This map was ‘Printed and Published by Richard Davies, Temple Row, (opposite Dee’s Royal Hotel) and No. 6, Colmore Row, (opposite the Blue Coat School)’. The full title is Davies’s new map of Birmingham, Strangers’ Guide, and Street Directory. The original, held in the Archives and Heritage section of Birmingham Central Library, includes a range of local information – a list of major showrooms and manufactories, hotels and inns and museums – plus travel information like railway stations, coach and omnibus offices and hackney coach fares. The archive record for the map can be found here.
The map is not conventionally oriented: the arrow just above the illustration in the bottom left corner points to the north, meaning that the map is skewed to the east by about 50 degrees. The map is divided into 63 squares (nine rows of seven squares) which are numbered from top left to bottom right. Squares 50 and 57 (bottom two rows, left-hand side) are not numbered as they are empty.
If you were to draw a line diagonally across this map from top left (square 1) to bottom right (square 63), all but one of the manufactories named in the 1841 inspections are located to the right of/above that line. The exception is Ingram’s, which is located on the very long Bradford Street (squares 42, 52 and 59). All of the 1864 manufactories are located to the right of/above that top-left-to-bottom-right-line. With one or two exceptions, I do not have door numbers for these manufactories in either of those years and several of the streets cross two squares (for instance Branston Street, squares 12 and 19). That lack means that the spread of locations could be a little tighter or looser.
Locations in 1770 come from Samuel Sketchley and Orion Adams’s original directory of that year. This directory was re-published by Richard Bissell Prosser and Samuel Timmins in 1886 as The Streets and Inhabitants of Birmingham in 1770. The street address numbers given in the listing below cannot be relied upon to relate to more recent (let alone current) numbering systems.
Extra information in the columns headed ‘Name’ and ‘Occupation’ comes from Sketchley’s 1770 directory, and the absence of a date in the column headed ‘Proprietor’ indicates that the business was active in 1770. The dates 1841 and 1864 refer to the inspections carried out in those years.
Extra information about street names marked * can be found below. That information came from the ‘Obsolete Street Names’ section of Showell’s Dictionary of Birmingham which was published by Walter Showell & Sons in 1885.
Further information about street names can be found on this version of the late Bill Dargue‘s excellent website: the text, pictures and maps he included have been removed but his words paint a vivid picture of Birmingham’s past.
To find a maker’s name, I have to ask you to use the ‘Find’ function (Ctrl F): who knows when I’ll find time to compile a list by makers’ names!
| Name and (number, 1770) | Map square | Proprietor (where no date, 1770) | Occupation (1770) |
| Aston Road | 41 | Lepper 1864 | |
| Bath Street 3 | 33 | Samuel Cox | Button Maker |
| Bell Street 21 | 38 | Charles Stockwell | Button Maker |
| Bordesley * | 46 | John Green | Button Stamper |
| Bradford Street | 45, 52 and 59 | Ingram 1841 | |
| Branston Street | 12 and 19 | Darlaston 1864 | |
| Bread Street | 25 | Thomas Hunt ( jun.) | Button Maker |
| Brearley Street West | 20 | Smith & Wright 1864 | |
| Bull Street 25 * | 32 and 39 | James Sorrell Button | Maker and Lapidary |
| Bull Street 5 * | 32 and 39 | Francis Dunn | Button Mould Turner |
| Cannon Street 28 | 32 | Edward Lane | Button Stamper |
| Cannon Street 11 | 32 | Harris and Lane | Button Stampers, and Leather Powder-flask Makers |
| Cannon Street 15 | 32 | Hanson and Jeffreys | Button Stampers |
| Cannon Street 16 | 32 | Thomas Hunt (Sen.) | Button Maker |
| Cannon Street 17 | 32 | William Round | Button Maker |
| Cannon Street 25 | 32 | John Horn | Gilt Button Maker |
| Carr’s Lane 28 | 39 | Edward Carr | Toy, Watch Chain, Necklace, and Enamel Button Maker |
| Chapel Row 33 | 40 | Kempson and Pinks | Gilt Button Makers |
