sharing Solihull's local history
The unveiling and dedication of Solihull War Memorial in The Square, Solihull, took place on the afternoon of Sunday 19th June 1921 in a ceremony arranged by Brigadier-General Walter Robert Ludlow (1857-1941) whose youngest son had been killed at the Battle of Beaumont Hamel in 1916. This was not the first memorial to the fallen that Solihull parish had erected – a Calvary shrine had been unveiled at Easter 1917.
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The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 allowed parishes to join together to form a Poor Law Union, electing a local Board of Guardians to oversee the administration of poor relief and the Union Workhouse.
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At 5pm on Trinity Sunday, 22nd May 1921, the Bishop of Birmingham dedicated the war memorial at Catherine-de-Barnes mission church, five years after a war memorial fund was begun.
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The outdoor education centre was the former Maengwynedd County Primary School in Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, Denbighshire, Wales, which was situated in the foothills of the Berwyn mountain range.
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The Evans Convalescent Home for Children, Widney Manor Road, Solihull was set up in 1881 by Susannah Sarah Evans (née Lee). She was the wife of Rev. Canon Charles Evans (1824-1904) who was Rector of Solihull 1872-1894. The above photo shows the home c.1940.
In its “Know your neighbour” feature of 3rd December 1960, the Solihull News focussed on Mr Clifford Arthur Joiner, the village photographer.
Continue reading “Cliff Joiner (1898-1973)”One of Solihull’s most notable historians, John Burman, was born in Eccles, Greater Manchester on 19th March 1889 and was the eldest of the four children of parents Edwin Guest Burman (1855-1920) and Gertrude Mary Wood (1866-1950). Edwin had been born in West Bromwich but moved to Lancashire c.1881.
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Hubert Lindsay Kearne, formerly a Private with the Devonshire Regiment, died on 11th February 1921 having drowned at Hastings. The coroner recorded a verdict of death by drowning, declaring that there was insufficient evidence as to how the young man came to be in the water.
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On Tuesday 29th January 1884, a man drove a horse and trap up to the Post Office on Solihull High Street and asked the postmistress to cash some postal orders. Whilst she was talking to him, another man in the shop seized £49 in gold from the counter, then jumped into the trap and both men rode off in the direction of Birmingham. A policeman followed them but did not managed to overtake them.
On 24th January 1953, Miss Constance May Podesta from Solihull married Mr Charles Turner, a Methodist preacher and retired pattern-maker from Coseley. The marriage took place at Solihull Congregational Church, where Miss Podesta, known by her middle name, May, had been organist since about 1937.
Solihull Life 