Capturing, preserving and sharing Solihull's history. Also commemorating local casualties from the First World War #SolihullRemembers
On Sunday 11th September 2022 in Solihull High Street, the Worshipful the Mayor of Solihull, Councillor Ken Meeson, read the official Proclamation of the Accession of King Charles III. It seems that this was the first local Accession Proclamation ever to have been officially read in Solihull.
Continue reading “The King’s Accession Proclamation”
The Mayer Society evolved from the Solihull branch of the British Federation of University Women, which was established in 1973. In 1993, the Solihull association decided to separate from the national group and take the name of the branch’s second president – Marjorie Mayers (1898-1982) – whose widower, James (“Jack”) Bowen Mayers (1901-1990), bequeathed £250 to the group. For the sake of simplicity, the ‘s’ was left off the group’s name. The Mayer Society closed in October 2021.
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The Middle Ages were a turbulent time and moated properties were quite a common sight. Although they were initially built for defence they were later used more as status symbols. The Hobs Moat site has been traditionally referred to as a castle, so was probably fortified.
Continue reading “Hobs Moat Ancient Monument”
On 28th January 1943 22-year-old Pilot Sgt Cecil Francis Beechey 656761, a pilot with 197 Squadron RAF, was killed when the tail of his Typhoon IB DN364 broke off and the aircraft crashed in East Linton, East Lothian, Scotland. His family home was in Hall Green and he was buried at Robin Hood Cemetery, Solihull on 4th February 1943.
Continue reading “Sgt Cecil Francis Beechey (1920-1943)”
According to various contemporary newspaper reports, at just after midnight on Thursday 19th January 1899, four hearses entered the Warwickshire village of Knowle. Each hearse carried the coffin of a deceased person whose remains had been disinterred (with Home Office permission) from Key Hill Cemetery, Birmingham.
The four people were all related and their remains were interred in a family vault in the churchyard of Knowle Parish Church. By the dim light of a lantern, the Vicar read a portion of the burial service, and the ceremony was witnessed by a police sergeant, overseer and the relatives of the deceased.
Continue reading “Midnight burial at Knowle 1899”
The grave of Elizabeth Grant in the churchyard of St Nicholas’ Church, Elmdon suggests to the casual reader that she was a local servant as the inscription mentions 43 years of faithful service. However, she seems to have been a wealthy and literate woman and the “faithful service” may be a description of her work on behalf of the church rather than in domestic service.
Continue reading “Elizabeth Grant (c.1765-1823)”
The first general ordinary meeting of the shareholders of the Solihull Gas Company Ltd was held at Solihull Town Hall, The Square, at 10am on 20th October 1869. The limited liability company was formed by a number of local people who wanted gas and the company started with capital of £2,500.
Land was purchased in Wharf Lane and the gas works was built on this site adjoining the canal – presumably to keep the smell and smoke away from residential areas. There were very few houses in the vicinity at the time – the whole area around Lode Lane and Elmdon Heath was farmland.
Continue reading “Solihull Gas Works”
On Saturday 24th November 1962, Solihull’s new parish hall was officially opened by Sir Martin Lindsay MP and dedicated by the Bishop of Birmingham, Dr J. L. Wilson. The new hall, named the Oliver Bird Hall, was built on land in Church Hill Road.
Continue reading “Oliver Bird Hall”
At 3pm on 16th October 1938, a war memorial erected by the Solihull, Shirley, and Olton branches of the British Legion was unveiled at Robin Hood Cemetery. The intention was that the The Old Comrades’ grave would provide “a resting-place for old soldiers who die friendless or whose relatives cannot afford the cost of private burial.”
Continue reading “British Legion War Memorial, Solihull Cemetery”
The Grade II-listed hollow bronze statue in Malvern Park is by notable Victorian sculptor Joseph Edgar Boehm (1834-1890) and was cast by H. Young & Co., Pimlico. Boehm was born in Austria to Hungarian parents but settled in England in 1862 and became a British subject three years later. He became the favourite sculptor of the Royal Family. The Horse and His Master statue was created in 1874 and from c.1904-1953 it stood on the lawn in front of Tudor Grange (as pictured above c.1910) before its removal to Malvern Park.
Continue reading ““Horse and His Master” statue”
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