Miscellaneous addresses in New Street
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A list of businesses and an engraving of New Street 'from the west' published in 1836 in 'Birmingham and its Vicinity as a Manufacturing and Commercial District' by William Hawkes Smith.
On the left, the engraving clearly shows the neo-classical portico of the 'Society of Artists' built by architect Thomas Rickman in 1829. The Society of Artists became the 'Royal Society of Birmingham Artists' in 1868 when it received its Royal Charter. To relieve financial pressures, the building was demolished for commercial development in the early 20th Century. The RBSA still exists and currently operates a gallery on Brook Street off St. Pauls Square.
Several intriguing enterprises are listed;- No. 31 S. E. Churchill traded as an "Operative & Experimental Chemist & Dealer in Cabinet Specimens of Minerals"
- No. 52 resided James Drake, "Agent to the Phoenix Fire Office & to the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge".
- The Phoenix Fire Office (aka Phoenix Assurance) was a fire insurance company founded in 1680.
The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge operated between 1826 and 1846 and pioneered cheap educational publishing via its 'Penny Cyclopedia'. This, and other texts were aimed at creating a range of educational literature for the masses.
Location: Birmingham Trade Card Collection: Box 05 No. 331
