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| About 104-102 New Street (numbers later changed), c. 1860-1870. Held at Birmingham Archive. |
See other Georgian terraces.
Even in Victorian Birmingham the central streets of the town, like New Street, still contained grand residential properties, like 103 New Street where the Wilkes family lived. The house in which they lived was a fine Georgian townhouse, one of many built in the 1700s, but few remained as residential properties in Birmingham's main shopping streets. The photograph might show the property shortly after it was vacated, and then, of course, demolished. Today, this is about where Hotel Chocolat and Blue Banana are. When the photograph was taken, there were still net curtains at the window.
The head of the household was Elizabeth Fowler Wilkes, the widow of Edward Villers Wilkes, and several of their children lived with her. Edward Villers Wilkes was a renowned brazier, a seller and manufacturer of copper and brass goods. A memorial for him and Elizabeth, and one of their sons, is situated in St. Philip's Cathedral (see here). Edward and Elizabeth's daughter, Miss. Emma Chadwick Wilkes, also paid for the three Edward Burne-Jones windows in the Cathedral.*
Elizabeth was born Elizabeth Fowler Villers in 1780, and she and her husband were third cousins, both descended from the Villers family in Coventry which were weavers and, on Elizabeth's side, ironmongers. It was from Elizabeth's branch of the family that the metal trade came from as her uncle, William Villers, had started as a brazier in Birmingham in the late 1700s, a business in which her husband became a partner after their marriage.
See some of Edward Villers Wilkes goods here.
Gallery of Close-Ups
The exposure of the image means that all but one of the people are blurred. One solitary girl stands by, what seems to be, a stream of other young girls going through the open door. This was at Richardson's, a tailor and drapers', but perhaps there was a school at the back of the building or above. Or, perhaps these young girls worked on site. The tailor was John Fowler Richardson.
To the left of the Wilkes house was the 'Irish Needlework Society'. Two strange stone characters adorn the window and door of the building and piles of linen are seen in the window. In 1878, the Irish Needlework Society was being man[aged] by "Miss Mary Ann Hardy, man." at 53 Union Passage.**
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| Girl Standing Still and Other Children. |
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| Signage. |
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| Fingerprint, People Whispers and Pillar. |
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| Irish Needlework Society. |
Notes
1860-70 date for the photograph: In the 1867 Birmingham Post Office Directory 104 New Street was the Birmingham Alliance Fire Insurance Company, 103 was Alfred Wilkes [another of Edward and Elizabeth's sons], and 102 was run by John Fowler Richardson a tailor. John Fowler Richardson died in 1871, but the 1878 Directory listed John F. Richardson & Son as tailors at 4 Ethel Street, so they had moved by this time. The Irish Needlework Society was at a different address in the 1878 directory (see below). John Fowler Richardson first found at 102 New Street in 1854 directory.
FURTHER NOTES
** The Post office [afterw.] Kelly's Directory of Birmingham' (1878), p. 558. With thanks to Andy Mabbett for this information.
~ The 1878 Directory listed John F. Richardson & Son as tailors at 4 Ethel Street. In the same directory: 102 was Thomas Kemp Mace, hatter; 103 not included; and 104 Chubb & Son, lock and safe makers.