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March 2021
This month we have features on Women's History Month, the Census (are you ready to complete your return?!), George Dixon the 'Father of Free Education'... and... we've added a bit of a Spring feel with a 'A one wet day in Springtime' jigsaw puzzle, not to mention a new kind of brain-teasing puzzle...
With Census Day looming on March 21st, 2021, Alison Brinkworth, Census Engagement Manager for South Birmingham, talks to us about both the historic and current value of the census!
 While many people will recognise the census from doing family trees or shows like BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? and A House Through Time, this once-in-a-decade survey has a much more meaningful impact on everyday life.
It actually affects the life of every single person living in England and Wales. That’s because information received about every household provides a snapshot of our current society in Birmingham and beyond that will inform decisions on services that shape each community, whether it’s schools, doctors’ surgeries, bike lanes or more.
It’s also important to charities and voluntary organisations who use census data as evidence for funding applications.
But going back to the historic value of the census, historians and genealogists get excited when new census records are revealed. Your personal data is kept secure by The Office For National Statistics for 100 years and only then can it be seen by future generations. In fact, the 1921 records are about to be revealed this year.
It has been carried out every decade since 1801, with the exception of 1941 when World War Two was taking place. This also isn’t the first time it will have recorded the effect of a pandemic either as the 1921 Census was in the aftermath of the Spanish Flu pandemic. This census will not only give a snapshot of Birmingham during the Covid pandemic but also be the first one following Brexit.
Looking back at how the census has shown the changing shape of Birmingham is fascinating. You can see how popular occupations and industries have changed over time, coinciding with the closures of factories and car plants and the emergence of service industries. It also reflects migration and the average ages within suburbs.
While the last census showed the most common professions in Birmingham were retail staff, carers and nurses in that order, over 150 years ago in Victorian times, the census was more likely to record jobs like domestic servant, working within cotton or silk manufacturing, metal worker, confectioner, needle-maker and even the occasional leech bleeder or artificial eye-maker.
Birmingham is now known for being diverse and having a young population and the 2011 census showed it had a higher than national average for those aged under 49, particularly the under 24s. It also found that 494 different ethnicities were recorded in the city ranging from Pakistani, Indian, Caribbean and Bangladeshi to Polish, Romanian, Somali, Korean and Eritrean.
There’s nothing like the census. It gives us the most accurate estimate of all the people and households in England and Wales along with important historic documents for the archives
Birmingham’s Archives and Collections at the Library of Birmingham holds census records for the city including microfiche/film of the census for 1841 to 1901, including suburbs such as Handsworth and Yardley that were formerly in Staffordshire and Worcestershire.
So when you are taking part in Census Day on March 21 this year, remember that you are making history along with helping this generation along with future ones too. Read more about Census 2021 and support available to take part at www.census.gov.uk.
This month's jigsaw puzzle has a Spring theme! It features a greetings card from the Puck and Blossom series, published by Marcus Ward & Co, illustrated by Kate Greenaway, and is in the Sir Wilfred Martineau Scrapbook in the Early and Fine Printing Collection held at the Library of Birmingham [Ref: 719846].
 The verse reads on the card reads:
One wet day in Springtime
We went out together,
And told all our secrets,
Nor thought of the weather.
Thus, love, in life's journey O lean on my arm:
And let my affection
Protect you from harm.
You can read more about Kate Greenaway and explore a range of the wonderful collections held at the Library of Birmingham on our website!
March is Women's History Month, and International Women’s Day is now globally observed on the 8th of March each year.
After 15,000 women marched through New York in 1908, the first national women’s day was declared in the United States in 1909 and the ‘Women’s Day’ ideal was swiftly adopted across Europe. As women began to be acutely aware of the oppression and inequality experienced in their lives, the long working hours, the lower pay rates, the lack of voting rights, they were spurred on to become more vocal and militant, giving rise to women’s movements. Russian women famously staged their strike for ‘bread and peace’ in February 1917, resulting in the February revolution and the abdication of the Czar. After the Soviet Revolution in October 1917, the ‘Women’s Day’ concept was adopted in socialist and communist countries and, in the West, International Women’s Day became a popular event after 1977.
Petition to Benjamin Disraeli MP, nd. (19th cent)], [MS 841]
To mark this and Women's History Month, the above is an interesting item from the archives of the National Council of Women, Birmingham Branch [MS 841]. It is a petition addressed to The Right Honourable Benjamin Disraeli MP, thanking him for previous support and asking him now to give his ‘support and influence as leader of the Conservative Party, to the measure to be proposed by Mr Jacob Bright in the House of Commons for removing the Electoral Disabilities of Women.’
The petition (undated) was probably penned c1870 and contains the signatures of many prominent female activists, – Ursula Bright, Lydia Becker, Margaret Lucas, the Ashworth sisters, Florence Nightingale no less, – many of whom came from non-conformist backgrounds.
