Handsworth Magazine

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Date:1896 - 1915 (c.)

Description:The Handsworth Magazine started publication in July 1896 and described itself as a "local society magazine". The local areas targetted were Handsworth, Perry Barr and Birchfield and the appeal was towards the upper class of the area. It was published monthly and each issue contained a mix of biographies of local people, articles about exotic foreign places, articles about British History or Topography and brief news reports. Births, marriages and deaths plus Society Weddings were also featured. Probably the death blow for the magazine came with Handsworth's incorporation as part of Birmingham in 1911. Incorporation was something that the magazine had been cautiously in favour of but there is a perceptible loss of identity to the magazine afterwards.

By the outbreak of the First World War some colour adverts had started to appear and the Magazine changed its coverage slightly - profiles of local people were largely replaced by profiles of the Royal Family, the Government and high ranking officers in the Armed Forces. The Handsworth Magazine did its bit to support the War in this way, as did the rest of the Press. The run of magazines held by Birmingham Central Library stops in December 1915 - by then a much reduced in size issue and the bustle and liveliness of the earlier issues is missing.

For the local historian or genealogist the magazine is a treasure trove of biography. Many people can be found amongst its pages who you would be hard pressed to even find mentioned elsewhere, let alone with a photograph. The Digital Handsworth Project have brought many of the "local portraits" to this site and, as the magazine is unindexed, this will be the first time that anyone will have been able to find them quickly and conveniently.

The following pages are some of the biographies contained within the magazine - a roll call of Victorian Handsworth scoiety.


Timeline

The timeline shows resources around this location over a number of years.

1890s
Advert for William Bruckshaw - Butcher
Advert for William Bruckshaw - Butcher

William Bruckshaw traded at 139 Soho Road, which is located near to the junction ...

1910s
Norman Tiptaft Facts For Voters Poster 1918
Norman Tiptaft Facts For Voters Poster 1918

Tiptaft contested the 1918 General Election as an Independent candidate. Here he ...

1940s
Barbara Lewis - Liberal Candidate for Handsworth
Barbara Lewis - Liberal Candidate for Handsworth

Barbara Lewis contested the 1945 General Election as a Liberal. Her biography here ...

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Image courtesy of: Birmingham Central Library

Donor ref:LSH/ Handsworth Magazine L93.1 (14/3751)

Source: Local Studies & History Department ,  Birmingham Central Library

Copyright information: Copyrights to all resources are retained by the individual rights holders. They have kindly made their collections available for non-commercial private study & educational use. Re-distribution of resources in any form is only permitted subject to strict adherence to the usage guidelines.