Image: Charles Edward Mathews who successfully campaigned against the shooting of wildfowl in Sutton Park This rare engraving is taken from the collection of Stephen Roberts The hunting of wildlife in Sutton Park was a centuries-old activity. Its medieval origins had, of course, been as a deer park. The right of the inhabitants to hunt […]
‘Sporting’ in Sutton Park Read More »
Image: Maney Farm, which stood next to Maney House, where James Motteram was tenant and where he died in 1884. (ref 17) Reproduced with the permission of Sutton Coldfield Library At 8 pm on the evening of 19 September 1884 at his home in Maney, a man called James Motteram died. You might well wonder
James Motteram (1817-1884) – Scourge of the Corporation Read More »
Image: A World War II-era can of Spam Photo courtesy of Hormel Foods Corporation In the evening of 7 May 1945, the British people heard on their wireless sets that, after almost six years, the war in Europe had finally come to an end. Across Britain people celebrated – and, it seems, no more vigorously
The Great Food Bonfire of 1945 Read More »
Image: The Empress Cinema, the Parade. Movies at this cinema kept up morale during the Second World War and were well-attended. (ref 262) Reproduced with the permission of Sutton Coldfield Library It was a beautiful day when war was declared. Suttonians had gone to church in larger numbers than usual that Sunday morning, 3 September
War Begins, Sutton Coldfield In Autumn 1939 Read More »
Image: The tomb of Bishop Vesey, Holy Trinity, photographed c. 1885. (ref 155) Reproduced with the permission of Sutton Coldfield Library In a book I have recently written – but which has not yet been published – about Sutton Coldfield in the third quarter of the nineteenth century, I describe Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School as being
The Restoration & Opening of the Tomb of Bishop Vesey, 1875-7 Read More »
Image: Oscar Wilde by Napoleon Sarony, albumen cabinet card, 1883 Reproduced courtesy of and © National Portrait Gallery, London One autumn evening in 1883 Sutton Coldfield was visited by a rising figure in the literary world. He had been born in Dublin. His father was a solicitor and his mother was a poet and translator.Â
A Literary Genius Arrives in Sutton Coldfield Read More »
Image: Wyndley Lane, 1892 Photograph reproduced by permission of Sutton Coldfield Library This charming photograph of Wyndley Lane in the late nineteenth century was taken by Sir Benjamin Stone (1838-1914). If you have ever heard of Sir Benjamin Stone, it will probably be as a photographer. Stone was in fact the most famous amateur photographer
Sir Benjamin Stone – Sutton Coldfield’s First Mayor Read More »