‘A Birmingham workshop’, from ‘The Child Slaves of Britain’ by Robert Sherard
Sherard was a journalist who campaigned against the exploitation of child workers.
‘Before and After’ photographs of Henry from the Annual Report of Middlemore Homes
Middlemore Homes relied on public donations to fund their work. ‘Before and after’ photographs were used to promote the Homes and raise money by showing the physical and moral improvement of the children. ...
‘Birmingham Wheels’, Bordesley
‘Children of the poor’ taken on an outing of the Birmingham Cinderella Club to Sutton Park by J. Crwys Richards
Social reformers like Charles Dickens and Mary Carpenter in the 19th century, and Robert Sherard in the 20th were concerned that being out on the street put children in moral and physical danger. They ...
‘Children of the poor’ taken on an outing of the Birmingham Cinderella Club to Sutton Park by J. Crwys Richards
‘Children of the poor’ taken on an outing of the Birmingham Cinderella Club to Sutton Park by J. Crwys Richards
‘Ginger A Story’
Ginger tells the story of a fictional boy named Harry Smith and how poverty and his stepfather’s cruelty turned him to crime. He was placed in Middlemore Homes and sent to Australia. The story ends happily ...
‘In the Happy Days of Our Childhood’ by Maria Cadbury
Maria wrote this memoir much later in life at the request of her niece. Maria was born in 1838 and was the daughter of John Cadbury and his wife Candia Barrow. They lived in Calthorpe Road, Edgbaston, ...
‘In the Happy Days of Our Childhood’ by Maria Cadbury
In the late 18th and 19th centuries seaside holidays became popular with those families who could afford them. With improved transport links, this popularity gradually spread to the working classes who ...
‘Inspector and Starved Child', National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Birmingham Branch Fourth Annual Report
In the late 19th century many children were seen as victims, not of the cruelty of the workplace, but of their parents and neighbours. The NSPCC entered the homes of the poor to expose instances of cruelty. ...
‘My Life’s Battles’ by Will Thorne
Will Thorne (1857-1946) was born into a poor family in Farm Street, Hockley on 8 October 1857. His father was a brick maker, and on weekends he would drink and get into fights. His mother and sisters ...
‘Opening of the Christian Kunzle Alpine Home for Children’, The Davos Courier
This article reports the arrival of 36 children from Birmingham Children’s Hospital at the Alpine Home for Children in Davos, Switzerland in 1932. It was believed that the health of children suffering ...
‘Our Alf’s a Postman Now’
‘Sparkbrook is our home’
The positioning of the children in this image means that they look down at the viewer from the height of an adult. It is a powerful statement of ownership: Sparkbrook belongs to them. Their bodies all ...
A Boy and a Catch of Fish
This photograph shows a boy and a catch of fish, with the fishing rod and basket beside a tree.
Admission Record for Joseph Pagett, Register of Norton Reformatory
In the first half of the 19th century statistical studies seemed to show that Britain was being engulfed by a growing population of hardened young criminals. They stalked the streets, ever alert to the ...
Advertisement for Holder's Ales, 1891
The title pages from Edgbastonia carried advertisements across the top. This one is for Holder's Ales, owned by Sir John Holder of Moor Green, Moseley. The Brewery was based in Nova Scotia Street.
Advertisement for the Women's Social and Political Union
‘The Rights of Woman’, what are they?
The right her husband to obey,
The right to show forth all her life
How proud she is to be a wife!
The right, oh, noble destiny!
The daughter of a man to be.
The ...