Close up of signatures in the petition: Eliza Sturge, Ursula Bright, Lydia Becker, Margaret Lucas, the Ashworth sisters, Florence Nightingale & more.
Eliza Sturge, also a signatory, was born in Birmingham into a prominent Quaker family. She was an active speaker for the suffrage movement and secretary of the Birmingham Society For Women’s Suffrage in the 1870s. She was also the first woman to be elected to the Birmingham School Board in 1873. It is interesting to reflect that the women’s suffrage movement had its roots in political lobbying and debate well before the time we traditionally think of the movement taking a militant stance in the early 1900s.
You kind find out more about Women's Movements on our Connecting Histories website.
Can you find the name of the well-known Birmingham business from the clues below?
My first is in Charles but not in David
My second is in Cat but not in Dog
My third is in Day but not in Night
My fourth is in Ball but not in Stick
My fifth is in Radium but not in Gold
My sixth is in Library but not in Museum
My seventh is in Why but not in Who
The image above features Constitution Hill Library, which was the first library opened in Birmingham under the Public Libraries Act in rented premises on the 3rd April 1861. A contemporary account of the opening ceremony tells of the mayor, Mr Arthur Ryland, entertaining 300 prominent citizens for breakfast at Dee's Hotel before they walked in procession to the library at Constitution Hill. The lease of the rented building expired in 1881, and a new library, pictured here, was open in July 1883.
You can find out more about the long history of public libraries in Birmingham in our online gallery!
Solve the clues above to find a treat!
HINT: It's nothing to do with libraries!
Answer below... no peeking!
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 George Dixon School, Edgbaston, Birmingham, c1900s - 1930s [WK/E1/955].
George Dixon was one of the most influential men on the Birmingham political stage in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and concerning the issue of education the national stage, yet unlike his contemporaries Joseph Chamberlain and John Bright he is largely forgotten. Born in Gomersal West Yorkshire in 1820 he came to Birmingham aged 17 to join the merchant firm of Rabone Bros, becoming a full partner seven years later.
A successful business man he started to become involved in local matters in his late thirties, firstly in the founding of the Birmingham Midland Institute in 1855 and then the Birmingham Rifle Volunteers in 1859. He became councillor for the Edgbaston ward in 1863 and a J.P in 1864. He first came into the public eye in 1863 when he and his brother Abraham helped in the purchase of Aston Hall and Park for the town, contributing £2,000 to the fund set up for this purpose. This came about after an accident involving the “Female Blondin” a tightrope walker who fell to her death while performing in the Park in July of that year, an incident which had not amused Queen Victoria who had opened the Park in 1858 and who related her displeasure regarding it in a letter to the town council. In November 1866 he was elected Mayor of Birmingham in which role he was forced to read the Riot Act to the mob during the Murphy riots of 1867.
He resigned as mayor later in 1867 to become one of Birmingham’s MP and in his maiden speech to the commons announced what was to become his chief political concern, free education for all. It was a meeting at his house in 1869 that the National Education League was founded with Dixon as its first Chairman. Its objective “the establishment of a system which shall secure the education of every child in the country” and it played a part in persuading Gladstone’s government to do something about the issue. The ensuing Education Act of 1870 did not go far enough in Dixons opinion but he broadly supported it and ensured some amendments to the original bill.
In 1870 Dixon was elected a member of the Birmingham School Board and on his resignation from parliament in 1877 he became its chairman, a position he held for the rest of his life. During this period he promoted technical education for the higher standards, training for teachers, and helping slower learners in schools, all of which the Board acted upon. He was also heavily involved in the founding of Bridge Street Technical School in 1884 which the current George Dixon Academy can trace its origins to. He returned to parliament in 1885 and such was his popularity in the town he held his seat unopposed for the rest of his life. Throughout the rest of his parliamentary career education was his greatest cause.
Dixon died in January 1898 shortly after receiving the freedom of the city of Birmingham, the only honour he ever received. His funeral saw crowds lining the streets to show their respect. The historian Asa Briggs sums up George Dixon thus
“Dixon’s record of public service was as remarkable as that of any man who has ever worked for this city”
Adrian Neild, Sheldon Library.
We hope you've enjoyed this update - it's production is a collaboration between the Archives, Community Libraries, the Library of Birmingham, Library Services at Home, the Mobile Library, and the Prison Library! Our aim is to share Birmingham’s history, archives, and community heritage activities, showcasing our city’s unique and irreplaceable archival collections, keeping you updated about projects and events you can get involved with! In every issue there will be a range of articles and fun quiz activities to involve you with our unique and irreplaceable collections!
The answer to the brainteaser is.... Cadbury!
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