1.
Office
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When used as an adjective, the term office may refer to business-related tasks. In legal writing, a company or organization has offices in any place that it has a presence, even if that presence consists of, for example. In modern terms an office usually refers to the location where white-collar workers are employed, as per James Stephenson, Office is that part of business enterprise which is devoted to the direction and co-ordination of its various activities. Offices in classical antiquity were often part of a complex or a large temple. The High Middle Ages saw the rise of the chancery, which was usually the place where most government letters were written. With the growth of large, complex organizations in the 18th century, the first purpose-built office spaces were constructed. The time and motion study, pioneered in manufacturing by F. W. Taylor led to the “Modern Efficiency Desk” with a top and drawers below. However, by the midpoint of the 20th century, it became apparent that an efficient office required discretion in the control of privacy, the main purpose of an office environment is to support its occupants in performing their job. Work spaces in an office are typically used for conventional office activities such as reading, writing, there are nine generic types of work space, each supporting different activities. In addition to individual cubicles, there are meeting rooms, lounges. Some offices also have an area where workers can make their lunches. There are many different ways of arranging the space in an office and whilst these vary according to function, managerial fashions and the culture of specific companies can be even more important. While offices can be built in almost any location and in almost any building, some modern requirements for offices make this difficult, such as requirements for light, networking. The primary purpose of a building is to provide a workplace and working environment primarily for administrative. These workers usually occupy set areas within the building, and usually are provided with desks, PCs. The structure and shape of the office is impacted by both management thought as well as materials and may or may not have walls or barriers. The word stems from the Latin officium, and its equivalents in various, mainly romance, languages. An officium was not necessarily a place, but rather an often mobile bureau in the sense of a staff or even the abstract notion of a formal position
2.
Newhall Street
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Newhall Street is a street located in Birmingham, England. Newhall Street stretches from Colmore Row in the city centre by St Phillips Cathedral in a direction towards the Jewellery Quarter. Originally the road was the driveway to New Hall occupied by the Colmore family, New Hall was demolished in 1787 after being vacated by the Colmores and used as a warehouse by Matthew Boulton. Newhall Street was so named in 1766, after opening as a street in 1746 called Newport Street. The streets on the estate were named after the children of the family, a number of telephone exchanges have existed on the street, the 1896 Bell Edison Telephone building, Telephone House, the Cold War Anchor Exchange underneath it, and Brindley House. Newhall Street lies in the Jewellery Quarter and Colmore Row and Environs Conservation Areas and has listed buildings. 17 &19 Newhall Street, Birmingham popularly known as the Bell Edison Telephone Building, lock number 9 of the Farmers Bridge flight of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal stands under Newhall Street, with a lock gate on either side of the bridge. Ordnance Survey 1st Edition Map,1890 Birmingham City Council - Conservation Areas
3.
Birmingham
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Birmingham is a major city and metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England lying on the River Rea, a small river that runs through Birmingham. It is the largest and most populous British city outside London, the city is in the West Midlands Built-up Area, the third most populous urban area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2,440,986 at the 2011 census. Birminghams metropolitan area is the second most populous in the UK with a population of 3.8 million and this also makes Birmingham the 8th most populous metropolitan area in Europe. By 1791 it was being hailed as the first manufacturing town in the world, perhaps the most important invention in British history, the industrial steam engine, was invented in Birmingham. From the summer of 1940 to the spring of 1943, Birmingham was bombed heavily by the German Luftwaffe in what is known as the Birmingham Blitz. The damage done to the infrastructure, in addition to a deliberate policy of demolition and new building by planners, led to extensive demolition. Today Birminghams economy is dominated by the service sector and its metropolitan economy is the second largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $121. 1bn, and its six universities make it the largest centre of higher education in the country outside London. Birmingham is the fourth-most visited city in the UK by foreign visitors, Birminghams sporting heritage can be felt worldwide, with the concept of the Football League and lawn tennis both originating from the city. Its most successful football club Aston Villa has won seven league titles, people from Birmingham are called Brummies, a term derived from the citys nickname of Brum. This originates from the citys name, Brummagem, which may in turn have been derived from one of the citys earlier names. There is a distinctive Brummie accent and dialect, Birminghams early history is that of a remote and marginal area. The main centres of population, power and wealth in the pre-industrial English Midlands lay in the fertile and accessible river valleys of the Trent, the Severn and the Avon. The area of modern Birmingham lay in between, on the upland Birmingham Plateau and within the wooded and sparsely populated Forest of Arden. Birmingham as a settlement dates from the Anglo-Saxon era, within a century of the charter Birmingham had grown into a prosperous urban centre of merchants and craftsmen. By 1327 it was the third-largest town in Warwickshire, a position it would retain for the next 200 years, by 1700 Birminghams population had increased fifteenfold and the town was the fifth-largest in England and Wales. The importance of the manufacture of goods to Birminghams economy was recognised as early as 1538. Equally significant was the emerging role as a centre for the iron merchants who organised finance, supplied raw materials. The 18th century saw this tradition of free-thinking and collaboration blossom into the phenomenon now known as the Midlands Enlightenment
4.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
5.
