Description:Submitted by Michael Hunkin.
This record comprises the only surviving register of all of the horses owned by Birmingham Corporation, and covers the period 1899 – 1946. At this time the Corporation had begun comprehensive, large-scale public works across the city, encompassing slum clearance and municipal house building projects, and the construction of infrastructure such as roads, tramways and sewerage. The Council had to maintain an army of horses to undertake the haulage of bulky raw materials for construction works and maintain other key services like waste disposal. The register details the horses purchased by each Council department, including registration number, the height and weight of the animal, the location of its stable, and date of purchase. On the right hand page are details of departments or individuals to whom the horses were sold on, and the amount paid in relation to the stock value of the horse. This page shows horses purchased and sold by the City Watch Committee responsible for the city’s police force and fire brigade. The Watch Committee appears to be the only one whose staff named their horses. Some were named after British heroes such as ‘Kitchener’ and ‘Nelson’, whilst others were given more unusual monikers such as ‘Togo’ and ‘Buzfuz’; ‘Frizzle’, for example, was eventually presented to Saltley Reformatory as a gift after 20 years of active service.
Image: page 100 of the register, for the Fire Brigade, part of the Watch Committee.