As
can be seen on this extract from William Westley's map of 1731,
Birchall Street was, at one time, known as Brickhill Road. This
provides a clue into the industrial activity of the past - the
section curling up towards Deritend Bridge was later called Stone
Yard. The lane led out to Birch's Pasture and, later, Birch's Hole.
Like Vaughton's Hole, a channel was cut to feed water from the River
Rea. The street was later called Birch Hole Street. Note the rough
crossing across the River Rea connecting Digbeth and Deritend High
Street.
With
the river tamed and culverted, it is hard to imagine nowadays that the
Rea once formed a difficult obstacle for locals and travellers. But
there isn't a thoroughfare called Floodgate Street for no reason.
Originally called Water Street, Floodgate Street was a tranquil lane in
the early-mid 19th century. Tranquil that is until it rained heavily on
Windmill Hill between the Lickeys and the Clent Hills, the source of the
Rea. The name Floodgate Street serves as a reminder that Brummies
earning a living here had to occasionally harness the water source that
provided their main source of power. The force of the river in winter
acted as the impetus for the construction of the church marked on the
1731 map.
The church of St.John the
Baptist was founded in the late 14th century for the Aston parishioners
living in the locality. Deritend and Bordesley were, up until relatively
recent times, part of Aston not Birmingham. Permission was
granted and a chaplain installed to conduct divine services for those
who lived some distance from the parish church at Aston and could not
attend St.Martin's in winter because of the river. The chaplain was paid
£5 per annum by the Deritend guild, the same sum that was paid to
another priest who acted as a teacher. The original church was a small
rectangular structure that featured a steeply-pitched roof. Like the
illustration by Westley, the west end of the building had square
bell-turret with a pyramidal roof and weather vane. The church was
replaced in 1735 with a edifice described by J.W.Bloe as a "rectangular
brick building with tall round-headed windows and a tower of two stages
surmounted by a balustrade with urns at the angles." Although restored
between 1881-91, the building was not in use in 1939.
I do not know of a
photograph of the Britannia
Inn but the site of the pub would have been just to the left of
this photograph taken from Birchall Street looking towards Chapel House Street. This scene changed
dramatically during the Second World War when St.John's Church was bombed and later
demolished. The fake-timbered building on the corner of
Green Street was the Hope and Anchor. First recorded in the 1823 Triennial Directory for Birmingham in 1823, the
Britannia Inn was the second pub to trade in Birchall Street. The building was owned by
Ralph Baker who was also the proprietor of the adjoining properties. The annual ground
rent charged to Joseph Chambers was £10.0s.0d. who, according to a ratebook for Bordesley
and Deritend compiled in the same year, also had to pay rates of just five shillings.Joseph Chambers named his pub the Britannia, the Roman name for Britain. It was in the
diaries of Samuel Pepys that the first mention of the symbolic female figure emerged as a
reference to a medal struck in 1665.
The model for the figure was a future Duchess of
Richmond, Frances Stewart, who was then a mistress of Charles II. The now familiar pose of
her resting on a shield had earlier been used on Roman coins which many pubs
adopted. However,
they also both use the 'ruling the waves' aphorism. For the latter we have to refer to
James Thomson, the Kelso-born Scottish poet. He first wrote of Britannia in 1729
in which he criticised Sir Robert Walpole's foreign policy. However, it was his 1740 work Alfred,
a Masque which contained the song 'Rule Britannia.' In this he wrote 'When Britain
first, at heaven's command, Arose from out the Azure main, This was the charter of the
land, And guardian angels sung this strain: Rule Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never
will be slaves.' Unfortunately, Thomson could not foresee consumerism for he might have
thought twice about such a notion. Pub lovers will much prefer the line by the English
clergyman, Sydney Smith, who in one of his essays wrote: What two ideas are more
inseparable than Beer and Britannia?
