Birmingham

Dr Chris UptonReader in Public History

Newman University Birmingham

Westley’s Prospect (1732)

Samuel Lines, View from St Philip’s (1821)

Aerial view of Birmingham 1886

Birmingham’s Growth

• 1550 pop c1,500 • 1650 pop c5,000 • 1750 pop c30,000 • 1800 pop c70,000 • 1900 pop 520,000 • 1981 pop 1,013,431 • 2001 pop 977,000

• 1838

• Inclusion of Edgbaston, Duddeston & Nechells, Deritend & Bordesley

• 1891

• Inclusion of Harborne, Balsall Heath

• 1911 (Greater Birmingham Act)

• Inclusion of Handsworth, Northfield, Yardley, Aston, Kings Norton

• 1928 Inclusion of Perry Barr

• 1974 Inclusion of Sutton Coldfield

A Town Transformed• Full twenty years and more are passed

Since I left Brummagem.But I set out for home at lastTo good old Brummagem.But ev'ry place is altered soNow there's hardly a place I knowWhich fills my heart with grief and woeFor I can't find Brummagem

• James Dobbs, 1825

• One has no great hope of Birmingham. I always say there is something direful in the sound.

• Mrs Elton in Jane Austen's Emma

The New Birmingham

Disconnections• Old --- Young

• Centre --- Suburbs

• Rich --- Poor

• Day --- Night

• Past --- Present

Ownership

• I can’t find Brummagem…

Big City – Little City

The shamrock in the turban

• Shifting identities:

• The mosque• The neighbourhood• The village• The suburb• The pub• The past…

• As I was walking down the streetAs used to be in Brummagem,I knowed nobody I did meetFor they've changed their face in Brummagem…

• A sense of place• A feeling of ownership• A haven• Continuity• A shared past• A shared future ?