For over 200 years Birmingham had a worldwide reputation in manufacturing everything from button and buckles to guns and jewellery. It is no wonder that Britain’s second biggest city proved to be such a magnet to a migrant population not only from across the Midlands, but from across the world.

In the 18th century Birmingham was a minor market town with a total population of 12,000 in 1720. By the end of that century, Birmingham’s population was approximately 73,000. The population continued to expand until by the 1851 census it totalled 294,122 and then on the 1901 census totalled 744,973. Increased mechanisa-tion in agriculture, the potato famine in Ireland and the advent of the railways brought people in from the countryside to the town looking for work and a better life.

In order to accommodate ever more people, the boundaries of Birmingham expanded from Warwickshire into the neighbouring counties of Staffordshire and Worcestershire taking in districts such as Aston (Warks), Balsall Heath, Yardley, King’s Norton, Northfield (Worcs) and Handsworth (Staffs).

Apart from the prolific manufacturing which took place in the city,there are two specific areas which are world famous. The Jewellery Quarter, based in Hockley, has been the home to skilled goldsmiths and jewellery makers for over 200 years. Often these tradesmen worked from their own home or in small workshops, each specializing in one particular craft, which could then be incorporated into another tradesman’s work.

If your ancestor was a goldsmith or a silversmith it is possible that the Assay Office may have a copy of their hallmark. The Assay Office has an online database containing sponsors’ marks registered between 1773 and 1858. St Paul and St Mark’s church in St Paul’s Square, built in 1779, is known as the Jeweller’s Church.

Birmingham’s gun trade was built up around the church of St Mary’s Chapel, Whittall Street. In the 1871 census, available at www.thegenealogist.co.uk, around 6000 people are listed as being involved in the gun trade which was another industry taking place in people’s homes or in small workshops.

Data supplied by TheGenealogist reveals other trades important to the city. For example, among the top 20 professions listed in the 1841 census were several from the clothing trade: shoemaker, dressmaker, tailor, button maker (and indeed ‘pearl button maker’). Jeweller and gun maker are unsurprisingly in the list, along with brass founder and plater.

By 1911, other businesses were moving into the list, notably ‘press worker’, which was the most common specific job title listed. Jewellers, silver-smiths and brass workers all feature still, though gun workers have dropped out of the top trades by name – perhaps reflecting the rise of mass production of guns in Europe and the USA from the late 19th century. (Birmingham’s gun industry was briefly revived by World War One.)

Many of the leading industrialists during the 19th century belonged to Nonconformist religious movements. The Cadbury family were Quakers as was were the Lloyds of Lloyds Bank, formerly button-makers. Records from both families can be found in the Nonconformist BMD registers at www.thegenealogist.co.uk.

Other records relevant to Birmingham at TheGenealogist include a Who’s Who of people in Staffordshire from 1844-1930 and many trade directories for Staffordshire, Worcester-shire and Warwickshire, including Birmingham-specific ones from 1849 and 1850. The site also has huge collections of wills, censuses, civil registration and parish records which can all help track down Birmingham ancestors, and the keyword search for the censuses will help search for people in specific trades in the city.

The site has also provided Discover Your Ancestors with data on the most common surnames in the city. Discounting names in the top 20 across the whole country, in 1841 Birmingham’s top 20 surnames included Hill, Baker, Parker, Turner, Cooper, Jackson, Allen and Harris. In 1911 the equivalent list is Hill, Harris, Clarke, Baker, Price, Cooper, Turner and Morris.

This September the new £190m Library of Birmingham opens, which will provide a new premises for Birmingham Archives and Local History Department, where a wealth of local records are held. The Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry (BMSGH, see below) has its own reference library.

Places of interest to visit to bring alive the city’s heritage include the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter (this and other city museums can be found via www.bmag.org.uk); the Pen Museum; and the National Trust-owned Back to Back Houses. The Black Country Living Museum in nearby Dudley provides a rich experience of the area’s industrial and cultural heritage.

This is an edited version of an article kindly supplied by Jackie Cotterill of BMSGH