Joseph Chambers was succeeded by George Hemming
who traded as both a victualler and cabinet maker. In the ratebook for 1838 his name was
crossed out and replaced by that of Richard Newbold. By this time Mary Baker was recorded
as the owner. John Ward was the licensee by the time of the 1851 census in which he was
recorded as a 37 year-old victualler from Sheffield. Three years older, his wife Mary was
a Brummie. They employed Susannah Wilson as a general
servant. The couple later moved with their
children, Arthur and Rosina, to Arthur Street where John Ward worked as
a brassfounder. However, there is a Slater's Directory for 1852-3
lists a John Ward at the
Wagon
and Horses Tavern at Summer Row so the
family may have lived there for a short period - I have yet to ascertain
that it is the same John Ward. The Ward's departure from the Britannia
Inn marked the start of the Richards' family long association with the
pub. Edward Richards had previously lived in
Bishopsgate Streetwhere he worked as a
waiter.
Born in 1802
in
Bewdley, Worcestershire, Edward Richards was married to a woman 23 years younger. Ann
Richards hailed from Brereton near Sandbach, Cheshire. The couple had two
young children - 2 year-old Alice and Edward who was just 3 months old
at the time of the survey. Edward Richards employed 23 year-old Ann
Bradshaw as a general servant. Ann Richards made the
local newspapers in March 1871 [see article] - it sounds like
serving dodgy ale was more risky in Victorian times and that complaining
was not the done thing! Edward Richards died on December 20th 1875 and
the licence passed to his wife. Her son Edward also worked in the pub
but daughter Alice earned a living as a Teacher of Music.
This
photograph dates from
post-1934 but pre-1937 because it
shows the pub in the livery of
Ansell's. The Aston brewery had recently acquired the pub when they bought
the
Holt Brewery Company. Septimus Bradshaw
was the publican at the time. This is a
public house that has had three names.
Today, this architectural jewel is called the Market Tavern. The building replaced an
older pub that was originally known as The Minerva. However, for the best part of it's
history, that stretches back for more than two hundred years, the pub on the corner of Birchall Street and Moseley Street has been called the Dog and Partridge. Being on the
corner, it has also been listed in both streets on a number of occasions and, for a brief
period, actually had two official addresses - 210 Moseley Street and 42 Birchall Street.
Historically it belongs to the latter and can be traced back to 1791. In that year, James
Prime was listed in Pye's Trade Directory for Birmingham as a
victualler at this address.
He called his public house The Minerva. The early date makes it one of the oldest sites in
Birmingham to still have a pub trading on it. Another old pub called the Britannia Inn
opened not too long after but it closed over one hundred years ago. Only two pubs now
stand in Birchall Street but the Dog and Partridge is around fifty years
older than the neighbouring
White Swan, another pub rebuilt in 1900.
The Minerva's name was changed by
John Reeves who took over the licence in 1823. The reason for this is not clear - perhaps
he simply wanted to create a new identity for his boozer. However, the Minerva was already
an established and popular pub name that referred to the Roman equivalent for Athena,
goddess of the household arts. In Roman mythology Minerva was the goddess of wisdom,
poetry, music, medicine, arts and science. As the Roman empire expanded she was adopted as
a war goddess. However, this was a perverse distortion given that she was the patroness of
intellect and learning. As a pub sign, the Minerva is one of great antiquity and, like the
Bush or the Chequers, was possibly used during the Roman occupation of Britain. The Dog
and Partridge is a pub name associated with rural pursuits and may seem at odds with the
pub's location. However, at the start of John Reeves' incumbency, the countryside was only
two hundred yards away from the front door. The building was owned by Sarah Cox and John
Reeves was a tenant. The beers sold in the pub were produced in the adjacent building, a
malthouse kept by George Stephens.
Benjamin and Mary Bridgewater kept the Dog and
Partridge for five years during the 1830's before moving to the
Barrelat Snow Hill. They were
succeeded by Joseph Bill who had previously worked as a hairdresser in
Jamaica Row. In the 1851 census
Joseph Bill was recorded as a 48 year-old Birmingham-born
victualler. Also a Brummie, his wife Matilda was born in 1804.
Joseph Bill's sister-in-law Jane Franklin also lived on the premises and
worked as a barmaid. 21 years-old, she hailed from Gosport. The Dog and
Partridge was a busy house and Joseph Bill employed two live-in
servants, Owen Pike and Abraham Fairfield. Following the death of her
husband, Matilda Bill took over the licence and remained until 1861.
The Bill
family's 24-year term remains the longest served by the pub's
tenants. Hailing from Oswestry in Shropshire and formerly living in
Shirley Street, William Jones was 26 years-old when he took over the Dog
and Partridge in 1861. Born in Shirley, his wife Ann was the same age.