| Chapel Row 37 | 40 | Jonathan Rudge | Button and Buckle Maker |
| Cherry Street 23 | 32 and 39 | Edward Heywood | Button Maker |
| Cherry Street 30 | 32 and 39 | William Geast | Pearl Button and Toy Maker |
| Cherry Street 6 | 32 and 39 | James Tooth | Button Maker |
| Cherry Street 7 | 32 and 39 | Joseph Cook | Button Maker |
| Church Street 19 | 25 and 32 | John Smith | Ivory Sleeve Button Maker |
| Church Street 2 | 25 and 32 | Thomas Harrison | Button and Toy Maker |
| Clement Street | 10 near Nelson Street | Rowley 1864 | |
| Cli(e)veland Street | 34 | Bullock 1841 and 1864 | |
| Coleshill Street | 40 | Jos. Brueton | Horn Button Maker |
| Coleshill Street 76 | 40 | Thomas Bowen | Horn Button Maker |
| Colmore Row 2 * | 32 | Thomas Allen | Button Maker |
| Colmore Row 23 * | 32 | Ann Barrs | Button Maker |
| Cottage Lane * | 10 | Cope 1864 | |
| Dale End 26 | 39 | Elizabeth Malpas | Button Maker |
| Dale End 31 | 39 | William Hall | Sleeve Button and Thimble Maker |
| Dale End 4 | 39 | John Channeler | Sleeve Button Maker |
| Dudley Street 43 * | 38 to 31 | Theodore Sadleir | Button Mould Turner |
| Dudley Street 45 * | 38 to 31 | John Willinger | Button Maker and Die Sinker |
| Edgbaston Street 16 | 38 | George Mobbs | Button Mould Turner |
| Edgbaston Street 26 | 38 | Edward Vincent | Pearl Button Maker, Baker, and Broker |
| Edgbaston Street 67 | 38 | William Fletcher | Button Maker |
| Edmund Street [Yard between 50 & 51] | 24 to 25 | John Wood | Button Maker |
| Edmund Street 31 | 24 to 25 | Palmer and Perkins | Button and Coach Spring Makers |
| Edmund Street 42 | 24 to 25 | John Hodgkins | Button Maker |
| Edmund Street 44 | 24 to 25 | Charles Primer | Button Maker |
| Edmund Street 64 | 24 to 25 | Thomas Collit | Button Maker |
| Exeter Row 15 | 30 | John Badderly (Jun.) | Button Maker |
| Freeman Street 2 | 39 | Thomas Priday | Platina Button Maker ** |
| Freemen Street 9 | 39 | Thomas Aston | Button Maker and Factor |
| Great Charles Street | 25 | Chatwin 1864 | |
| Great Charles Street 15 | 25 | Bratt and Green | Button and Watch Chain Makers |
| Great Charles Street 3 | 25 | Joseph Gough | Button Maker |
| High Street 69 | 38 to 39 | Joseph Latham | Publican and Button Mould Turner |
| Hill Street [Yard between 12 & 13] * | 31 | Palmer and Rubery | Button Mould Turners |
| Hill Street [Yard between 12 & 13] * | 31 | Simon Whitehead | Sleeve Button Maker |
| John Street 13 | 40 | William Clark | Button Maker and Publican |
| John Street 7 | 40 | Ann Morris | Button Maker |
| Lichfield Street 18 | 40 | Ainge and Blower | Button Makers |
| Lichfield Street 29 | 40 | Richard Taylor | Pearl Button Maker |
| Lichfield Street 49 | 40 | James Cheshire | Button Maker |
| Lichfield Street 70 | 40 | Caleb Cash | Publican and Sleeve Button Maker |
| Lichfield Street 81 | 40 | John Friend | Sleeve Button Maker |
| Lichfield Street 82 | 40 | Edward Ireland | Button, Necklace, and Toy Maker |
| Lichfield Street 91 | 40 | John Chandler | Button Maker |
| Lichfield Street 95 | 40 | Samuel Lawley | Button and Necklace Maker |
| Little Charles Street * | 32 | Layton 1864 | |
| Little Charles Street 17 * | 32 | Richard Brandis | Inlaid Button Maker |
| Little Charles Street 30 * | 32 | William Boswell | Sleeve Button Maker |
| Little Charles Street 33 * | 32 | Jonathan Lockit | Button Maker |
| Little Charles Street 36 * | 32 | Richard Bromfield | Button Maker |
| Lower Priory 12 | 39 | Thomas Humstone | Enamel Manufacturer, and Button and Toy Maker |
| Moor Street 23 | 39 | Hannah Godfree | Button Maker |
| Moor Street 65 | 39 | Josiah Rogers | Button Maker |
| Mount Pleasant 29 * | 31 | Nathanael Kind | Button and Watch Chain Maker |
| Mount Pleasant 8 | 31 | Thomas Crompton | Button and Buckle Maker |
| New Hinkleys 25 * | 31 | Thomas Iliffe | Horn Button Maker |
| New John Street | 35 | Matthews 1864 | |
| New Summer Street | 27 | Lane 1864 | |
| Newhall Street | 32 to 25 | Iliffe & Player 1864 | |
| Newhall Street 32 | 32 to 25 | Thomas Parkes | Button Maker and Factor |
| Newhall Street 6 | 32 to 25 | John Kelsey | Button Maker |
