1.
Conservative Party (UK)
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The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a political party in the United Kingdom. It is currently the party, having won a majority of seats in the House of Commons at the 2015 general election. The partys leader, Theresa May, is serving as Prime Minister. It is the largest party in government with 8,702 councillors. The Conservative Party is one of the two major political parties in the United Kingdom, the other being its modern rival. The Conservative Partys platform involves support for market capitalism, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, a strong national defence, deregulation. In the 1920s, the Liberal vote greatly diminished and the Labour Party became the Conservatives main rivals, Conservative Prime Ministers led governments for 57 years of the twentieth century, including Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. Thatchers tenure led to wide-ranging economic liberalisation, the Conservative Partys domination of British politics throughout the twentieth century has led to them being referred to as one of the most successful political parties in the Western world. The Conservatives are the joint-second largest British party in the European Parliament, with twenty MEPs, the party is a member of the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe Europarty and the International Democrat Union. The party is the second-largest in the Scottish Parliament and the second-largest in the Welsh Assembly, the party is also organised in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The Conservative Party traces its origins to a faction, rooted in the 18th century Whig Party and they were known as Independent Whigs, Friends of Mr Pitt, or Pittites. After Pitts death the term Tory came into use and this was an allusion to the Tories, a political grouping that had existed from 1678, but which had no organisational continuity with the Pittite party. From about 1812 on the name Tory was commonly used for the newer party, the term Conservative was suggested as a title for the party by a magazine article by J. Wilson Croker in the Quarterly Review in 1830. The name immediately caught on and was adopted under the aegis of Sir Robert Peel around 1834. Peel is acknowledged as the founder of the Conservative Party, which he created with the announcement of the Tamworth Manifesto, the term Conservative Party rather than Tory was the dominant usage by 1845. In 1912, the Liberal Unionists merged with the Conservative Party, in Ireland, the Irish Unionist Alliance had been formed in 1891 which merged anti-Home Rule Unionists into one political movement. Its MPs took the Conservative whip at Westminster, and in essence formed the Irish wing of the party until 1922. The Conservatives served with the Liberals in an all-party coalition government during World War I, keohane finds that the Conservatives were bitterly divided before 1914, especially on the issue of Irish Unionism and the experience of three consecutive election losses
2.
Labour Party (UK)
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The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. Labour later served in the coalition from 1940 to 1945. Labour was also in government from 1964 to 1970 under Harold Wilson and from 1974 to 1979, first under Wilson and then James Callaghan. The Labour Party was last in government from 1997 to 2010 under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, beginning with a majority of 179. Having won 232 seats in the 2015 general election, the party is the Official Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the party also organises in Northern Ireland, but does not contest elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Labour Party is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Progressive Alliance. In September 2015, Jeremy Corbyn was elected Leader of the Labour Party, the first Lib–Lab candidate to stand was George Odger in the Southwark by-election of 1870. In addition, several small socialist groups had formed around this time, among these were the Independent Labour Party, the intellectual and largely middle-class Fabian Society, the Marxist Social Democratic Federation and the Scottish Labour Party. In the 1895 general election, the Independent Labour Party put up 28 candidates, Keir Hardie, the leader of the party, believed that to obtain success in parliamentary elections, it would be necessary to join with other left-wing groups. Hardies roots as a lay preacher contributed to an ethos in the party led to the comment by 1950s General Secretary Morgan Phillips that Socialism in Britain owed more to Methodism than Marx. The motion was passed at all stages by the TUC, the meeting was attended by a broad spectrum of working-class and left-wing organisations—trades unions represented about one third of the membership of the TUC delegates. This created an association called the Labour Representation Committee, meant to coordinate attempts to support MPs sponsored by trade unions and it had no single leader, and in the absence of one, the Independent Labour Party nominee Ramsay MacDonald was elected as Secretary. He had the task of keeping the various strands of opinions in the LRC united. The October 1900 Khaki election came too soon for the new party to campaign effectively, only 15 candidatures were sponsored, but two were successful, Keir Hardie in Merthyr Tydfil and Richard Bell in Derby. Support for the LRC was boosted by the 1901 Taff Vale Case, the judgement effectively made strikes illegal since employers could recoup the cost of lost business from the unions. In their first meeting after the election the groups Members of Parliament decided to adopt the name The Labour Party formally, the Fabian Society provided much of the intellectual stimulus for the party. One of the first acts of the new Liberal Government was to reverse the Taff Vale judgement, the Peoples History Museum in Manchester holds the minutes of the first Labour Party meeting in 1906 and has them on display in the Main Galleries. Also within the museum is the Labour History Archive and Study Centre, the governing Liberals were unwilling to repeal this judicial decision with primary legislation
3.
