Nature of the Manufacturing Industries of Birmingham and the District.—It is difficult, if not impossible to classify satisfactorily the varied industries of Birmingham and the district. The one adopted has as its basis, the raw materials of different kinds as used up in the trades of the town. In order to obtain information as to progress of the trades, or change in their character, I have extracted from Kelly’s Directory of 1864 the number of each trade as then given, and compared it with the number in the last Directory published, viz., 1884:—
Trades of Birmingham and the Counties of Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire.
I.—Production of Materials from Ores, including Chemicals.
A.—Non-metal.
| No. in Directory. |
|---|
| 1864 | 1884 |
|---|
| Black Lead | | 2 |
| [41]Chemicals | 33 | 54 |
| Colour Grinders and Manufacturers | 29 | 51 |
| Glue, Isinglass | 6 | 7 |
| [42]Mungo | 0 | 1 |
| Optical Glass | 1 | 1 |
| Paper | 31 | 21 |
| Ice | 0 | 1 |
| Glass | 41 | 62 |
B.—Metal and Alloy.
| No. in Directory. |
|---|
| 1864 | 1884 |
|---|
| Alloy Makers | 0 | 1 |
| Aluminium | 0 | 1 |
| Brass and Yellow Metal | 0 | 6 |
| Copper | 7 | 10 |
| German Silver | 14 | 10 |
| Iron | 88 | 103 |
| Nickel & Cobalt | 2 | 2 |
| Steel | 18 | 21 |
II.—Finished Articles.
A.—NON-METAL.