Listed building
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A listed building or listed structure, in the United Kingdom, is one that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The statutory bodies maintaining the list are Historic England in England, Cadw in Wales, Historic Scotland in Scotland, however, the preferred term in Ireland is protected structure. In England and Wales, an amenity society must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition. Owners of listed buildings are, in circumstances, compelled to repair and maintain them. When alterations are permitted, or when listed buildings are repaired or maintained, slightly different systems operate in each area of the United Kingdom, though the basic principles of the listing remain the same. It was the damage to caused by German bombing during World War II that prompted the first listing of buildings that were deemed to be of particular architectural merit. The listings were used as a means of determining whether a building should be rebuilt if it was damaged by bombing. Listing was first introduced into Northern Ireland under the Planning Order 1972, the listing process has since developed slightly differently in each part of the UK. In the UK, the process of protecting the historic environment is called ‘designation’. A heritage asset is a part of the environment that is valued because of its historic. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have legal protection through designation. However, buildings that are not formally listed but still judged as being of heritage interest are still regarded as being a consideration in the planning process. Almost anything can be listed – it does not have to be a building, Buildings and structures of special historic interest come in a wide variety of forms and types, ranging from telephone boxes and road signs, to castles. Historic England has created twenty broad categories of structures, and published selection guides for each one to aid with assessing buildings and these include historical overviews and describe the special considerations for listing each category. Both Historic Scotland and Cadw produce guidance for owners, in England, to have a building considered for listing or delisting, the process is to apply to the secretary of state, this can be done by submitting an application form online to Historic England. The applicant does not need to be the owner of the building to apply for it to be listed, full information including application form guidance notes are on the Historic England website. Historic England assesses buildings put forward for listing or delisting and provides advice to the Secretary of State on the architectural, the Secretary of State, who may seek additional advice from others, then decides whether or not to list or delist the building. In England and Wales the authority for listing is granted to the Secretary of State by the Planning Act 1990, Listed buildings in danger of decay are listed on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register
6.