Liberal Democrats (UK)
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The Liberal Democrats are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom. The party was formed in 1988 as a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party, at the 2015 general election, the party was reduced to eight MPs. Nick Clegg resigned as leader and Tim Farron won the subsequent leadership election, the party currently has nine MPs, following the Richmond Park by-election. The Alliance was led by David Steel and Roy Jenkins, Jenkins was replaced by David Owen, the two parties had their own policies and emphases, but produced a joint manifesto for the 1983 and 1987 general elections. Following disappointing results in the 1987 election, Steel proposed to merge the two parties, although opposed by Owen, it was supported by a majority of members of both parties, and they formally merged in March 1988, with Steel and Robert Maclennan as joint interim leaders. The new party was initially named Social and Liberal Democrats with the short form The Democrats being used from September 1988. The name was changed to Liberal Democrats in October 1989. The new party logo, the Bird of Liberty, was adopted in 1989, the party is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and Liberal International. The then-serving Liberal MP Paddy Ashdown was elected leader in July 1988, at the 1989 European Elections, the party received only 6% of the vote, putting them in fourth place after the Green Party. They failed to gain a single Member of the European Parliament at this election, over the next three years, the party recovered under Ashdowns leadership. They performed better at the 1990 local elections and in by-elections—including at Eastbourne in 1990, Ribble Valley in 1991, the Lib Dems did not reach the share of national votes in the 1990s that the Alliance had achieved in the 1980s. At their first election in 1992, they won 17. 8% of the vote, in the 1994 European Elections, the party gained its first two Members of European Parliament. The election was, however, something of a point for the Liberal Democrats. Ashdown retired as leader in 1999 and the party elected Charles Kennedy as his replacement, the party improved on their 1997 results at the 2001 general election, increasing their number of seats to 52 and their share of the vote to 18. 3%. The party won seats from Labour in by-elections in Brent East in 2003 and Leicester South in 2004, under Kennedys leadership the majority of Pro-Euro Conservatives, a group of former members of the Conservatives, joined the Liberal Democrats on 10 December 2001. At the 2005 general election, the Lib Dems gained their highest share of the vote since the SDP–Liberal Alliance and won 62 seats. Many had anticipated that this election would be the Lib Dems breakthrough at Westminster, party activists hoped to better the 25% support of the 1983 election, or to reach 100 MPs. Much of the apparent lack of success resulted from the first-past-the-post electoral system, controversy became associated with the campaign when it became known that Michael Brown had donated £2.4 million to the Liberal Democrats
4.
Council House, Birmingham
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Birmingham City Council House in Birmingham, England, is the home of Birmingham City Council, and thus the seat of local government for the city. The first-floors exterior balcony is used by visiting dignitaries and victorious sports teams and it is located in Victoria Square in the city centre and is a Grade II* listed building. The Council House has its own postcode, B1 1BB, the side of the building, which faces Chamberlain Square, is the entrance and façade of the Museum and Art Gallery which is partly housed within the same building. The open space which is now Victoria Square was once occupied by Christ Church, the land on which the Council House and adjacent Museum and Art Gallery are located was purchased in 1853. This land consisted of Ann Street which was home to such as the Cabinet of Curiosities. The building had a tower topped with a flagpole. The top was castellated and the walls were whitewashed and adorned in advertisements, the last tenants of the building were the Suffield family, ancestors of J. R. R. Tolkien. The land was earmarked for development, however constant financial difficulties put all development on hold until 1871 when the council agreed to build offices on the site. A design competition was established and the council received 29 entries, however a decision was delayed by further financial difficulties. The council was split over the Gothic entry by Martin & Chamberlain. Thomasons design was chosen however amendments to the art gallery entrance, the clock and tower are known locally as, Big Brum. Construction commenced on the building in 1874 when the first stone was laid by the then mayor Joseph Chamberlain, the building was completed in 1879 and cost £163,000. A debate was held to decide upon the name of the building with the options being The Municipal Hall, the Council House was extended almost immediately, 1881–85. The architect was again Yeoville Thomason and this was a combined Art Gallery and the home of the corporations Gas Department whose budget subsidised the building as legislation limited the expenditure of ratepayers taxes on the arts. Above the main entrance, which faces Victoria Square, is a mosaic by Salviati Burke, above that, the pediment shows Britannia receiving the manufacturers of Birmingham. The carved decoration on the entablature includes green men, on 9 August 1902, The Council House, along with the Town Hall, was illuminated in celebration of the coronation of King Edward VII. The Council House was extended a second time 1911-1919 by the building of a new block to the north and connected to it by an intricately designed archway. The archway or bridge resembles slightly The Bridge of Sighs in Venice. This contains much of the Museum and Art Gallery and, on its ground floor, many memorials are housed within the Council House
5.
