Bickley maps collection
William Bickleigh Bickley was born in 1849 in Moseley. He died at home in Trafalgar Road, Moseley in 1929. As a youth he served as an apprentice in sailing ships of the mercantile marine. In the 1880s local directories have entries for him as a wholesale paper dealer in Birmingham. Obituaries describe Bickley as an antiquarian, archaeologist and genealogist and refer to his work in the Reference Library transcribing the Guild Book of Knowle.
This collection of 250 printed and manuscript maps and plans is part of the larger Bickley collection (MS 3069) which was purchased by Birmingham Reference Library in 1930.
The collection includes estate maps, sales catalogue plans and tracings of parish maps covering parts of Birmingham and adjacent counties. Central Birmingham, Balsall Heath, Moseley and the southern part of the Black Country are particularly well represented.
In order to protect the originals, images of many of these maps can be viewed on aperture cards.
Matthew Boulton's Soho estate 1795
Birmingham to Redditch road 1825
Hen and Chickens, New Street 1836
New Street to Bridge Street 1860
Moseley, Grove Estate Cotton Lane 1876
Pershore Road South King's Norton 1877
Barnt Green Worcestershire 1889