Birmingham Council Minutes, 1839.
Birmingham was not officially ‘incorporated’ as a town until the year 1838. Before this date, there no was official ‘council’, but a ‘Streets and Paving Commissioners Board’ that held limited means of ...
Birmingham Daily Post Article
This report discusses an incident in Cannon Hill Park, in which Charles Cartwright's carriage was pelted with snowballs as he drove through the park on the morning of Sunday 10 January. The article expresses ...
Birmingham Hebrew Philanthropic Society
This image displays the opening minutes of the Birmingham Hebrew Philanthropic Society for the Relief of Indigent Jews. Starting in 1828, this charity hightlights the problems of poverty faced by Jewish ...
Birmingham Musical Festival
Birmingham Triennial Music Festival, took place from 1768 until the First World War, and was an important showcase of contemporary musical talent. The festival of 1900 included a performance of The Song ...
Birmingham Trade Directory 1862
Birmingham's Early Synagogues
Image: An Architectual Drawing of Singer's Hill by Yeovill Thomason.
No visual images exist of the very first Jewish synagogue in eighteenth century Birmingham. We know it was used for worship in 1779 ...
Birmingham's 'Female Society for the Relief of the Negro Slave’ .
The reports, minute books, cash books and illustrated albums of Birmingham’s ‘Female Society for the Relief of the Negro Slave’ show just how organised, determined and creative its members were in their ...
Black Abolitionists in Birmingham
The following pages give an introduction to some of the black abolitionists who came into contact with Birmingham. They not only campaigned against slavery and for the rights of their own race, but for ...
Black Ivory. A tale among the slavers of East Africa by Robert M. Ballantyne (1825-1894)
Adventure stories, such as Black Ivory became a popular genre for boys in Victorian children’s literature. It was a genre which also reflected the growth of British power with the adventures opening up ...
Black Performance on Sale
The image of the black minstrel was popular in Victorian England and was used to advertise products. This advertisement for 'Austin's Starch Glaze' appeared in a programme for the Prince of Wales Theatre ...
Board School Boys
This photograph shows school boys from a Board School in Stratford on Avon.
Board School Girls
This photograph shows school girls from a Board School in Stratford on Avon.
Bonnet from Fancy Dress Costume
This fancy dress costume was worn by Florence Barrow, aged 10, in 1886 for the Lord Mayor's Children's Party.
Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington, a controversial African-American figure, was perhaps one of the last great abolitionists to visit Birmingham who had lived through the devastation of the American Civil War. In its ...
Booklet describing Birmingham Workhouse
In the past children from poorer families in Britain had to earn a living as a matter of routine. Going to school was not common until 1870. Many children worked from a young age, often in seasonal or ...
Boy selling newspapers with a blind man on the corner of New Street and Worcester Street by Thomas Clark
Boys Exercising in the School Yard, Birmingham by William Woollaston
This image shows boys exercising with dumb bells. A growing concern for the health and welfare of school children led to physical drill and exercises being introduced into the curriculum. Such activities ...
Boys of Gower Street School, Ladywood, with blacked-up faces
Like the maypole, the boys’ blackened faces were a part of May Day traditions. The day was historically associated with chimney sweeps. They would march in a procession led by ‘Jack-in-the-Green’, a garlanded ...