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
6.
Birmingham Town Hall
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Birmingham Town Hall is a Grade I listed concert hall and venue for popular assemblies opened in 1834 and situated in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. The design was based on the proportions of the Temple of Castor, perfect and aloof on a tall, rusticated podium, it marked an entirely new concept in English architecture. The hall underwent a renovation between 2002 and 2008. Two sites were considered by the Birmingham Street Commissioners for the construction of a hall in the city, Bennetts Hill. Joseph Hansom, of Hansom cab fame, and Edward Welch were chosen as the architects, Hill of London was hired to build the 6,000 pipe organ for £6,000. Construction began on 27 April 1832 with a completion date of 1833. However, Hansom went bankrupt during construction, having tendered too low, the contractors were also losing money. Three guarantors donated money for the building, W. P. Lloyd, John Welch, with the injection of this money, the building was successfully opened for the delayed Music Festival on 7 October 1834, despite the building still being unfinished. During construction, on 26 January 1833, two workers were killed when a 70-foot crane constructed to install the roof trusses broke and the pulley block failed, John Heap died instantly and Win. Badger died a few days later from his injuries and they were buried in St Philips churchyard and a memorial, consisting of a pillar base made by one of the workmen for the Town Hall, was dedicated to them. Architect Charles Edge was commissioned in 1835 to repair weaknesses to the design of the building and he was also commissioned for the extension of the building in 1837 and again in 1850. Charles Dickens gave public readings here to raise money for the Birmingham and Midland Institute, sir Arthur Sullivans Overture di Ballo was also premièred here in August 1870, as part of the Triennial Musical Festival which commissioned new works for every season. The hall was the venue for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 1918 until 1991 when they moved to Symphony Hall. In November 1880, the Hall was filled to capacity for a Birmingham public protest meeting in support of Revd, richard Enraght, Vicar of Holy Trinity, Bordesley, who was imprisoned in Warwick Prison under the Disraeli Governments Public Worship Regulation Act. Popular music has featured, and in the 1960s and 1970s, headline acts such as Buddy Holly, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath. On 9 August 1902, the hall, along with the council house, was illuminated in celebration of the coronation of King Edward VII. It was illuminated again on 22 June 1911 for the coronation of King George V, in 1901, it was the scene of rioting on the occasion of a visit by David Lloyd George. It featured prominently in the 1967 Peter Watkins film Privilege and doubled for the Royal Albert Hall in 1996s Brassed Off, the pediment also had images of Britannia, supported by mermaids, which were sculpted by William Bloye
7.
King's Norton and Northfield Urban District
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Kings Norton and Northfield Urban District was a local government administrative district in north Worcestershire, England, from 1898 until 1911. It was later reconstituted as a district on 1 October 1898, by the Local Government Board Order. 38,127, and was renamed the Kings Norton. However, from May 1898 onwards, the Baths & Parks Sub-Committee ceased to exist, the Committee was formed on 1 June 1903, and consisted of 40 members, of whom 28 were District Councillors. The Committee had distinct sub-committees for the areas of the District, Kings Norton & Stirchley, Moseley & Kings Heath, Wythall & Beoley, Northfield. According to the 1911 census the District had a population of 81,153, large enough to become a county borough
8.
