On the 23rd July 1888, in Aston, Birmingham, an elderly married woman walked down Catherine Street with her arms full of peas and red currants, looking like she was about some household chores. Catherine Street ran down from Aston Cross Road/Lichfield Road towards the canal.
These are the moorings at Aston Cross Business Park where we moored one night. Catherine Street used to come down towards the canal from behind the camera. The fake lock is just for show.
Photo from https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoffsimages/8678186565
Catherine Street in 1969 before much was demolished. The business park starts about half way down now.
It was nine forty in the
evening and as she reached the bottom of the road she bore rights and
crossed the Gunnery Field towards Rocky Lane Bridge which crossed
over the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. The Gunnery Field was named
after the gun Factory that fronted Lichfield Road just by Catherine
Street. It was opened by William Tranter and was named the ‘Tranter
Gun and Pistol Factory’. The Factory was very up to date being one
of the first privately owned gun manufacturers to install steam driven
machinery. Tranter had many patents for mainly pistols but the
company made many different small arms under licence too. The site
covered 4 acres and by 1887 there was a still a field, or wasteland
between the factory and the canal.
This was the warehouse cum showroom that fronted on to Lichfield Road (at the top of Catherine Street), built in 1887.
The inside of the fsactory showing the steam driven machinery. In the foreground are pieces of timber to be used as rifle butts.
These details were published in the report of the court proceedings for the attempt to commit suicide. Unbelievably suicide was illegal until 1961, so attempted suicides were taken court. The Magistrates were E.H. Stringer and Dr. Griffiths. The lady in question was Ellen Brittain who lived at 3 Court, 10 House on Catherine Street. Ellen’s husband gave evidence at the trial to the fact that his wife was a confirmed alcoholic. He further stated that he gave her 35s a week but the children did not have clothes on their back, and she pawned everything in the house! He said that she had given her 35s the last Saturday and by the time she got home she only had 4s 6d left. Superintendent Walker told the Court the defendant was barely clothed in the cells and her husband said she had no clothes at home other than those she stood up in. The prisoner was then asked to speak and she told the Court she was not a drunk and that she had been driven to attempt suicide by the actions of her husband and went on to bring many charges against him regarding domestic troubles. She was remanded to Winson Green whilst reports were assembled.
Winson Green Prison
Victoria Road Police Station, Aston Manor, which I believe had been the court building previously.
The Royal Humane Society was started by two doctors who were worried about the number of people who were drowning and could have been revived. Dr. William Hayes promoted artificial respiration techniques and the use of tobacco smoke enemas to revive people. He paid the public to bring him bodies to him that had not been in the water over long. He was joined by Dr. Thomas Cogan had grown interested in the same subject whilst in Amsterdam where as society had been set up in 1763. In 1774 they invited fifteen of their friends to a coffee house in St. Paul’s church yard and the ‘Humane Society for the Recovery of the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned’. In 1783 King George III became the patron of the Society and in 1787 it’s name was changed to The Royal Humane Society. The top award is the Stanhope medal that is awarded annually for the most gallant rescue, first awarded in 1873. The Silver Medal was the first awarded when the society was first started. It is awarded to those that put their own life at risk to same others, by putting themselves in personal danger, a long and arduous, or returning to the scene repeatedly. The Bronze Medal was first awarded in 1837 for the rescue of others at their own personal risk. Also awarded are Testimonials on Vellum for a rescue performed by putting themselves in considerable danger. There is also a Testimonial on Parchment presented for an act whereby the receiver rescues by putting themselves in danger. These two awards are now issued on card.
The current form of the Testimonial on Parchment.
In October 1888, before a
sitting of the Aston Police Court A. Hill, the presiding Magistrate
presented Samuel Tuckey with a Testimonial on Parchment from the
Royal Humane Society for his rescue of Ellen Brittain from the
Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. In his speech Mr. Hill said he hoped
that this award would act as an incentive to others to follow this
noble example under similar circumstances. He went on to say he had
no doubt that he would cherish this testimonial to his bravery and
would be able to hand it down to his children, and children’s
children. The report goes on to say that Samuel went on to thank them
in his self effacing way and withdrew!
The next time census in 1891 we find Samuel has enlisted in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and on census day he was with his regiment at the Tower of London as the guard. He had joined up in 1890. In 1899 his regiment were shipped out to South Africa to fight in the Boer War. We know he was there as he was awarded the South Africa 1901 service medal. He could have served in Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Belfast, Cape Colony and the Orange Free State. I am unable to follow him after this with any certainty.
The next time census in 1891 we find Samuel has enlisted in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and on census day he was with his regiment at the Tower of London as the guard. He had joined up in 1890. In 1899 his regiment were shipped out to South Africa to fight in the Boer War. We know he was there as he was awarded the South Africa 1901 service medal. He could have served in Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Belfast, Cape Colony and the Orange Free State. I am unable to follow him after this with any certainty.
This is the story of just one potential drowning but the newspapers were full of many cases of drownings and rescues and suicides that travelling up and down the canals must have inevitably turned up many bodies. I'm so glad it isn't like that today!
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