The couple had a 3 year-old daughter named Mary. Ann's younger sister
Harriet Edwards [22]
lived and worked on the premises. Caroline Freeman was employed as a
live-in general servant.
Tragedy struck the pub shortly after the new tenants moved in. William Jones
died at a very young age on September 11th 1861. Ann Jones held the licence until 1868
when it passed to her second husband Robert Cotterill. In the 1871 census he was recorded
as a 32 year-old licensed victualler from the Warwickshire village of
Rowington. Despite
the fact that some of Birmingham's breweries had developed and started to supply a large
numbers of pubs, the Dog and Partridge continued to sell its home brewed ales. This is
confirmed in the 1871 census as 46 year-old brewer John Thomas is recorded as living and
working on the premises. George Mercer was the new incumbent in 1878. In the Post Office
Trade Directory for that year he is also listed as the licensee of
the
New Innat
Bromsgrove Street.He may have worked
for Joseph Lawrence who, shortly afterwards, became the new licensee of the Dog and
Partridge. Joseph and Lawrence Lawrence controlled a small empire of pubs in Birmingham.
An 1881 trade directory
shows that, between them, they operated the
Grand Turkat Hockley
Hill, the
Black Swanin Bromsgrove Street, the
White Hartin Moseley Street, the
Turk's Headin Lancaster Street and the
Whittington and his Catin Great Brook Street. It is likely that all the pubs under their control
were supplied with a standard range of beers and brewing ceased at the Dog and Partridge.
Although Joseph Lawrence retained the licence for the pub, George Anderton worked for the
Lawrence family as manager of the Dog and Partridge. In the 1881 census he was recorded as
barman. He lived at the pub with his wife Matilda [28] and their three daughters.By the
time of the next census in 1891 Joseph Lawrence employed William Talbot as manager of the
Dog and Partridge. He was born in
Wolverhampton in 1861. One year older, his wife Sarah
hailed from Bishop's Wood, a small Staffordshire village to the west of Cannock. The
couple had previously lived and worked in
West Bromwich, the recorded birthplace of their
two children, Thomas [5] and Eliza
[4]. Also living at the Dog and Partridge was employee
John Coles. Born in
Wednesbury, it is possible that the 25 year-old barman worked with the Talbot's in
West Bromwichand joined them when they moved to Deritend.
Although operated by
the Lawrence family, the leaseholder of the Dog and Partridge was Jeremiah Howard of
Dublin who, in turn, rented from the freeholder
Richard William Penn, Earl Howe. A large
landowner, he was a descendant of the Curzon family who came to England with William the
Conqueror.The Dog and Partridge became a target for the expanding
Holt Brewery Companyand they bought the residue of the Jeremiah Howard's lease before securing a 99 year lease
in 1899. The lease agreement featured a covenant that the Aston brewery would rebuild the
Dog and Partridge within 12 months and the cost of the new structure would be a minimum of
£1,000. Shortly afterwards Richard William Penn made a similar lease agreement with
Ansell'sfor the neighbouring White Swan.
Holt'scommissioned architects James and Lister
Lea and Sons to design a new Dog and Partridge. The plans were drawn up on October 17th
but sadly are in such a poor condition they cannot be opened without causing irreparable
damage. Consequently, they frustratingly remain in the city archives. The building is a
very similar design to that of the neighbouring White Swan. The windows and doors are in
exactly the same position but there are subtle differences in the brickwork and corner
tower. The Cannon Street-based firm were in a difficult position as they could not be seen
to be creating two identical pubs for two different breweries. As a result, they 'mixed
and matched' to produce functional buildings with individual characteristics. Both pubs
are typical of the architects work during this period.
Located close to the
corner of Cheapside, this pub can be traced to 1838 when John Rhodes was
listed in an Aston ratebook living in a property owned by Elizabeth
Penn. In the following year the beer retailer and
fire iron maker was listed in
Wrightson's tradedirectory for Birmingham. The pub was named in honour of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and
Goth who became the Duke of Edinburgh after marrying Queen Victoria in 1840.
