If you’ve been following my previous posts about how Birmingham became the Workshop of the World, you’ll know how the absence of restrictive guilds, the knowledge of enlightened nonconformists, and the demand for skilled labour in the small metal trades were all contributory factors in Birmingham’s population increase which soared from around 5,000 in 1700 to over 23,000 by 1731. To meet this extra demand, the Colmore family, one of Birmingham’s wealthiest, obtained a private act of parliament which allowed them to sell off part of their Newhall Estate as separate plots of land, and this area of Hockley is essentially the Jewellery Quarter today.

Continue reading →