308 



BIK.MINGHAM. 



minster Abbey, is attributed to the power of this 

 pplendid stop. The builder of this grand instru- 

 ment w.ts .Mr Hill, of London. The case of the 

 instrument is from a design by Mr Mackenzie, and 

 perfectly harmonizes with the architectural style 

 of the building in which it is placed. It is calcu- 

 lated that tin- timber alone employed in the construc- 

 tion of this organ would weigh between twenty and 

 thirty tons, while the metal and other materials of 

 the structure would raise the weight of the whole 

 to at least forty tons. 



By the reform bill Birmingham was invested with 

 the right of sending two members to parliament. 

 The limits of the borough comprise the parishes of 

 Birmingham and Edgbaston, and the townships of 

 Bordesley, Deritend, and Duddeston with Nechels. 

 The number of houses worth 10 a year within 

 this limit was, in 1831, about 70QO, and the total 

 number of houses 30,000. 



Birmingham has two roads communicating with 

 the metropolis ; one passing through Banbury and 

 Warwick, the distance by which is 119 miles ; and 

 the other is the great road from London to Hoi \ head, 

 which is nine miles shorter. The distance from 

 London to Birmingham in a direct line is 102 miles. 

 Birmingham is in the very centre of the canal 

 system, to which indeed it has been indebted for a 

 great measure of its prosperity. One canal com- 

 municates with the Severn, another with the Trent 

 and Mersey, a third line with the Thames ; so that 

 the products of its industry can be conveyed in an 

 economical manner to the ports of London* Liver- 

 pool, Bristol, and Hull. The railway from London 

 to Birmingham, and from Birmingham to Man- 

 chester, recently completed, still further accele- 

 rates the activity of Birmingham, and affords in- 

 creased facilities for intercourse with it. Theline 

 passes through Watford and Rugby. Projects are 

 now on foot for extending it as far as Glasgow; 

 and, when this is accomplished, it will form, from 

 the magnitude of the places it connects, the prin- 

 cipal thoroughfare of the kingdom. A journey 

 from Glasgow to London will then be performed 

 in eighteen hours. 



In 1783, Button estimated that there were at that 

 time in Birmingham 209 persons worth 2,500,000, 

 viz. : 



3 persons, each possessing 100,000 



7 50,000 



8 30.000 

 17 20,000 

 80 10,000 

 94 5,000 



In 1828, Mr James Luckcock made a calculation of 

 the wealth of the town, which he estimated at 

 10,000,000 viz. : 



1 person possessing 400,000 



2 (each) 300,000 



3 200,000 



4 150,000 



5 100,000 



6 80,000 

 10 50,000 

 20 30,000 

 30 _ _ 20,000 

 50 15,000 

 70 _ 10,000 



100 _ 5,000 



2,000 



400 1,000 



1000 200 



2000 - - _ 250 



3000 - 100 



4000 60 



5000 25 



' 6000 - - 15 



In 1801 the population of Birmingham and the 

 suburbs was 73,670, and it was only exceeded in 

 this respect by Manchester, Glasgow, and Liverpool. 



In 1811 the population of Birmingham had in- 

 creased to 85,753; in 1821 to 10G.721. At the 

 census taken in May, 1841, Birmingham contained 

 87,483 males and 5)3,633 females, making a total 

 population of 181,llfi. It still held the rank 

 which it occupied when the census of 1801 was 

 taken ; and though it had not increased in so rapid 

 a manner, its progress had been more steady. From 

 1801 to 1811 the increase was 16 per cent., and 

 for the two following decennial periods it was 

 twenty-four and thirty-three per cent, respectively. 

 The following is a table of the number of baptisms, 

 burials, and marriages registered in Birmingham for 

 the ten years ending in 1830: 



Years. Baptisms. Burials. Marriages. 



1821 -!!<!<< 1775 11 as 



1822 5523 1764 1181 



1823 'JTI'O 1943 1321 



1824 3058 2178 1582 



1825 3283 2242 Wl 



1826 2777 2235 1366 



1827 3568 2084 1463 



1828 4749 2310 1525 



1829 4313 1941 1474 



1830 4472 2138 1571 



The number of persons who died above the age or 

 ninety-five during the above ten years was forty- 

 eight, of whom there were eleven aged ninety- 

 eight; six aged a hundred; four 101; two 102; 

 four 103; two 104; one 109; and one aged 114. 

 The rate of mortality among children under five 

 years is 44 per cent., i. e. less than one-half, and 

 somewhat fewer than in the towns of Liverpool, 

 Nottingham, and Leeds, where the proportion per 

 cent, is respectively as follows- Liverpool, 46 per 

 cent.; Nottingham, 48 per cent.; and Leeds, 49 

 per cent. The longevity of the inhabitants is re- 

 markable, as will be seen by the following state- 

 ment: Proportion of deaths per cent., from 1821 

 to 1830, of persons aged between ninety and ninety- 

 nine: Birmingham, 90 per cent.; Hull, 96; Hali- 

 fax, 98 ; Somersetshire, 96 ; Dorsetshire, 98. The 

 longevity of the inhabitants of Birmingham ex- 

 ceeds even that of the county population, the pro- 

 portion in the latter case being 95 per cent., and 

 at Birmingham 90. 



In December, 1837, when the registration act 

 had been exactly six months in operation, the popu- 

 lation of the parish of Birmingham amounted to 

 145,800. The number of births within this period 

 was 1582, and of deaths, 1458. Mr Pare, the 

 superintendant registrar of the Birmingham dis- 

 trict, has given tables showing the age of each in- 

 dividual at the time of death, and the diseases or 

 causes of death. Both these points are of the 

 utmost importance, and are safe guides in estimat- 

 ing the habits and condition of any particular sec- 

 tion of the population. In Mr Fare's tables, 341 

 deaths are attributed to consumption ; 202 to in- 

 flammatory complaints; 89 to small pox; 82 to 

 decay of nature or old age; 79 to fever; 69 to 

 convulsions ; 67 to dropsy ; 44 are violent deaths ; 

 and the ravages of each type of disease are simi- 

 larly discriminated. The number of children who 

 died under the age of three months was 190 ; or 

 under one year 366, which is one-fourth of the 

 whole number of deaths. Mr Pare has not been 

 content with instituting comparisons between his 

 own district and the general results which the cen- 

 sus of 1831 present, but has obtained from another 

 registrar, Dr Johns, of Manchester, a statement of 

 the movement of the population in that district be- 

 tween the 1st of July and the 31st of December 

 last. With these materials before him, which so 

 far as regards the number of deaths may be entire. 





