Browse Topics
- Arts
- Buildings, Architecture & Monuments
- Business, Trade, Industry & Commerce
- Advertising
- Agriculture & Countryside
- Banks, Finance and Legal Services
- Domestic Service
- Innovation & Inventions
- International Contact & Trade
- Legal Services
- Printing and Publishing
- Shops & Retail
- Tourism and Hospitality
- Trades, Industries & Manufacturing
- Brass Trade
- Button Trade
- Carpet Making
- Ceramics and Pottery Industry
- Charcoal
- Chemical Industry
- Coins and Minting
- Engineering
- Glass Trade
- Gun, Sword and Weapons Trade
- Iron and Metal Trades
- Jewellery, Decorative and Toy Trades
- Mining
- Needle and Fish Hook Trades
- Pewter Industry
- Rope Industry
- Textile Industry
- Tools, Machinery and Equipment
- Unemployment
- Work, Pay & Conditions
- Culture & Diversity
- Events, Celebrations & Disasters
- Health & Medicine
- Religion, Ideas & Beliefs
- Science, Nature and Environment
- Society
- Sport & Leisure
- Transport
Business, Trade, Industry & Commerce
- Advertising
- Agriculture & Countryside
- Banks, Finance and Legal Services
- Domestic Service
- Innovation & Inventions
- International Contact & Trade
- Legal Services
- Printing and Publishing
- Shops & Retail
- Tourism and Hospitality
- Trades, Industries & Manufacturing
- Unemployment
- Work, Pay & Conditions

John Dawes & Sons, Bromford Iron Works, West Bromwich
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858

John Mitchell, Metallic Pens and Pen Holders, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858

John Taylor and Matthew Boulton
Image: Advertisement for J Taylor, Gold and Silversmith, Jeweller, Tortoiseshell and Ivory Box and Toy Manufacturer, Birmingham. J… read more »

John Yates & Sons, Patent Electro Plate Works, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858 ELECTRO-PLATING The art of… read more »

Joseph Gillott, Metallic Pen Maker, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858 STEEL PENS The Steel… read more »

Joseph Priestley and his Influence on Education in Birmingham
Image: Penny featuring a bust of Joseph Priestley on one side, and on the other side an apparatus… read more »

Joseph Taylor, Engineer and Machinist, Birmingham
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858

Knapp’s Commercial Boarding House, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858

L. Baldwin, Warwick Arms Hotel, Warwick
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858

Labour and Genius: or, the Mill-stream, and the Cascade. A Fable
Image: View of Matthew Boulton’s Soho Manufactory in Handsworth near Birmingham. J Bisset, Bisset’s Magnificent Guide or Grand Copper Plate Directory… read more »

Laings and Company, Household Goods, Birmingham
Advertisement, Men and Things of Modern England… The New Illustrated Directory… (Birmingham, M Billing, 1856)

Leamington Spa Post-Office and Temperance Commercial Hotel
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858

Letter from Erasmus Darwin to James Watt, 1789/11/20
Darwin writes to Watt to request some details of the Boulton and Watt steam engine for his… read more »

Letter from Erasmus Darwin to Matthew Boulton, 1778
Directions to Mr Boulton for making a Tea Vase. Friend Boulton take these ingots fine From rich… read more »

Letter from Erasmus Darwin to Matthew Boulton, 1783/03/04
Darwin tells Boulton he has become involved with founding a philosophical society at Derby and encourages Boulton… read more »

Letter from Erasmus Darwin to Matthew Boulton, 1785/01/26
Darwin writes to Boulton about Richard Arkwright’s difficulties over patents for his machinery. —————————————- Derby Jan 26-85… read more »

Letter from Erasmus Darwin to Matthew Boulton, 1791/05/09
Darwin writes to assure Boulton of the care being taken of a servant of Boulton’s, Mr Laws.… read more »

Letter from Samuel Galton, jnr to The Friends of the Monthly Meeting in Birmingham
To the Friends of the Monthly Meeting at Birmingham:— RESPECTED FRIENDS, I have been visited on the… read more »

Lloyd and Summerfield, Park Glass Works, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858 Glass made in furnaces,… read more »