Edmund Street
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Edmund Street is a street located in Birmingham, England. Edmund Street is one of a series of roads on the old Colmore Estate which originally stretched from Temple Row in the city centre, around St Phillips Cathedral, originally the estate surrounded New Hall which was occupied by the Colmore family. Edmund was one of the sons, other roads on the estate are named after some of the other siblings. It was formerly known as Little Charles Street and Harlow Street, Edmund Street extends from Chamberlain Square at its western end to Livery Street and Snow Hill station at its eastern end. It originally continued westwards to Suffolk Street, where it became Broad Street, much of Edmund Street is in the Colmore Row and Environs Conservation Area and has many listed buildings. There is a length of surviving Birmingham Corporation Tramways track between the two Council House/museum blocks. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery runs on either side, connected by a bridge over Edmund Street, the Gas Hall and Waterhall are entered from this street. Martin & Chamberlain, c 1875, Grade II* listed, 106-110, Former Scottish Mutual Assurance Society. Frank Barlow Osbourne for W. M. Smythe, Solicitors, now a pub at ground level, Grade II listed. 134, Arts & Crafts, polychrome, brick and terracotta, by Newton & Cheatle,1897, now incorporated into massive office block behind, Grade II listed. 136-138, Venetian Gothic style, brick and terracotta, attributed to J. H. Chamberlain, c 1875. Now incorporated into massive office block behind, Grade II listed, numbers 96, 100-102,158 are also listed buildings. 103, popularly known as the Bell Edison Telephone Building and this building is on the corner of Newhall Street and its current postal address is 17 &19 Newhall Street. 105 &107, the former Birmingham and Midland Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital, 1890-1, Jethro A Cossins, brick and terracotta, Grade II listed. The Birmingham and Midland Eye Hospital, 1883-4 by Payne & Talbot, numbers 121-123, 125-131,133 are also listed buildings. Mason Science College, later a building of the University of Birmingham The original Central Library, the current Central Library had already been constructed next to it
7.
Alexander Graham Bell
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Alexander Graham Bell was a Scottish-born scientist, inventor, engineer, and innovator who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. Bells father, grandfather, and brother had all been associated with work on elocution and speech and his research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices which eventually culminated in Bell being awarded the first U. S. patent for the telephone in 1876. Bell considered his most famous invention an intrusion on his work as a scientist. Many other inventions marked Bells later life, including groundbreaking work in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils, and aeronautics. Although Bell was not one of the 33 founders of the National Geographic Society, he had a influence on the magazine while serving as the second president from January 7,1898. Alexander Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3,1847, the family home was at 16 South Charlotte Street, and has a stone inscription marking it as Alexander Graham Bells birthplace. He had two brothers, Melville James Bell and Edward Charles Bell, both of whom would die of tuberculosis and his father was Professor Alexander Melville Bell, a phonetician, and his mother was Eliza Grace. Born as just Alexander Bell, at age 10, he made a plea to his father to have a name like his two brothers. To close relatives and friends he remained Aleck, as a child, young Bell displayed a natural curiosity about his world, resulting in gathering botanical specimens as well as experimenting even at an early age. His best friend was Ben Herdman, a neighbour whose family operated a flour mill, young Bell asked what needed to be done at the mill. In return, Bens father John Herdman gave both boys the run of a workshop in which to invent. From his early years, Bell showed a sensitive nature and a talent for art, poetry, with no formal training, he mastered the piano and became the familys pianist. Despite being normally quiet and introspective, he revelled in mimicry and he also developed a technique of speaking in clear, modulated tones directly into his mothers forehead wherein she would hear him with reasonable clarity. Bells preoccupation with his mothers deafness led him to study acoustics and his family was long associated with the teaching of elocution, his grandfather, Alexander Bell, in London, his uncle in Dublin, and his father, in Edinburgh, were all elocutionists. His father published a variety of works on the subject, several of which are well known, especially his The Standard Elocutionist. The Standard Elocutionist appeared in 168 British editions and sold over a quarter of a million copies in the United States alone, in this treatise, his father explains his methods of how to instruct deaf-mutes to articulate words and read other peoples lip movements to decipher meaning. Bells father taught him and his brothers not only to write Visible Speech but to any symbol. Bell became so proficient that he became a part of his fathers public demonstrations, as a young child, Bell, like his brothers, received his early schooling at home from his father
8.