Solihull
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Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 206,700 in the 2011 Census. Historically in Warwickshire, it is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and it is the largest town in, and administrative centre of, the larger Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, which itself has a population of 209,890. Solihull is one of the most affluent areas outside of London, in November 2013, the uSwitch Quality of Life Index named Solihull the best place to live in the United Kingdom. Residents of Solihull and those born in the town are referred to as Silhillians, the motto of Solihull is Urbs in Rure. Solihulls name is thought to have derived from the position of its parish church, St Alphege. The church was built on a hill of red marl. The town is noted for its architecture, which includes surviving examples of timber framed Tudor style houses. The historic Solihull School dates from 1560 and it is located at the head of High Street and is a Grade I listed building. It was founded in about 1220 by Hugh de Oddingsell, a chantry chapel was also founded there by Sir William de Oddingsell in 1277 and the upper chapel in St Alphege was built for a chantry. Unlike nearby Birmingham, the Industrial Revolution largely passed Solihull by, world War II also nearly passed Solihull by. In 1901, the population of the town was just 7,500, until the early 1960s, the main high street remained much as it would have been in the late 19th century with several streets of Victorian terraced houses linking High Street with Warwick Road. On the right along High Street from St Alpheges Church porch is one of the towns oldest landmarks, the George and it is now called the Ramada Jarvis Hotel. Arden Golf Club, Solihull, was founded in 1891, the course was still appearing on maps into the 1930s. Due to its growth, Solihull was promoted from a district to a municipal borough. In 1964, Solihull became a county borough and on occasion the Queen bestowed the honour. In 1974, the Solihull county borough was merged with the district surrounding Meriden to form the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull. This also includes the known as Shirley, Knowle, Dorridge, Balsall Common, Castle Bromwich. The member of parliament for the Solihull constituency is Conservative Julian Knight, each ward is represented by three councillors at Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, making a total of 51 councillors
9.
Castle Bromwich
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Castle Bromwich is a suburb situated within the northern part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of the West Midlands. It constitutes a parish which had a population of 11,857 according to the 2001 census. It was a parish within the Meriden Rural District of Warwickshire until the Local Government Act 1972 came into force in 1974. In 1861, the population was 613 and this rose to just over 1,000 in the 1920s, when half of the original parish was ceded to the City of Birmingham for the construction of overspill estates. This caused a drop to 678, Post Second World War estate building in Castle Bromwich increased the population to 4,356 in 1951,9,205 in 1961 and 15,941 in 1971. The parish was split into two, resulting in the lower 2001 figures. Castle Bromwich was originally a Warwickshire village, there has been a settlement here since before Stone Age times. There is evidence that the area was first settled some 5,000 years ago, romans, Saxons and Normans have also settled on this raised piece of land close to a natural ford across the river Tame. The Chester Road which runs through the village follows the line of a road called the Welsh Road. Bromwich is not named in the Domesday Book in 1086 yet was located within the ancient hundred of Coleshill, Bromwich comes from the old words brom for the yellow flowering broom which grows here and wich an ancient name for a dwelling or settlement. The Pimple commanded the important crossing place of the River Tame and it still remains today, somewhat reduced, sandwiched between the M6 and the Collector Road. There was an archaeological dig of the area prior to the development of the Pimple site. The Pimple was the highest point of a fortification that encompassed most of Castle Bromwich. The land between the Pimple and Kyters Lane was particularly well defended by several ridge and furrow workings, indeed, Kyters Lane, other ditches were excavated between Kyters Lane and the Pimple but nothing of consequence was found. Modern houses now occupy the site and overlook the graveyard, the ridge and furrows have been completely obliterated. There is a view over Castle Vale and the Tame valley from the top of the hill. During the 18th century Castle Bromwich was an important place at the junction of two turnpike roads, Chester Road, an old Roman way which ran from London to Chester, joined the Birmingham to Coleshill road near Castle Bromwich Hall. There was a gate at the junction of Chester Road, School Lane and Old Croft Lane
10.
