Postal Notes.—In 1748 letters were conveyed from here by post on six days a week instead of three as previously. To help pay the extra expense it was enacted that any person sending letters by private hands should be liable to a fine of £5 for every letter.—In 1772 a letter sent by "express" post was charged at the rate of 3d. per mile, with a 6d. fee for each stage and 2s. 6d. for the sending off.—Mails for the Continent were made up fortnightly, and once a month for North America. —In 1780, when James Watt was at Truro and Boulton at Birmingham, it took thirteen days for the one to write to and get an answer from the other, and on one occasion a single letter was eleven days on the road. —A local "penny post" was commenced September 4, 1793, but there was only one delivery per day and the distance was confined to one mile from the office.—The postage on letters for London was reduced to 7d., December 1, 1796, but (and for many years after) if more than one piece of paper was used the cost was doubled.—In 1814 the postage of a letter from here to Warwick was 7d.—The system of "franking" letters was abolished in 1839. This was a peculiar privilege which noblemen, Members of Parliament, and high dignitaries possessed of free postage for all their correspondence, and very strange use they made of the privilege sometimes, one instance being the case of two maidservants going as laundresses to an Ambassador who were thus "franked" to their destination. This privilege cost the Post office about £100,000 a year. —The penny postage system of Rowland Hill came into operation January 10th, 1840.—In 1841-2 there were only two deliveries per day in the centre of the town, and but one outside the mile circle, an extra penny being charged on letters posted in town for delivery in the outer districts.—The collection of a million postage stamps for the Queen's Hospital closed Sep. 5, 1859.—Halfpenny stamps for newspapers were first used in 1870.—The telegraphs were taken to by the Post Office in 1876, the first soirée in celebration thereof being held at Bristol Street Board School, Jan. 29, 1877.—The Inland Parcels Post came into operation on August 1, 1883, the number of parcels passing through our local office being about 4,000 the first day, such trifles as beehives, umbrellas, shoes, scythes, baskets of strawberries, &c., &c, being among them. The number of valentines posted in Birmingham on Cupid's Day of 1844 was estimated at 125,000 (the majority for local delivery), being about 20,000 more than in the previous year.
Power.—That the letting of mill-power would be a great advantage to hundreds of the small masters whose infinitude of productions added so enormously to the aggregate of our local trade was soon "twigged" by the early owners of steam engines. The first engine to have extra shafting attached for this purpose was that made by Newcomen for a Mr. Twigg in Water Street (the premises are covered by Muntz's metal works now), who, in 1760, advertised that he had "power to let."
Presentations.—No local antiquarian has yet given us note of the first public presentation made by the inhabitants of this town, though to the men they have delighted to honour they have never been backward with such flattering and pleasing tokens of goodwill. Some presentations have been rather curious, such as gold-plated buttons and ornate shoe buckles to members of the Royal Family in hopes that the patronage of those individuals would lead to changes in the fashion of dress, and so influence local trade. The gift of a sword to Lord Nelson, considering that the said sword had been presented previously to a volunteer officer, was also of this nature. The Dissenters of the town gave £100 to the three troops of Light Horse who first arrived to quell the riots in 1791, and a similar sum was voted at a town's meeting; each officer being presented with a handsome sword. Trade should have been good at the time, for it is further recorded that each magistrate received a piece of plate valued at one hundred guineas.—Since that date there have been hundreds of presentations, of greater or lesser value, made to doctors and divines, soldiers and sailors, theatricals and concert-hall men, lawyers and prizefighters, with not a few to popular politicians and leading literary men &c. Lord Brougham (then plain Mr.) being the recipient at one time (July 7, 1812); James Day, of the Concert Hall, at another (0ct. 1,1878); the "Tipton Slasher" was thus honoured early in 1865, while the Hon. and Very Rev. Grantham Yorke, D.D., was "gifted" at the latter end of 1875. Among the presentations of later date have been those to Dr. Bell Fletcher, Mr. Gamgee, Mr. W.P. Goodall, and other medical gentlemen; to Canon O'Sullivan, the late Rev. J.C. Barratt, and other clergymen; to Mr. Edwin Smith, secretary of Midland Institute; to Mr. Schnadhorst of the Liberal Association; to Mr. Jesse Collings, for having upheld the right of free speech by turning out of the Town Hall those who differed with the speakers; and to John Bright in honour of his having represented the town in Parliament for twenty-five year.—On April 30, 1863, a handsome silver repoussé table was presented to the Princess of Wales on the occasion of her marriage, the cost, £1,500, being subscribed by inhabitants of the town.