Thomas Edison
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Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman, who has been described as Americas greatest inventor. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Edison was an inventor, holding 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom, France. Edisons inventions contributed to mass communication and, in particular, telecommunications and these included a stock ticker, a mechanical vote recorder, a battery for an electric car, electrical power, recorded music and motion pictures. His advanced work in these fields was an outgrowth of his career as a telegraph operator. Edison developed a system of generation and distribution to homes, businesses. His first power station was on Pearl Street in Manhattan, New York, Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, and grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. He was the seventh and last child of Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr. and Nancy Matthews Elliott. His father, the son of a Loyalist refugee, had moved as a boy with the family from Nova Scotia, settling in southwestern Ontario, in a known as Shewsbury, later Vienna. Samuel Jr. eventually fled Ontario because he took part in the unsuccessful Mackenzie Rebellion of 1837 and his father, Samuel Sr. had earlier fought in the War of 1812 as captain of the First Middlesex Regiment. By contrast, Samuel Jr. s struggle found him on the losing side, once across the border, he found his way to Milan, Ohio. His patrilineal family line was Dutch by way of New Jersey and his mother taught him at home. Much of his education came from reading R. G, parkers School of Natural Philosophy and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Edison developed hearing problems at an early age, the cause of his deafness has been attributed to a bout of scarlet fever during childhood and recurring untreated middle-ear infections. In his later years, he modified the story to say the injury occurred when the conductor, in helping him onto a moving train, Edisons family moved to Port Huron, Michigan, after the railroad bypassed Milan in 1854 and business declined. Edison sold candy and newspapers on trains running from Port Huron to Detroit and he briefly worked as a telegraph operator in 1863 for the Grand Trunk Railway at Stratford, Ontario railway at age 16. He was held responsible for a near collision and he also studied qualitative analysis and conducted chemical experiments on the train until he left the job. Edison obtained the right to sell newspapers on the road, and, with the aid of four assistants, he set in type and printed the Grand Trunk Herald
9.
Postmaster General of the United Kingdom
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The Postmaster General of the United Kingdom was a Cabinet-level ministerial position in HM Government. Aside from maintaining the system, the Telegraph Act of 1868 established the Postmaster Generals right to exclusively maintain electric telegraphs. This would subsequently extend to telecommunications and broadcasting, the office was abolished in 1969 by the Post Office Act 1969. A replacement public authority governed by a chairman was established under the name of the Post Office, in England, the monarchs letters to his subjects are known to have been carried by relays of couriers as long ago as the 15th century. The earliest mention of Master of the Posts is in the Kings Book of Payments where a payment of £100 was authorised for Tuke as master of the posts in February 1512. Belatedly, in 1517, he was appointed to the office of Governor of the Kings Posts. In 1609 it was decreed that letters could only be carried and delivered by persons authorised by the Postmaster General, in 1657 an Act entitled Postage of England, Scotland and Ireland Settled set up a system for the British Isles and enacted the position of Postmaster General. The Act also reasserted the postal monopoly for letter delivery and for post horses, after the Restoration in 1660, a further Act confirmed this and the post of Postmaster-General, the previous Cromwellian Act being void. 1660 saw the establishment of the General Letter Office, which would become the General Post Office. A similar position evolved in the Kingdom of Scotland prior to the 1707 Act of Union, the office was abolished in 1969 by the Post Office Act 1969. A new public authority governed by a chairman was established under the name of the Post Office, from 1691 to 1823 there were two Postmasters General, to divide the patronage between the Whigs and Tories. In 1823 the idea of a Whig and a Tory sharing the post was abolished
10.
