Birmingham and Midland Institute
Encyclopedia
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
was a pioneer of adult scientific and technical education (General Industrial, Commercial and Music) and today offers Arts and Science lectures, exhibitions and concerts. It is a registered charity. There is limited free access to the public, with further facilities available on a subscription basis.
Following the demise of the Birmingham Philosophical Institution, which wound up in 1852, it was founded in 1854 by Act of Parliament for the Diffusion and Advancement of Science, Literature and Art amongst all Classes of Persons resident in Birmingham and the Midland Counties, as the Council had rejected the Free Libraries and Museums Act 1850. The BMI commissioned architect Edward Middleton Barry
Edward Middleton Barry
Edward Middleton Barry was an English architect of the 19th century.-Biography:Edward Barry was the third son of Sir Charles Barry, born in his father's house, 27 Foley Place, London. In infancy he was delicate, and was placed under the care of a confidential servant at Blackheath...
to design a building next to the Town Hall
Birmingham Town Hall
Birmingham Town Hall is a Grade I listed concert and meeting venue in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. It was created as a home for the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival established in 1784, the purpose of which was to raise funds for the General Hospital, after St Philip's Church became...
in Paradise Street
Paradise Street
Paradise Street is a short street in the Core area of Birmingham City Centre in England. Paradise Street runs roughly from Victoria Square to Suffolk Street and Broad Street...
. Half completed, in January 1860, the first public museum was opened in the BMI. Immediately the Council reversed its decision, and adopting the Act, negotiated with the BMI to buy the rest of the site. The other half of the planned building (up to Edmund Street
Edmund Street
__notoc__Edmund Street is a street located in Birmingham, England.Edmund Street is one of a series of roads on the old Colmore Estate which originally stretched from Temple Row in the city centre, around St Phillip's Cathedral, to the northern end of Newhall Street. Originally the estate surrounded...
) was completed by William Martin
William Martin (architect)
William Martin was a Victorian architect who worked in Birmingham, England, particularly in the practice Martin & Chamberlain.Born in Somerset in 1829 he joined a Birmingham architect called Thomson Plevins, and then became a partner of D. R. Hill, public works architect of early 19th century...
using the intended façade but redesigned behind. The municipal Public Library opened in 1866, but burned down during the building of an extension in 1879. Exhibitions of art were moved from the BMI to Aston Hall
Aston Hall
Aston Hall is a municipally owned Jacobean-style mansion in Aston, Birmingham, England. Washington Irving used it as the model for Bracebridge Hall in his stories in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon.-History:...
during rebuilding. In 1881 John Henry Chamberlain
John Henry Chamberlain
John Henry Chamberlain , generally known professionally as J H Chamberlain, was a nineteenth century English architect....
(architect and Honorary Secretary of the BMI) completed an extension to the Institute.
When its old building was demolished in 1965 as part of the redevelopment of the city centre the BMI moved to Margaret Street, the home of the private Birmingham Library which is a Grade II* listed building, designed 1889 by architects Jethro Cossins, F. B. Peacock, and Ernest Bewley. There is a blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
on the wall of this current building commemorating Albert Ketèlbey
Albert Ketèlbey
Albert William Ketèlbey , born Ketelbey, was an English composer, conductor and pianist.-Biography:...
who studied at the Birmingham School of Music when it was part of the Institute.
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
was an early president after giving recitals in the Town Hall
Birmingham Town Hall
Birmingham Town Hall is a Grade I listed concert and meeting venue in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. It was created as a home for the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival established in 1784, the purpose of which was to raise funds for the General Hospital, after St Philip's Church became...
to raise funds. The BMI contains the 100,000 volumes of the Birmingham Library, founded in 1779.
In 1876, the subject Phonography was introduced to the BMI. During the first session, Marie Bethell Beauclerc
Marie Bethell Beauclerc
Marie Bethell Beauclerc was a pioneer in the teaching of Pitman's shorthand and typing in Birmingham, England. In 1888 she was the first woman to be appointed as a teacher in an English boys' public school. The school was Rugby...
, first female shorthand reporter in England, taught 90 students. By 1891, there were over 300 students, predominately male, attending her Phonography classes.
A School of Metallurgy was set up in the BMI by G H Kenrick in 1875. This was spun-out from the BMI in 1895 as The Birmingham Municipal Technical School, now Aston University
Aston University
Aston University is a "plate glass" campus university situated at Gosta Green, in the city centre of Birmingham, England.Established in 1895 as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School, Aston was granted its Royal Charter as Aston University on 22 April 1966...
.
Weather recording
A. Follett Osler
Abraham Follett Osler , known as A. Follett Osler, was a pioneer in the measurement of meteorological and chronological data in Birmingham, England.-Early life:...
(Fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
) gave a presentation on readings taken by a self-recording anemometer and rain gauge he had designed. He was funded by the Birmingham Philosophical Institution to design instruments and record meteorological data. He gave instruments to the BPI and BMI starting an almost unbroken record of weather measurements from 1869 (to 1954, date of source material). In 1884 the BMI leased Perrott's Folly
Perrott's Folly
Perrott's Folly, , also known as The Monument, or The Observatory, is a 29-metre tall tower, built in 1758. It is a Grade II* listed building in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England.-History:...
, a 100-foot monument in Edgbaston
Edgbaston
Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Edgbaston ward and the wards of Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton....
, for use as an observatory. In 1886 the City of Birmingham Water Department allowed the BMI to erect instruments in an observatory on the nearby covered water reservoir
Edgbaston Waterworks
Edgbaston Waterworks lies to the east of Edgbaston Reservoir, two miles west of the centre of Birmingham, England....
. By 1923 a daily weather map was on display outside the Institute. The Observatory was still in operation in 1954 (date of source material). The Observatory received funding from the City Council, and the Air Ministry at various times.
Affiliated organisations
Various independent societies are affiliated to the BMI including:- the Birmingham Philatelic Society, Moseley United Nations Association, Institute Ramblers, Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society, Alliance of Literary Societies, Birmingham Art Circle, Birmingham Water Colour Society, Midland Painting Group, Midland Spaceflight Society, Workers Educational Association, Dickens FellowshipDickens FellowshipThe Dickens Fellowship was founded in 1902, and is an international association of people from all walks of life who share an interest in the life and works of Victorian era novelist Charles Dickens....
, Olton Recorded Music Society, British Russian Society, the Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry, the Royal Institute of British Architects, Birmingham Film and Television Festival, Midland Co-operative Society and the Society for the History of Astronomy..
Presidents
- Baron LytteltonGeorge Lyttelton, 4th Baron LytteltonGeorge William Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton , was a British aristocrat and Conservative politician.-Early life:...
of HagleyHagleyHagley is a village and civil parish on the northern boundary of Worcestershire, England, near to the towns of Kidderminster and Stourbridge. The parish had a population of 4,283 in 2001, but the whole village had a population of perhaps 5,600, including the part in Clent parish...
, (first President) 1854 - Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, author (16th President) 1869 - Canon Charles KingsleyCharles KingsleyCharles Kingsley was an English priest of the Church of England, university professor, historian and novelist, particularly associated with the West Country and northeast Hampshire.-Life and character:...
, author of Westward Ho!Westward Ho! (novel)Westward Ho! is an 1855 British historical novel by Charles Kingsley, inspired in part by an Elizabethan travelogue by privateer Admiral Sir Richard Hawkins and by the Crimean War.-Plot summary:...
(1855) and The Water-BabiesThe Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land BabyThe Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby is a children's novel by the Reverend Charles Kingsley. Written in 1862–1863 as a serial for Macmillan's Magazine, it was first published in its entirety in 1863...
(1863). (19th President) 1872 - Edward White BensonEdward White BensonEdward White Benson was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death.-Life:Edward White Benson was born in Highgate, Birmingham, the son of a Birmingham chemical manufacturer. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1852...
, Archbishop of CanterburyArchbishop of CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
(32nd) 1885 - Arthur SullivanArthur SullivanSir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
, (35th) 1888 - Charles GoreCharles GoreCharles Gore was a British theologian and Anglican bishop.-Early life and education:Gore was the third son of the Honourable Charles Alexander Gore, and brother of the fourth Earl of Arran...
, 1st Bishop of BirminghamBishop of BirminghamThe Bishop of Birmingham heads the Church of England diocese of Birmingham, in the Province of Canterbury, in England.The diocese covers the North West of the historical county of Warwickshire and has its see in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, where the seat of the diocese is located at the...
, (52nd) 1905 - Austen ChamberlainAusten ChamberlainSir Joseph Austen Chamberlain, KG was a British statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and half-brother of Neville Chamberlain.- Early life and career :...
, (69th) 1923 Awarded the 1925 Nobel Peace PrizeNobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who... - Sir H. Walford DaviesHenry Walford DaviesSir Henry Walford Davies KCVO OBE was a British composer, who held the title Master of the King's Musick from 1934 until 1941.-Early life and education:...
, (86th President) 1940 Master of the King's MusicMaster of the Queen's MusicMaster of the Queen's Music is a post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The holder of the post originally served the monarch of England.The post is roughly comparable to that of Poet Laureate...
Sources
- All About Victoria Square, Joe Holyoak, The Victorian Society Birmingham Group, ISBN 0-901657-14-X
- Exploring Birmingham: A Guided Tour, Peter Groves, ISBN 1-869922-00-X
- By the Gains of Industry - Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery 1885-1985, Stuart Davies, ISBN 0-7093-0131-6
- The Birmingham and Midland Institute 1854-1954, Rachel E Waterhouse, 1954
- Birmingham City Council on BMI
- Birmingham Heritage on BMI