| Newton Street 26 | 49 to 33 | James Flint | Button Maker |
| Newton Street 5 | 49 to 33 | John Gibbons | Pearl, Tortoiseshell, Ivory, and Metal Button Maker |
| Paradise Row 10 * | 24 | Thomas Cooper | Horn Button Maker and Plater |
| Park Street | 39 | Thomas Wright | Button Maker |
| Park Street 103 | 39 | William Lewis | Pearl Button Maker |
| Princi[e]p Street | 34 | Aston 1864 | |
| Queen Street 13 * | 52 | Taylor and Pemberton | Button Makers |
| Queen Street 16 * | 52 | Roper and Benton | Gilt and Pinchbeck Button Makers, and Shoe and Stock Clasp Makers |
| Regent Street | 11 to 18 | Elliott 1841, Dain, Watts & Manton 1864 | |
| Saint George’s Street | 27 to 20 | Watson 1864 | |
| Snow Hill 108 | 32 to 26 | James Dalloway | Metal Button Maker and Wire Manufacturer |
| Snow Hill 100 | 32 to 26 | Hammond Turner 1841, 1864 | |
| Snow Hill 105 | 32 to 26 | Gibbons and Gibbs | Enamel Manufacturers and Metal Button Makers |
| Snow Hill 106 | 32 to 26 | Gimlet and Lee | Gilt Button and Buckle Makers |
| Snow Hill 51 | 32 to 26 | Robert Coals | Ivory Button Maker |
| Snow Hill 52 | 32 to 26 | Hodgetts and Wiggan | Ironmongers, Factors and Button Makers |
| Snow Hill 65 | 32 to 26 | James Kempson | Button Maker |
| Snow Hill 7 | 32 to 26 | Marrabelle Wyatt | Ivory and Button Mould Turner |
| Snow Hill 87 | 32 to 26 | James Arthur | Button Maker |
| Spiceal Street (Powel’s Yard) | 38 | John Powel | Button Maker |
| Square | 32 to 39 | Birch and Hunt | Button Makers, and slit and sell Rolled Iron and Steel |
| St Paul’s Square | Aston 1841 | ||
| Steelhouse Lane 33 | 32 to 33 | William John Banner | Button Maker |
| Steelhouse Lane 58 | 32 to 33 | Richard French | Button Maker |
| Steelhouse Lane 70 | 32 to 33 | John Lee | Metal and Horn Button Maker and Merchant |
| Steelhouse Lane 87 | 32 to 33 | Richard Thomason | Button Maker |
| Summer Lane | 26 to 27 | Hasluck 1841 | |
| Temple Street 11 | 32 | Thomas Price | Button Maker |
| Temple Street 31 | 32 | Edmund Birch | Steel Buckle Maker, Button and Watch Chain Maker |
| Temple Street 33 | 32 | William Wilson | Button Maker and Cutler |
| Thomas Street 14 | 40 | Richard Hil | Button Maker |
| Thomas Street 30 | 40 | Joseph Bradbury | Button Maker |
| Thomas Street 38 | 40 | Samuel Porter | Enamel Button Maker |
| Upper Priory 11 | 32 | John Hallen | Button Maker |
| Weaman Street 19 | 33 | William Mansell | Button Maker |
| Weaman Street 44 | 33 | Thomas Dawes | Inlaid Button Maker |
| Weaman Street 49 | 33 | William Dickinson | Button Mould Turner |
** Platina is an alloy of platinum and several other metals, including palladium, osmium and iridium, according to Collins English Dictionary. The word has its origins in the 18th century from the Spanish plata (silver).
| * Obsolete Street Names from Showell’s Directory published in 1885. “Town improvements of one sort and another have necessitated the entire clearance of many streets whose names may be found inscribed on the old maps, and their very sites will in time be forgotten. Changes in names have also occurred more frequently perhaps than may be imagined, and it will be well to note a few. As will be seen, several streets have been christened and re-christened more than once.” These names cannot be relied upon to be accurate today. |
| Bordesley seems to have been used for Borsdesley Street |
| Chapel Row was Jennen’s Row and Buck Street |
| Cottage Lane is now Sheepcote Lane |
| Dudley Street was previously called Dudwall Lane |
| The Hinckleys, also called Inkleys, have become Hinckley Street |
| Lees Lane is now Lease Lane |
| Little Charles Street (previously Hill Street) is now part of New Edmund Street |
| Mount Pleasant was afterwards Haymarket and Ann Street but is now part of Colmore Row |
| Paradise Row was Paradise Street |
| Queen Street led from New Street to Dudley Street but was destroyed with King Street, Little Colmore Street, Peck Lane etc when the New Street station was built |
| Rother Market – New Street next to High Street, and High Street next to New Street was once so-called |
| Shambles – part of the Bull Ring |