Hagley Historical and Field Society

Our next meeting at St Saviour’s Church Hall is on Tuesday 7th November 2017 at 8.00pm with a presentation by Fiona Joseph entitled “Beatrice, The Cadbury Heiress Who Gave Away Her Fortune”. For her, being a ‘have’ in a world of ‘have-nots’ was troubling, and in 1920 she decided to ‘give back’ all the Cadbury shares she had inherited to the Bournville factory workers … with unexpected consequences.

Commences 8pm at St Saviour’s Church Hall, DY9 0NS. Visitors are most welcome at all our events – see Home page for details. Annual membership £10

The history of glass making in Stourbridge stretches back some 375 years. Not only was it the lifeblood of the community, but it was also a substantial contributor to Britain’s manufacturing strength and national wealth. It appears that glassmakers were a migratory people, continually moving to where they could find suitable resources such as coal and fireclay which existed here in abundance.

Kate Round’s topic entitled ‘Stourbridge Glassmakers on the Move’ might lead you to believe that she was referring to this migration. However, it appears that the word ‘move’ in this context refers to a continuous shift pattern of six hour on and six hours off where the change of shift was called the ‘move’.

At the end of the 17th century, the distinctive cone shaped glasshouse appeared that came to dominate the landscape and still does today. The industry grew and evolved for the next 275 years and glass from Wordsley, Amblecote and Brierley Hill is recognised as amongst the finest in the world. Unfortunately the final decades of the 20th century saw the loss of the four major companies. In 1990 Thomas Webb and Sons closed and in 1995 Webb Corbett was closed by Royal Doulton. Royal Brierley Crystal went bankrupt and closed in 2000.

Our next meeting at St Saviour’s Church Hall is on Tuesday 7th November 2017 at 8.00pm with a presentation by Fiona Joseph entitled “Beatrice, The Cadbury Heiress Who Gave Away Her Fortune”. For her, being a ‘have’ in a world of ‘have-nots’ was troubling, and in 1920 she decided to ‘give back’ all the Cadbury shares she had inherited to the Bournville factory workers … with unexpected consequences. Visitors are most welcome at all our events – see hhfs.org.uk for details and contacts.

The idea for this new publication was originally developed by the late Dr Peter Bloore, who lived in Middlefield Lane. He was a member of Hagley Historical and Field Society and also Hagley Parish Archivist. His widow offered the file to the Archive Group and they decided that they would continue his research and aim at publishing a summary of his work plus contributions from people, who lived or had lived in the Lane or had first hand knowledge of the residents. The results are now available as an illustrated book of fifty-two pages.

Middlefield Lane front

Middlefield Lane back

The book is priced at £4 and can be purchased from Happy Families or can be ordered online from Hagley History and Field Society.

The book “Hagley Miscellanea” by John-Homery Folkes, the architect of St.Saviour’s Hall, was first published in 1974. It was for private circulation and only 25 copies were printed. Forty years later it is considered sufficiently interesting to merit this reprint. The author (born 1906) has gathered a wide range of reminiscences that together give a picture of Hagley’s inhabitants, houses, industries, celebrations and entertainments in the century and more before the explosion of house-building in the 1960s.

The book includes: the early days of the railway station; the building of St. Saviour’s church and planning the cemetery; houses large and small; an attempt at encroachment in Church Street; the Rifle Corps and the Range; the nursemaid question!; Hagley celebrities; the Sunday postal delivery and church attendance and an eyewitness account of the fire at Hagley Hall on Christmas Eve 1925. The “Illustrations” section includes the programme for the Coronation Celebration of June 1911.

The book is priced at £5 and can be purchased from Happy Families or can be ordered online from Hagley History and Field Society.

The Society has now launched a new book entitled ‘Hagley: A Village at War 1914 – 1918’, researched and written by local author and member, Pat Dunn. It is based on the ‘Hagley Parish Magazines’ of the period and describes how the people of Hagley dealt with the problems presented by the Great War on the Home Front. The people and places featured on the front cover of June’s issue of the Hagley Village News feature in the book along with many others.

The book is priced at £4 and can be purchased at the Hagley Library or ordered online. Click on the book cover below to view the first few pages.