John Rhodes was succeeded by Samuel Leadbetter,
another man that conducted two trades at this address. In the 1845 Post Office
Directory he was listed as a manufacturer in Carpenters' Bits and Braces, Iron and Brass
Ship Sail, Thimble and Malleable Iron Nail. Sounds like
he was a busy bloke. By 1852 Thomas Clift was
selling ales at No.64 Birchall Street. He came from a
family of shopkeepers in Deritend. He
later moved to the
Red Cow in Gooch Street.In the 1861 census
widow Hannah Evans was listed as the licensee of the
Duke of Edinburgh.
Born
in Portsmouth, 49 year-old
Hannah Evans was widowed
after her husband lost his life serving on a coastguard vessel. Her sons William and Edward, both
brassfounders,
were born in Bristol. They had previously in lived the
St.Paul's district of Bristol where Hannah had run an eating house.
Henry Swinfen arrived as the landlord in 1863. He had previously been the licensee of
the
Green Man on the Aston Road, where, in the 1860 Post
Office Trade Directory, he was recorded as a "manufacturer of English and Foreign
Weights of every description, all kinds of weights accurately adjusted
[established
1817]." He continued to operate his brassweight-making business in Birchall Street
along with operating the Duke of Edinburgh.
His wife Elizabeth probably looked after the pub
during the day and he would have served ales in the evening. However
his listing, along with the
record of Samuel Leadbetter,
suggests that the
beer house adjoined a substantial workshop building. By 1866 Henry Swinfen's Brassweight Manufactory was based
in
Darwin Streetwhilst he had moved to a
house in
Legge Street at Gosta Green.William Grove was the licensee at the time of the
1871 census in which he was recorded as a 32 year-old Birmingham-born
retail brewer, suggesting
that
homebrewed aleswere produced on the
premises. The Grove family were all Brummies. His wife Emma was two years younger. The couple
had five children - Elizabeth, William, Harry, Florence and Thomas. They employed 44
year-old Emily Turvey as a general servant.The Grove's soon moved
to the
Roebuckat Moor Street and were succeeded by
former coal dealer William Pickersgill who came from
the
George and Dragon in Wharf Street. The Victorian age seems to be a period of musical
pubs for many of the licensees of the town.
Evidence of
home brewing was still in evidence at the Duke of
Edinburgh in the 1880's. Charles Teale was the licensee
at the time of the 1881 census
in which he was listed as
a retail brewer. He was born in
Pershore in 1844. Two years younger, his wife Ann hailed
from the Black Country town of
Tipton. Their six children also lived at the pub. Five years later the family moved to
the
Manor Armsat Cato Street before taking
over the
Bull's Head in Villa Road where Lozells meets Handsworth. Charles
Teale was succeeded by Mary Ann Phillips who
came from the
Vine Innat Blews Street West. Despite
holding the licence of the pub, Walter Harley was recorded as "living on his own
means" in the 1891 census. It was his wife Emma who was listed as publican and
daughter Ann helped her run the place. The ratebook for the same year details the pub as a
Retail Beerhouse with Brewhouse, Maltroom, Workshop and Premises.
Still in Birchall Street but on the other side
Cheapside was the Maltroom, Kiln and Premises of Walter Thomas Kirkland.
The
Holt Brewery Companyhad
acquired the Duke of Edinburgh by the time
the ratebook for Bordesley and Deritend was compiled in 1906.
The annual rent for the property was £34.0s.0d. As manager John Hodgkins paid the rates
of £4.19s.2d. on behalf of the Aston-based brewery.
The Malt Shovel was
originally, and for
a good many years, known as the Old Bricklayer's Arms. In
the mid-late 1830's the
beer housewas owned by Joseph Baskerfield
and kept by George Haydon, a maltster and
retail brewer who also took over the business of Richard Hill in the
street's malthouse. It was probably George Haydon who named the pub. The
malthouse was located on the opposite side of Birchall Street, further
towards Cheapside. The building was on the south-east side of the street
next to the post office on the corner of Cheapside.
George Haydon was born locally and kept the Malt Shovel with his wife
Mary. The Haydon family moved to
Cheapside where, ironically, they had
another pub called the
Bricklayer's Arms.George continued making
beer - in 1854 he was listed in the Post Office Directory for
Birmingham as a brewer, maltster and
hop merchant. No doubt,
George Haydon supplied a number of pubs in the locality, if not for beer
then certainly for the ingredients used by other small scale brewers.
