Jacob Wilson ~ Birmingham Town Crier

Periodically I search the internet to see if I can glean any new snippets of information that others may have shared on my wonderful ancestor. More often than not it's a fruitless search.
I like to leave a trail for others who may be searching. For other descendants - of whom there are many! - who are interested in finding out about their forebears. It seems the role of Town Crier of Birmingham was a family tradition that they kept a very firm and proud grasp of, passing it down from father to son for about 400 years.

My personal line would be as follows.

Thomas Wilson 1700-1773 Publican of the Bell Inn, Phillip Street and Town Crier.
Jacob Wilson 1755-1827 Beadle & Town Crier
Jacob Wilson 1799-1882 .... Last of the Town Criers. Buried in Warstone Lane Cemetery.
William Jacob Wilson 1843-1919
William Jacob Wilson 1867-1948
Dorothy Lavina Wilson 1920-1985
My Dad
Me :~D

My father and aunt used to play dress up as children with Jacob's tricorn hat and great coat! These have long since perished with age sadly, but we still cherish the Bell, a Truncheon and a set of Handcuffs!
Despite not growing up or living in Brum myself, I have fond childhood memories of visiting relatives there often and I'm very proud that our youngest son is there now studying Medicine at the QE. I find myself, particularly because of my ancestral research, with quite a soft spot for the city. It's amazing how much Birmingham has changed over the years.
I'm aware of a few of the other Wilson descendants. Kevin Ward is one who is keeping the Crier tradition alive and well as Bromsgrove's Town Crier.
I've lots of research data that I'm happy to share if you have a connection to the tree and would love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading

x Sioux

Wow, as a born and bred brummie I found that very interesting, never even knew birmingham had a town crier, you learn something new every day.

I think that, at one time, every town of any size had a town crier, and a few still do , though it is for show rather than anything else. Often in more recent times it was a sideline for a council employee who also had a "proper" job. In the 1950s in chichester, where i was born, it was the
caretaker of the council rooms, who was also the macebearer, and who had been a sergeant major in the marines ( and was the uncle of Cynthia Paine).

What did he do in his spare time I wonder.

I think if you consider the time period Sheldonboy, he would have been constantly busy. Being long before TV & Radio, and a time when many people still couldn't or didn't read or couldn't afford a newspaper then Jacob's role as a News forum, a lost and found announcer, a form of advertising merchant and a general eyes on everything as he moved about the streets guy, there would have been quite a call for his services. Rather than popping up once a month for a council meeting as we imagine the job would be today, his bell ringing through the streets might have been as proliferate as the tinkle of an ice cream van on a summers day now ;)

The earlier Criers also held the position of Beadle.
Quote from Wiki: "In England, the word came to refer to a parish constable of the Anglican Church, one often charged with duties of charity. A famous fictional constabulary beadle is Mr. Bumble from Charles Dickens's classic novel Oliver Twist, who oversees the parish workhouse and orphanage."

We know that BM & AG hold Jacob's Pistol and ceremonial staff. There are also a pair of Handcuffs and a Truncheon still in our family (as well as the Bell) I wonder what became of his sword? All tools of a law enforcement trade of that era. So they would have been able to keep order while patrolling the streets with their announcements.

They really are fascinating characters to look into.
I've attached an interesting article from the Sunday Mercury and also a 4 page Word doc of Jacob's Obituary.

Cheers

Sioux


http://files.homepagemodules.de/b584867/...n2_IseoZmWn.pdf

Sioux I admire him and must admit to being slightly jealous of his life.

Very interesting to have an ancestor like that
most of mine were carpenters and carrott crunching farmers

Hello,
My Grandmother was Ann Irene Wilson, eldest daughter of William James Wilson, bicycle dealer and direct descendant of Jacob Wilson. I believe his business was called Birchfield Cycles and was thriving in Birmingham in the 1890's. My father was Frederick Howard Honnor, Ann's only son and I believe that he had an Aunt Alice who was still living in Birmingham. Ann moved to the IOW after her marriage at the end of WW1. I think we must be related!!

Hello Honnor,
Welcome to our forum.
I will email Siouxhealer and let her know of your post to her thread.
Hopefully you will both keep us informed of any developments.
Voltman

Thank you Voltman for the heads up. I do have email notifications set to let me know of any thread replies so I don't miss any important info. This site is so fab!

Hello Honour!! Would you be Tim by any chance? If so you'd be my 2nd Cousin once removed
First off, have you been on Ancestry researching? If so you 'should' have come across my HUGE tree hosted on there. There's a wealth of info and some super photos which another descendant shared with me. One is a named family group which shows your grandparents and your dad sat cross legged as a boy on the floor.

The W.J Wilson who owned Birchfield Cycles was actually William Jacob as opposed to James - Patronymics, just like all his forefathers. There's a copy of his marriage cert to Annie Newman on my tree, also a fab photo of him and Annie on an early back to front motorized tricycle.

The aunt Alice you referred to married a Wm Leonard Barr.

Let me know if you find the info OK and if you need any further help.

X Sioux