Price Of Bread.—At various times during the present century the four-pound loaf has been sold here as follows:—At 4-1/2d. in 1852; at 7-1/2d. in 1845; at 9-1/2d. in June, 1857, and June, 1872; at l0d. in December, 1855, June, 1868, and December, 1872; at l0-1/2d. in February, 1854, December, 1855, December, 1867, and March, 1868, at 11d. in December, 1854, June, 1855, and June 1856; at ll-1/2d. in November, 1846, May and November, 1847, and May, 1848; at 1s. and onwards to 1s. 5-1/2d. in August, 1812, and again in July, 1816; and may God preserve the poor from such times again.—See "[Hard Times]."
Prices of Provisions, &c.—In 1174, wheat and barley sold at Warwick for 2-1/2d. per bushel, hogs at 1s. 6d. each, cows (salted down) at 2s. each, and salt at 1-4/5d. per bushel. In 1205 wheat was worth 12 pence per bushel, which was cheap, as there had been some years of famine previous thereto. In 1390 wheat was sold at 13d. per bushel, so high a price that historians say there was a "dearth of corn" at that period. From accounts preserved of the sums expended at sundry public feasts at Coventry (Anno 1452 to 1464) we find that 2s. 3d. was paid for 18 gallons of ale, 2s. 6d. for 9 geese, 5d. for 2 lambs, 5d. for a calf, l0d. for 9 chickens, 3d. for a shoulder of mutton, 1s. 3d. for 46 pigeons, 8d. for a strike of wheat and grinding it, &c. An Act of Parliament (24, Henry VIII.) was passed in 1513 that beef and pork should be sold at a half-penny per pound. In 1603 it was ordered that one quart of best ale, or two of small, should be sold for one penny. In 1682 the prices of provisions were, a fowl 1s., a chicken 5d., a rabbit 7d.; eggs three for 1d.; best fresh butter, 6d. per lb.; ditto salt butter, 3-1/2d.; mutton 1s. 4d. per stone of 8lb.; beef, 1s. 6d. per stone; lump sugar, 1s per lb.; candles, 3-1/2d. per lb.; coals, 6d. per sack of 4 bushels; ditto charcoal, 1s. 2d. best, 8d. the smallest. Wheat averaged 50s. per quarter, but the greatest part of the population lived almost entirely on rye, barley, oats, and peas. Cottages in the country were let at about 20s. per annum. In 1694 a pair of shoes cost 3s. 6d.; a pair of stockings, 1s. 4d.; two shirts, 5s. 4d.; leather breeches, 2s.; coat, waistcoat, and breeches, 16s.; a coffin, 5s.; a shroud and a grave for a poor man, 3s. l0d. In November, 1799, the quartern loaf was sold in London, at 1s. l0-1/2d. and in this town at 1s. 4d., the farmers coming here to market having to be protected by constables for months together.
Priory.—History gives us very little information respecting the Hospital or Priory of St. Thomas the Apostle [See "[Old Square]">[ and still less as the Church or Chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr. The site of the Priory was most probably where the Old Square was laid out, though during the many alterations that have latterly been made not a single stone has been discovered to prove it so. A few bones were found during the months of Aug. and Sept., 1884, and it is said that many years back a quantity of similar remains were discovered while cellars were being made under some of the houses in Ball Street, and one late writer speaks of cellars or crypts, which were hastily built up again. From these few traces it is not unlikely that the Chapel existed somewhere between the Minories and Steelhouse Lane, monkish chants probably resounding where now the members of the Society of Friends sit in silent prayer. Ancient records tell us that in 1285 three persons (William of Birmingham, Thomas of Maidenhacche, and Ranulph of Rugby) gave 23 acres of land at Aston and Saltley (then spelt Saluteleye) for the "endowment" of the Hospital of St. Thomas the Apostle, but that rather goes to prove the previous existence of a religious edifice instead of dating its foundation. In 1310 the Lord of Birmingham gave an additional 22 acres, and many others added largely at the time, a full list of these donors being given in Toulmin Smith's "Memorials of old Birmingham." In 1350, 70 acres in Birmingham parish and 30 acres in Aston were added to the possessions of the Priory, which by 1547, when all were confiscated, must have become of great value. The principal portions of the Priory lands in Aston and Saltley went to enrich the Holte family, one (if not the chief) recipient being the brother-in-law of Sir Thomas Holte; but the grounds and land surrounding the Priory and Chapel appear to have been gradually sold to others, the Smallbroke family acquiring the chief part. The ruins of the old buildings doubtless formed a public stonequarry for the builders of the 17th century, as even Hutton can speak of but few relics being left in his time, and those he carefully made use of himself! From the mention in an old deed of an ancient well called the "Scitewell" (probably "Saints' Well"), the Priory grounds seem to have extended along Dale End to the Butts (Stafford Street), where the water was sufficiently abundant to require a bridge. It was originally intended to have a highly-respectable street in the neighbourhood named St. Thomas Street, after the name of the old Priory, a like proviso being made when John Street was laid out for building.
