Earlier this week I went along to the first talk given by Andy and Kevin at Birmingham Central Library Migration Stories: The Making of Modern Birmingham which was nothing short of revelationary. This talk was the first of 10 planned public workshops which aim to unlock the experiences contained in archive and heritage materials owned by the library and university. The workshops will be accompanied by free on-line learning guides.
Birmingham Stories: From Communities of Interpretation to Communities of Understanding
Dr Andy Green introduced the project to a small group who had met on the 6th Floor of the Central Library: "The living stories told in archives hold an important key to understanding urgent social issues surrounding citizenship and belonging. Engaging with city archives and heritage resources, we can make discoveries about ourselves that allow us to become empowered through a better understanding of social history"
"In this context, Birmingham Stories is intended to extend an awareness of the diverse histories of the city in its many voices and cultures, making research on archive collections more available to the public. Stories offer us some of the richest and most enduring insights into the human condition".
Andy and Kevin then took a turn to talk us through some of the archive material they had brought with them to the workshop which included rent registers and journals dating back some 200 years to 18th century Birmingham. It was here that the revelation for me was revealed.
In terms of migration studies, most of us believe that large scale incoming migration to Britain (and Birmingham in the particular context of this workshop) started in the late 1950s. From my own genealogical research I already knew this to be inaccurate, in that my maternal grandparents arrived in the city from Ireland in the 1930s and many of my father's ancestors settled in Newtown in the 1850s, the decade following the Great Hunger in western Ireland. Material I have read by writers such as Carl Chinn and Chris Upton also highlight the fact that the city had Jewish, Italian and Irish quarters going way back into the 19th century.
But what was very interesting about the documents shown to us by messrs. Green and Searle was that there is very strong evidence here that housing areas around the Bull Ring and the town centre were remarkably diverse in terms of people living here from all over the world. Indian people, African people, Europeans, people from the Caribean, lived alongside people who had settled in Birmingham from all over the Midlands and the British Isles. The notion that Birmingham had never seen a black face before 1958 is suddenly thrown into serious doubt by the hidden history of these old documents.
The stories begin to emerge as we start to understand the truths revealed in these old records. One abode of olde Birmingham town was called The Moghul House, speculation being that it was a temporary lodging house for Asian sailors as they journeyed on foot from the ports of London and the south coast up to Liverpool to catch their next sailing. Birmingham providing a half way house.
I was pleased by the response of Andy Green to my own query about the legacy of the Home Children, Birmingham street children rounded up by the Middlemore Charity and similar philanthropic groups in the early 20th century and migrated to countries like Canada where they worked as child labour on farms. My own knowledge of the Middlemore children comes through personal contact I have with the descendants of my grandmother's cousin who was one the children taken to Canada. He was one of thousands of Birmingham children migrated by Middlemore who now have tens of thousands of descendants - a hidden story that not many Brummies will be aware of.
Watch out for more workshops about Birmingham Stories - watch this space and I'll let you know where and when they are. Not to be missed.
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