Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham: A History and Guide, Arranged Alphabetically — John Shaqi
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham: A History and Guide, Arranged AlphabeticallyHarman, Thomas T.
History
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham: A History and Guide, Arranged Alphabetically
Harman, Thomas T.
Birmingham (England) -- History -- Dictionaries
~Bingley Hall~--Takes its name from Bingley House, on the site of which
it is built. It was erected in 1850 by Messrs. Branson and Gwyther, at a
cost of about £6,000, the proprietary shares being £100 each. In form it
is nearly a square, the admeasurements being 224 ft. by 212 ft., giving
an area of nearly one acre and a half. There are ten entrance doors,
five in King Edward's Place, and five in King Alfred's Place, and the
building may be easily divided into five separate compartments. The Hall
will hold from 20,000 to 25,000 people, and is principally used for
Exhibitions and Cattle Shows; with occasionally "monster meetings," when
it is considered necessary for the welfare of the nation to save sinners
or convert Conservatives.
~Bird's-eye View~ of the town can be best obtained from the dome of the
Council House, to which access may be obtained on application to the
Curator. Some good views may be also obtained from some parts of Moseley
Road, Cannon Hill Park, and from Bearwood Road.
~Birmingham.~--A horse of this name won the Doncaster St. Leger in 1830
against 27 competitors. The owner, John Beardsworth, cleared £40,000. He
gave Connolly, the jockey, £2,000.
~Birmingham Abroad.~--Our brethren who have emigrated do not like to
forget even the name of their old town, and a glance over the American
and Colonial census sheet shows us that there are at least a score of
other Birminghams in the world. In New Zealand there are three, and in
Australia five townships so christened. Two can be found in Canada, and
ten or twelve in the United States, the chief of which is Birmingham in
Alabama. In 1870 this district contained only a few inhabitants, but in
the following year, with a population of 700, it was incorporated, and
at once took rank as a thriving city, now proudly called "The Iron
City," from its numerous ironworks, furnaces, and mills. Last year the
citizens numbered over 12,000, the annual output of pig-iron being about
60,000 tons, and the coal mines in the neighbourhood turning out 2,000
tons per day. The city is 240 miles from Nashville, 143 miles from
Chattanooga, and 96 miles from Montgomery, all thriving places, and is a
central junction of six railways. The climate is good, work plentiful,
wages fair, provisions cheap, house rent not dear, churches and schools
abundant, and if any of our townsmen are thinking of emigrating they may
do a deal worse than go from hence to that other Birmingham, which its
own "daily" says is a "City of marvellous wonder and magic growth," &c.,
&c.
~Birmingham Begging.~--Liberal to others as a rule when in distress, it
is on record that once at least the inhabitants of this town were the
recipients of like favours at the hands of their fellow-countrymen. In
the churchwardens' books of Redenall, Norfolk, under date September 20,
1644, is an entry of 6s. paid "to Richard Herbert, of Birmingham, where
was an hundred fifty and five dwelling house burnt by Pr. Rupert."
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