Prisons.—Before the incorporation of the borough all offenders in the Manor of Aston were confined in Bordesley Prison, otherwise "Tarte's Hole" (from the name of one of the keepers), situate in High Street, Bordesley. It was classed in 1802 as one of the worst gaols in the kingdom. The prison was in the backyard of the keeper's house, and it comprised two dark, damp dungeons, twelve feet by seven feet, to which access was gained through a trapdoor, level with the yard, and down ten steps. The only light or air that could reach these cells (which sometimes were an inch deep in water) was through a single iron-grated aperture about a foot square. For petty offenders, runaway apprentices, and disobedient servants, there were two other rooms, opening into the yard, each about twelve feet square. Prisoners' allowance was 4d. per day and a rug to cover them at night on their straw. In 1809 the use of the underground rooms was put a stop to, and the churchwardens allowed the prisoners a shilling per day for sustenance. Those sentenced to the stocks or to be whipped received their punishments in the street opposite the prison, and, if committed for trial, were put in leg-irons until called for by "the runners." The place was used as a lock-up for some time after the incorporation, and the old irons were kept on show for years.—The old Debtors' Prison in 1802 was in Philip Street, in a little back courtyard, not fourteen feet square, and it consisted of one damp, dirty dungeon, ten feet by eleven feet, at the bottom of a descent of seven steps, with a sleeping-room, about same size, over it. In these rooms male and female alike were confined, at one time to the number of fifteen; each being allowed 3d. per day by their parishes, and a little straw on the floor at night for bedding, unless they chose to pay the keeper 2s. a week for a bed in his house. In 1809 the debtors were removed to the Old Court House [See "[Court of Requests]">[, where the sleeping arrangements were of a better character. Howard, the "Prison Philanthropist," visited the Philip Street prison in 1782, when he found that the prisoners were not allowed to do any work, enforced idleness (as well as semi-starvation) being part of the punishment. He mentions the case of a shoemaker who was incarcerated for a debt of 15s., which the keeper of the prison had to pay through kindly allowing the man to finish some work he had begun before being locked up. In these enlightened days no man is imprisoned for owing money, but only because he does not pay it when told to do so.—See also "[Dungeon]" and "[Gaols]."
Privateering.—Most likely there was some truth in the statement that chains and shackles were made here for the slave-ships of former days, and from the following letter written to Matthew Boulton in October, 1778, there can be little doubt but that he at least had a share in some of the privateering exploits of the time, though living so far from a seaport:—"One of the vessels our little brig took last year was fitted out at New York, and in a cruise of thirteen weeks has taken thirteen prizes, twelve of which are carried safe in, and we have advice of 200 hogsheads of tobacco being shipped as part of the prizes, which if now here would fetch us £10,000," &c.
Progress of the Town.—The Borough Surveyor favours us yearly with statistics giving the number of new buildings erected, or for which plans have been approved, and to show how rapidly the town is progressing in extent, we give a few of the figures. The year 1854 is memorable in the building trade, as there were 2,219 new houses erected, the average for years after not being 1,000. In 1861 the number was but 952; in 1862, 1,350; in 1863, 1,694; in 1864, 1,419; in 1865, 1,056; in 1866, 1,411; in 1867, 1,408; in 1868, 1,548; in 1869, 1,709; in 1870, 1,324; in 1871, 1,076; in 1872, 1,265; in 1873, 993. The building report for the last ten years is thus tabulated:—
| 1874 | 1875 | 1876 | 1877 | 1878 | 1879 | 1880 | 1881 | 1882 | 1883 | |
| Houses and Shops | 1611 | 3395 | 2903 | 2700 | 1205 | 1197 | 1301 | 1236 | 666 | 938 |
| Churches | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 2 |
| Chapels | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | -- | 1 | 1 | -- | 1 |
| Schools | 9 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 4 | -- | -- | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Manufactories and Warehouses | 76 | 80 | 107 | 86 | 64 | 102 | 64 | 91 | 64 | 73 |
| Miscellaneous | 42 | 48 | 43 | 90 | 96 | 101 | 71 | 84 | 62 | 97 |
| Alterations | 47 | 67 | 52 | 167 | 290 | 225 | 222 | 180 | 163 | 158 |
| 1788 | 3608 | 3117 | 3053 | 1660 | 1625 | 1659 | 1594 | 963 | 1235[1] |