What did Joseph Wilkes’ Birmingham look like?
Joseph grew up in Birmingham around the turn of the 19th century. It was important to me to get a sense of what Joe’s home town looked like back then.
During my research trip in 2023, I looked at the available historical maps in the Birmingham Library.
I found out through newspaper articles and the directories of the time that Joe’s victim, merchant Samuel Lefevre, lived in Bromsgrove Street (near the junction with Bristol Street) and he had a grocery and candle shop and warehouse in Bordesley Street. According to newspaper reports, the crime for which Joe was later committed took place at the latter location.
Both streets still exist, and it looks like they were built some time between 1781 and 1795. In the comparison document below I’ve highlighted the two streets in green. Bordesley is north of nearby Bromsgrove Street. The street highlighted in red is Paradise Street, another central street that still exists, though the whole of Birmingham has been completely transformed several times since the 19th century.
The map comparison through time also demonstrates just how much growth Birmingham experienced around the turn of the 18th and into the 19th century.
