Birmingham Becomes a City
Between the Middle Ages and the Victorian era, Birmingham gained a strong reputation for metalworking and industry. Birmingham supplied the Parliamentarians with weapons and armour during the English Civil War (1642-1646), building this reputation further.
This made the town an attractive place to live and work in, as there was plenty of work to be had. By 1731 the town had around 23,000 inhabitants and manufacturing was booming. The Birmingham born engraver Charles Pye estimated that by 1810, the population had grown to 97,405. He judged that around 400 new houses were being built in the town every year (fast growth for the time!) and that in 1818 the population had passed 100,000. This amount of growth drew a lot of attention to the town and brought two significant changes.
The Municipal Corporations Act
The British government in the mid-1800s turned their attention to local government, and better organising the many towns in England, Wales and Ireland that had grown far beyond their original boundaries. They found that often towns had grown so much that they had become responsible for many smaller settlements far beyond their own borders. This was seen to be a huge problem. A royal commission (a major public enquiry) was formed to tackle the issue.
The Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 was the commission’s solution. This established a system of municipal boroughs, which would be the way the country was organised right up until 1974. These were specific districts, governed by elected town councils. Councillors would be elected by ratepayers (those who paid a certain amount of property taxes).
The act meant unincorporated towns could petition to become incorporated, and to therefore have a town council. Birmingham was one town to quickly take advantage of this. Birmingham was granted a Charter of Incorporation on 5 November 1835, becoming a borough with a town council and a mayor. Birmingham was now on an equal footing with many other large towns in the country: from Manchester to Bath.
Birmingham is granted City status
The town continued to grow. This immigration was mostly from surrounding rural counties, as more and more came seeking work. There was immigration from further afield: by 1851 1% of Birmingham’s population was a Jewish community from Germany. Once famine started in Ireland after 1845, 4% of the population of Birmingham was Irish by 1851. By 1861 Birmingham overtook Manchester as the 3rd largest settlement in Britain. By 1881 it had overtaken Liverpool and was now the 2nd largest settlement.
In the UK City status can only be grated by the monarch. This does not give a settlement any special rights, but the title is a symbol of prestige, and it is something that is highly sought after. Traditionally, city status would be given to tons that had a cathedral. Queen Victoria would grant Birmingham city status in 1889. It is the very first English town without its own cathedral to become a city- chosen instead due to its size as a town and its good reputation. It was decided soon after that Birmingham was in need of its own cathedral. Other new cities, like Liverpool, built their own new ones. Instead, St Philip’s church became the Cathedral Church of Saint Philip and the new seat of the Bishop of Birmingham. It remains the cathedral of Birmingham to this day, and a statue of the first Bishop of Birmingham, Charles Gore, stands outside the Cathedral.