King Edward school birmingham

[louisemccrea]

Hi

I have found out that my Grandfather attended the King Edward Vi school in Birmingham all i know is it was ment to be a very good school and i would like to find out a bit more about it and where to find records my grandfather was born in 1904 so i am guessing he was there during the 1910's any information would be very much appreciated as i don't know much about my grandfather.

Thanks Louise

[Jan1954]

Hello Louise,

The school has it's own website at kes.bham.sch.uk/ that also has a link to their past pupils website.

[Maximilian]

King Edward's School (KES), Birmingham, was founded in 1552 by King Edward VI, and until the 19th century was the only grammar school in Birmingham. For most of the 20th century it was a Direct Grant School, but with the abolition of that status it became an Independent School. The school is a member of the Headmasters' Conference.

The School originally occupied a major site in New Street, Birmingham, but in 1936 it was decided to sell the site for commercial development (called King Edward House), and a new building was erected in Edgbaston Park Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham (facing the campus of the University of Birmingham). Part of the upper corridor of the gothic Victorian school building was preserved and re-erected in the present school grounds to serve as the School Chapel.

It should be possible to find out about access to school records from a link on the KES website, as previously mentioned. For many years an annual School Register was published, listing all the pupils with their addresses.

[louisemccrea]

Hiya

Thanks for the help the link to the website is very helpful and the info on the school a lot of help on my way to finding out more i had foun a wee bit from wikipedia but not much. I don't know much about Birmingham as i am from Glasgow but would love to visit to see more of how my decendants lived.

Thanks again and a merry xmas
Louise

[Maximilian]

Glad to have been of help.

I think, however, it is your ancestors you are researching. You are their descendant - always useful to know in which direction one is looking.

As to what you may find remaining in Birmingham of your ancestors' environs, it depends what part of Birmingham they lived in. It used to be said some years ago that whatever Hitler did not destroy in the city centre in WW2, the so-called "city fathers" in the 1960s did their best to destroy - in order to build a road originally planned in the 1920s - its a long sad story.

Good luck in your researches.

[Tederator]

in order to build a road originally planned in the 1920s - its a long sad story.

What about all those narrow one way streets in the City of Birmingham, I remember once when a large truck.....er, that's a lorry in Pom Language. got stuck in one of those one way streets and couldn't get back out again, utter confusion reigned for several hours. I think the street was one off of New Street, nearly opposite the Odeon Cinema that used to be there.
Cheers
Ted.

[Maximilian]

Never having driven a motor vehicle, and never having wanted to, I have had no particular concern about one way streets. Sometimes, when asked the way, I say to a driver, "Well, the place you want is just over there, and you could walk it in two minutes, but, if you insist on driving ... "

The road planned in the 1920s, and built in the 1960s, destroyed the Bull Ring, the original open market area of Birmingham, including Birmingham's equivalent of Spealers' Corner at Hyde Park, which has never recovered. The adjacent covered market, the Market Hall, suffered a direct hit by a bomb in WW2, but it was so substantially built in the mid-19th century that the bomb could do no more than destroy the roof, windows and interior. The walls remained, as well as shops underneath. But one corner was in the way of the long planned road, so specialist demolition experts were called in to do what the Luftwaffe failed to do.

The result of the road was to enable cars to zoom around, sometimes on concrete stilts, whilst pedestrians scurried through dark damp subways. Over the past few years most of the road has been demolished - a long lesson expensively learned.

As to where the lorry was stuck, I cannot be sure, but it sounds as if it might have been in the thoroughfare that is the subject of a celebrated Birmingham joke - "There is only one alley in Birmingham, and that is Needless [Alley]". It is not quite opposite the former Odeon Cinema - which, incidentally, was also built on the site of King Edward's School, and so, as they used to say in the days of the continuous picture shows - "this is where we came in".

[louisemccrea]

Hi

Thanks again i am hoping to see quite a bit my gr. grandfather was an architect in Birmingham designing a lot of houses in the Edgbaston area i have photos of some that are still here today they were built around the end of the 1800's begining of the 1900's including the one he built for himself and family they are all really nice and i wish i could afford one lol however a few have been left in a sorry state due to arson attacks which is sad. It would be nice to see where my ancestors came from also a lot came from Dudley which i believe not to be too far from Birmingham.
I was unaware that Birmingham was badley bombed during the war i have not been doing my family history for long but i am really enjoying finding out the history of the places they came from and their own personal history.

Thanks Louise

[Maximilian]

Hello, Louise

If you care to mention some of the roads in Edgbaston where your gtgrandfather built his houses, it may be that I know some of them. I am slightly puzzled by your reference to arson attacks, as Edgbaston is fortunately not known generally for such activity.

Edgbaston also escaped the worst of the bombing in WW2, but parts of the city centre and inner areas suffered badly. Edgbaston is on the western side of the city, and Dudley is further to the west, again - chiefly lnown for its ruined castle, with a zoo built in the grounds - scene of many a day out!

Maximilian

[louisemccrea]

Hi Maximilian

The houses he mainly built were Victorian and Edwardian villas in the Edgbaston, Winson green and Harborne areas the most common streets he built on were Melville rd, Clarendon rd, Montague rd, Gillott rd, City rd and Roton park rd which is where he built his own family house a lot of the houses he designed were for quite wealthy business men including his wifes family who were sucessful brass founders i have a picture of a paticular nice building called Somerset grange on Somerset rd. The houses that were damaged by arson were on the Hagley rd i know they are in a conservation area and were to be demolished although there has been petitions put through to renovate them it is sad to hear of these arson attacks i think it was about six years ago and it was all on houses on Hagley rd.

Thanks again Louise