General Post Office
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The General Post Office was officially established in England in 1660 by Charles II and it eventually grew to combine the functions of state postal system and telecommunications carrier. Similar General Post Offices were established across the British Empire, in 1969 the GPO was abolished and the assets transferred to The Post Office, changing it from a Department of State to a statutory corporation. For the more recent history of the system in the United Kingdom, see the article Royal Mail. Originally, the GPO was a monopoly covering the despatch of items from a sender to a specific receiver. The postal service was known as the Royal Mail because it was built on the system for royal. In 1661 the office of Postmaster General was created to oversee the GPO, the GPO created a network of post offices where senders could submit items. All post was transferred from the post office of origination to distribution points called sorting stations, initially it was the recipient of the post who paid the fee, and he had the right to refuse to accept the item if he did not wish to pay. The charge was based on the distance the item had been carried so the GPO had to keep an account for each item. The first general post office in London opened in 1643, just 8 years after King Charles I legalised use of the posts for private correspondence. It was probably on Cloak Lane near Dowgate Hill, coffee houses in the City such as Lloyds and Garraways organised private transport of mail among their patrons. The Royal Mail moved its headquarters to Lombard Street in the City in 1678 to better curtail such practices, when the Central London Railway was built in 1900 its nearby station was named Post Office. Smirkes building was felt to be too small by this time, however, in 1912, the former GPO East was demolished, the current headquarters of BT, a post World War II building, occupies the site of the old Telegraph Office. The theory was used to state control of the mail service into every form of electronic communication possible on the basis that every sender used some form of distribution service. These distribution services were considered in law as forms of electronic post offices and this applied to telegraph and telephone switching stations. In the mid 19th century several private companies were established in the UK. The responsibility for the electric telegraphs was officially transferred to the GPO on Friday,4 February 1870, overseas telegraphs did not fall within the monopoly. The private telegraph companies that existed were bought out. The new combined telegraph service had 1,058 telegraph offices in towns,6,830,812 telegrams were transmitted in 1869 producing revenue of £550,000
11.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
12.
Birmingham City Council
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Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. The council headquarters are based at the Council House in the city centre, the council is responsible for running nearly all local services, with the exception of those run by joint boards. The provision of services has in recent years been devolved to several council constituencies. Sixteen Aldermen and 48 Councillors were elected and the Borough was divided into 13 wards, William Scholefield became the first Mayor and William Redfern was appointed as Town Clerk. It was not until 14 January 1889 that another Charter conferred the rank of City on Birmingham, on 9 November 1891, the districts of Balsall Heath, Harborne, Saltley and Little Bromwich were absorbed into the City. The dignity of a Lord Mayor was conferred in 1896 and Sir James Smith Kt was appointed as the Citys first Lord Mayor on 3 June 1896. Such was the expansion involved that the Council Chamber, originally designed to accommodate 80 members, had to be modified to seat the representatives of the new wards, further additions occurred on 1 April 1928 and 1 April 1931. By 1972, there were 39 Wards each represented by an Alderman and 3 Councillors, on 1 July 1986, the title was changed to Birmingham City Council. Part of Bromsgrove District known as Frankley and Kitwell Estates were added to the City on 1 April 1995, a review of the Ward boundaries on 10 June 2004 resulted in an increase from 39 Wards to 40 Wards. The first woman elected to the council, on 1 November 1911, was Ellen Pinsent and she represented the Edgbaston Ward as a Liberal Unionist. She had earlier been co-opted as a member of the councils Education Committee and she stood down from the council in October 1913 upon appointment as Commissioner for the Board of Control for Lunacy and Mental Deficiency. Pinsents time on the council overlapped with that of Margaret Frances Pugh, birminghams third woman councillor, Clara Martineau, was elected on 14 October 1913 in the Edgbaston ward, and served until 1932, when she died, aged 57. Her father was former Mayor Sir Thomas Martineau, Lord Mayor Ernest Martineau was her brother, mary E. Cottrell became the first female Labour councillor in February 1917, when she was elected unopposed to the Selly Oak ward. The first female Lord Mayor, Marjorie Brown, held the post from 1973 to 1974, Theresa Stewart became the first female leader in October 1993, until 1999, and Lin Homer the first chief executive, was in post from 2002 until 2005. The council was run by a Labour administration between 1984 and 2004, with Sir Dick Knowles as Council Leader from 1984 to 1993, followed in turn by Theresa Stewart, and Sir Albert Bore. They lost overall control in 2003 but continued to run the council as a minority administration for the following year, at the election of 10 June 2004, the 121 seats were divided between the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties. The Conservative and Liberal Democrat groups then formed a governing coalition, in 2005, Richard Mawrey QC ruled invalid Birmingham City Council elections in two wards, Aston and Bordesley Green, held the year before, and required re-votes. He blamed most of the fraud on absentee ballot manipulation
