott had made a fortune from steel pen nibs; he died in 1872. His son Joseph II commissioned J.A.Chatwin to design New Berry Hall on the Berry farm estate he had bought in 1867. The original entrance from Hampton Lane was supplemented by a more imposing drive from Marsh Lane, with superlative wrought iron gates (with a nib motif) now believed to be in Wiltshire. Joseph III died in 1907 and the Hall was bought by William Upton of Sutton Lodge who shot himself in 1908 in the porch. His widow (the sister of Capt Oliver Bird) soon married Maurice Davis, an antique dealer, and she lived there until her death in 1938. The Hall was then sold to Harold Tippetts, who lived there with his family until 1956. It was then bought by developers. Planning Permission was given in 1959 to convert it into a hotel, but this lapsed. In 1980 this was revived, but permission was rescinded after a month. The building was vandalised and eventually demolished in the early 1990s.

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            November 2008

    Audrey Duggan told us  of the scandal of Henrietta, Lady Luxborough (1699-1756). Her father was a murderer who fled to France and her brother, Lord Bolingbroke insisted in 1727 she marry his friend Robert Knight. They were ill-suited and Henrietta was taken to France to act as hostess for her father-in-law. Her two children lived with her friend the Countess of Hertford, whose tutor was John Dalton. Robert, now Lord Luxborough thought that the tutor was having an affair with his wife and banished Henrietta to Barrells Hall, near Ullenhall. She never saw her children or husband again. She restored the Hall, developed its estate, and formed a coterie of intellectuals who met on Sunday evenings. They included Jago (Rector of Harbury), Shenstone (a landscape gardener and playwright), Graves (an Oxford Don) and Somerville (the local squire), all of whom wrote poetry. After Henrietta’s death Robert came to live at Barrells Hall and caused her body to be removed from Wotten Wawen, first to the Hall, and finally to the Old Chapel at Ullenhall

 October  2008

    Andrew Lound gave a most professional presentation on 'Titanic - The Midlands Connection' at our meeting on Monday 21st October. He combined excellent Powerpoint images with music, drama, costume and a whole table of memorabilia. Andrew first explained that although the Titanic was built at Belfast, registered at Liverpool and sailed from Southampton, many famous West Midland companies were essential for her construction. The components ranged from massive anchors, propellers, boiler tubes, lifeboat davits down to bedsteads, electrical equipment, cutlery and even whistles. He highlighted Midland members of the crew and passengers from the Captain to the humble butcher and secretary. His dramatic presentation enabled us to experience the collision with the iceberg leading to horror and disbelief of all on board as the massive ship went down with the band playing 'Nearer my God to thee'. Only a quarter of the 30000 on board survived and these were mainly saved by the liner Carpathia.

September 2008

    Our first speaker of the season was Kenneth Hughes with his talk on Birmingham Back To Back Lives. He told us of his involvement in the National Trust project to preserve one of the last back to back houses surviving in Birmingham. He took us through the stages of restoration that saw the property opened to the public. Kenneth then told us the fascinating stories of the people that had occupied these houses through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We were then able, via slides, to take a tour of the houses. Several members of the audience were able to make a contribution as they told of their experiences in Birmingham’s back to back houses.

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June  2008

    A joint meeting was held with the Solihull Local Archaeological Group. Chris Hodrien lectured on Industrial Archaeology in Great Britain. He told us of his long interest in the subject which started as a student at Cambridge when he became involved in the restoration of steam pumping engines at the Cheddar Lane site in the City. Chris took us on a fully illustrated tour of major IA sites in this country. He brought his wealth of experience in industry to make the talk stimulating and relevant. A question and answer session was included revolving around slides of sites and many of the major problems facing this discipline were brought up during the presentation. Members of both groups fpond the information novel and thought provoking.

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    May 19,2008

    George Demidowicz spoke to members of the Circle on the topic of Coventry's Millennium Scheme. He told us of the plans to redevelop this particular area of the city and how it is structured to expose and interpret the remains of the first Coventry Cathedral and St. Mary's Priory. The results of the excavations were unexpected and put Coventry into the heritage spotlight.At least two TV programmes were based around the excavations with the Time Team paying particular attention to this redevelopment. This fully illustrated talk was well received by the members with many expressing an interest in visiting the site and preserved remains which are now housed in a heritage centre. This enthusiasm has led to the organization of a visit to Coventry on October 23, 2008 at 10.45 AM. George will show us around the site. This will be a private view and we hope to see and hear things that the normal visitors do not have access to normally. 

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    January 21, 2008

   Prof. Robert Arnott told us about The Earliest Medicine in Birmingham. The first record of a hospital (in 1244) was the Priory of St Thomas (between Bull Street and Old Square). In 1286 it was given an additional 10 acres of heath in Aston, followed by more over the next 20 years reflecting Birmingham’s growing prosperity. In miserable condition in 1344, it was restored to local favour for its work in the Black Death. The Priory was dissolved in 1536. Physicians were licensed to high standards by their College in London (founded 1518); Barber Surgeons were considered inferior; and Apothecaries dispensed drugs, 1190 of which were listed in the Pharmacopoeia Londoniensis (1618). Dr John Hall (1575-1635) of Stratford had a widespread practice, which reached Birmingham. The Workhouse Infirmary opened in 1766 in Lichfield Street, being relocated in 1852 to Dudley  Road where today it is the City Hospital. William Sands Cox, with his father, launched a medical school in 1825 which needed patients, so Queen’s Hospital (now the Accident) was opened in 1841. In 1765 Dr John Ash invited subscriptions for a General Hospital which eventually opened in 1779.

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     December 2007

    Our Christmas meeting was a memorable occasion, not only for the delicious mince pies, but because Sue Bates, one of our founders and our first Secretary 1987-95, came (from Lichfield) to talk about Sutton Coldfield. It had much in common with Solihull: an ancient Charter (1300), decay by the 18th century, before being revived by the coming of the railway (1862) which encouraged the wealthy from Birmingham to move there. Veysey, Bishop of Exeter (1519-54) provided almshouses, a school and other buildings to his birthplace. Ironically many old buildings were demolished in 1938 to make his memorial park. He persuaded Henry VIII to give Sutton Park to the town. Sue finished by describing its pools, which originally powered mills. Allan Evans, a founder member and Secretary 1995-2003, presented a video of our visit in 1999 to Tudor Grange, which was his childhood home.

   ^{May 2007}