Lowe’s Rope and Twine Manufactory
Image: A display at Bewdley Museum of items from Lowe’s Rope and Twine Manufactory. The firm was founded… read more »

Lowe’s Rope and Twine Manufactory
Image: An exterior view of buildings at Lowe’s rope manufactory. Much of the firm’s production took place in… read more »

Mabbatt’s Commercial Boarding House, Coventry
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858

Mabbatt’s Commercial Boarding House, Coventry
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858

Made in Kidderminster: the History of the Carpet Industry
Image: Brinton’s Carpet factory, 1870 Brinton’s Carpet Factory, Vicar Street, Kidderminster, 1870. Print taken from a watercolour. By… read more »

Mander Brothers, Varnish Manufacturer, Wolverhampton
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858

Map of the Mining and Manufacturing District of South Staffordshire, Warwickshire, etc.
William Hawkes Smith, Birmingham and its Vicinity as a Manufacturing and Commercial District (London and Birmingham, 1836).… read more »

Mapplebeck and Lowe, Manufacturers of Agricultural Implements, Birmingham
Advertisement, Men and Things of Modern England… The New Illustrated Directory… (Birmingham, M Billing, 1856)

Matthew Boulton and Silver Making
Image: Sweetmeat Basket, Boulton & Fothergill, 1774 This basket was possibly designed by Robert Adam. The body is… read more »

Matthew Boulton’s Medals and Coins on Russian Subjects
Image: Medallion of the Hudson’s Bay Company. 1820. Designed by Conrad Heinrich Kuchler. An example of the high… read more »

Matthew Boulton’s Soho Works, Iron Foundry and House at Soho near Birmingham, 1801
Stebbing Shaw’s The History and Antiquities of Staffordshire (1798 and 1801) is a major source not only for the… read more »

Matthew Harvey, Malleable Iron Founder, Walsall
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858

Maypole Commercial Hotel and Posting House, Nottingham
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858

Medals and Coins of Alexander I
Image: Medallion of Alexander I, Emperor of all the Russias. 1812. Image from: Birmingham Assay Office (256) The coronation… read more »

Mendoza’s Trip to Birmingham
From: The Political Songster by John Freeth Local Studies and History, Central Library, Birmingham MENDOZA’s TRIP to… read more »

Messenger and Sons, Corrugated Ship & Railway Lamps, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858

Metal Rolling
Image: Charles Clifford, Rolling Mills, Birmingham Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England,… read more »

Metallic Bedsteads
Image: Richard and Edward Peyton, Brass and Iron Bedsteads, Birmingham Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and… read more »

Needle Making
Image: Milward’s Needle and Fish-Hook Manufactory, Redditch Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern… read more »

Needle-Making Illustrated and Explained: A Guide through Washford Mills, Redditch
Front cover of Needle-Making Illustrated and Explained: A Guide through Washford Mills, Redditch Title page of Needle-Making… read more »

Optical Department: Open Pots after Cooling
Image: Photo taken about 1940. The photo shows two full open pots after cooling and just prior to… read more »

Optical Department: Pot being set into a Furnace
Image: Photo taken about 1940. The same furnace as on photo 2. This shows an empty pot… read more »

Optical Department: Two Pot Furnace
Image: Photo taken about 1940. This two pot furnace accommodated 38” diameter covered pots. The furnace number is… read more »

P. Aitchison and Co, Brass Founders, Sheffield
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858

Pair of shoe buckles
These silver buckles have an embossed design and are fitted with steel latchets or fasteners.

Pastoral Group, c.1770
The group with a shepherd playing his pipe to a sleeping shepherdess is a good example of… read more »

Pearl and blue glass button
Luckock Collection, Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery A mother-of-pearl button, produced around 1795, and engraved with concentric… read more »

Photograph of scientific instruments
Image from: Joseph Priestley Collection by Samuel Timmins, Birmingham City Archives.

Plan of Birmingham, drawn by J. Sherrif of Oldswinford, late of the Crescent Birmingham
Image from: Bisset’s Magnificent Guide or Grand Copper Plate Directory for the Town of Birmingham, 1808 [From Birmingham… read more »