The Expansion of the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter
The Industrial Revolution saw the development of Birmingham as a city of trade. The Jewellery Quarter rapidly developed to provide jewellery for wealthy manufacturers and others who benefited from the boom in trade. By the end of the 19th century over 20,000 workers were employed in the jewellery trade in the Hockley area.
Birmingham’s Industrial Expansion
Birmingham established itself as England’s second city during the 19th century and the Jewellery Quarter is associated with a number of important events and people of that time. Birmingham was a world leader in industry and innovation and can claim to be:
- The birthplace of electroplating
- The home of Alexander Parkes, the ingenious scientist who invented plastics
- Famous for its canals, which are said to be more numerous than those of Venice
- The birthplace of one of the foremost pioneers of the Industrial Revolution, Matthew Boulton, who played a massive part in the development of the city’s industry
- Where James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, spent the last 45 years of his life, collaborating with Matthew Boulton on industrial development projects at Soho Foundry
- A leader in securing the Parliamentary reform which almost certainly saved the country from revolution.
The Birmingham Mint
In 1786 Matthew Boulton, a key figure in the Industrial Revolution, set up the original Birmingham Mint. The need to develop this was driven by the fact that the Royal Mint, in London, had found itself unable to meet the demand for bronze coinage. Boulton was charged with the important task of producing quantities of copper coinage to rectify the situation. Working in conjunction with James Watt, Matthew Boulton was the first to use steam-powered coin presses which, up until then, had been hand-operated.
Supplying the World with Pen Nibs
In the early 1820s, some Birmingham manufacturers in the Jewellery Quarter turned their attention to the mass production of pen nibs, which had been available only to the wealthy because of their high cost, derived from the labour-intensive method of their manufacture. By enabling pen nibs to be mass produced, the price was reduced by 99.9%, bringing them within almost everyone’s reach. Twelve firms were involved in their manufacture, producing at their peak 1,500 million nibs every year. The scale of manufacture was so huge that large factories were required and these grew up on the edge of the Jewellery Quarter.
Business and Residential Development
As trade flourished, so the Jewellery Quarter area developed. New streets were constructed, with large residential properties built for manufacturers and the well-off, as well as more and more terraces providing working space and housing for many of the tradesmen. These superb late Georgian and Victorian dwellings, workplaces, streets and alleyways which add to the interest and uniqueness of the Jewellery Quarter derive from the expansion of its industry and craft. Stately Victorian shopfronts in Vyse Street evolved from a mid-19th century, leafy residential suburban street looking out on a green and pleasant Hockley Heath. Today it is the bustling, high street of the Jewellery Quarter, providing shop windows for hundreds of jewellers.
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