Coat of arms of Birmingham
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The coat of arms of Birmingham - the heraldic emblem of the English city of Birmingham - was first used in 1838 and has changed several times since, as the former town grew and developed into a city. Following the incorporation of Birmingham as a borough in 1838, the approved the design of a seal comprising The Birmingham Arms. The arms were used from about 1413 to 1536 by the de Bermingham family. The quartered shield featured in the first and fourth quarters five gold lozenges or diamond shapes conjoined in a diagonal bend and these were the original arms of the de Berminghams until about 1343. The second and third quarters were divided vertically with an indented line and this should have been coloured in black and white, but in the version adopted by the corporation it was coloured gold and red. These were in fact the arms of another branch of the family, in 1867 a new seal was made, and at the time the discrepancy in the colouring of the second and third quarters was noticed. However, it was decided to retain the colouring, in 1889 Birmingham was granted city status, and to celebrate this fact, the corporation applied to the College of Arms for a grant of supporters to the arms. It was then realised that the used by Birmingham had never been officially granted, so a full grant of arms, crest. The shield was altered, with the addition of a fess or horizontal band across the centre. This comes from the arms of the Calthorpe family, Lords of the Manor of Edgbaston, a mural crown - resembling a city wall - was placed on the fess to represent local government. The crest consisted of an arm holding a hammer, symbolising industry. The supporters were two figures, a male figure representing industry and a female figure representing art. By 1930 the city felt that the design looked too old fashioned and adopted a new depiction designed by the Birmingham School of Art. These arms continued in use until the abolition of the corporation, a new City of Birmingham was created, including the old city and the former borough of Sutton Coldfield in 1974. New arms were granted to Birmingham City Council in 1977, closely based on the old arms, instead of the ermine fess a cross was introduced, charged with a bishops mitre. These come from the Sutton Coldfield corporation arms and commemorate Bishop Vesey of Exeter, a native of Sutton, a Tudor rose was added to the 1889 crest. This was the device of Sutton Coldfield from at least 1619 until 1935, as the College of Arms does not allow two bodies or persons to have identical supporters, they were swapped to opposite sides of the shield. The male figure now holds a cupel, a used in the manufacture of jewellery
11.
Green Party of England and Wales
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The Green Party of England and Wales is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Headquartered in London, since 2 September 2016 its Co-Leaders are Caroline Lucas, the Green Party has one Member of Parliament in the House of Commons, one representative in the House of Lords, and three Members of the European Parliament. It has various councillors in UK local government and two members of the London Assembly and it also takes a progressive approach to social policies such as civil liberties, animal rights, LGBT rights and drug policy reform. The party also believes strongly in nonviolence, basic income, a living wage, the party comprises various regional divisions, including the semi-autonomous Wales Green Party. Internationally, the party is affiliated to the Global Greens and the European Green Party, experiencing centralising reforms spearheaded by the Green 2000 group in the early 1990s, the party sought to emphasise growth in local governance, doing so throughout the 1990s. In 2010, the party gained its first MP in Caroline Lucas, the Green Party of England and Wales has its origins in the PEOPLE Party, which was founded in Coventry in 1973. PEOPLE was renamed The Ecology Party in 1975, and in 1985 changed again to the Green Party, the Green Party of England and Wales is registered with the Electoral Commission as simply the Green Party. In the 1989 European Parliament elections, the Green Party of England and Wales polled 15% of the vote with 2.3 million votes, the best ever performance of a Green party in a nationwide election. This success has been attributed to both the increased respectability of environmentalism and the effects of the development boom in southern England in the late 1980s. Many party members opposed the reforms, believing that they would undermine the internal party democracy, although Green 2000 proposals were defeated at the partys 1990 conference, they were overwhelmingly carried at their 1991 conference, resulting in an internal restructuring of the party. The party fielded more candidates than it had ever done before in the 1992 general election but was deemed to have performed poorly. In 1993, the party adopted its Basis for Renewal program in an attempt to bring together conflicting factions and thus save the party from bankruptcy, the party sought to escape their reputation as an environmentalist single-issue party by placing greater emphasis on social policies. In 1993, future party leader and MP Caroline Lucas gained a seat on Oxfordshire County Council, the Greens sought to build alliances with other parties in the hope of gaining representation at the parliamentary level. In Wales, the Greens endorsed Plaid Cymru candidate Cynog Dafis in the 1992 general election, in April 1995 the Green National Executive ruled that the party should withdraw from this alliance due to ideological differences. As the Labour Party shifted to the centre under the leadership of Tony Blair and his New Labour project. At the 2001 general election they polled 0. 63% of the vote, at the 2004 European Parliamentary elections the party returned 2 MEPS the same as in 1999, overall, the Party polled 1,033,093 votes. In the 2005 general election the party gained over 1% of the vote for the first time and this growth has been attributed to the increasing public visibility of the party as well as a general growth in support for smaller parties in the UK. In September 2008, the party elected its first leader, Caroline Lucas
12.
Harborne
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Harborne is an area of south-west Birmingham, England three miles southwest from Birmingham city centre. It is a Birmingham City Council ward in the formal district, as a parish, it covered an area of 3,300 acres,100 acres of which was of woodland and plantations. Harborne is a thriving and prosperous Victorian suburb with a stock of housing dating from pre-1900 found mainly around the High Street. The oldest part of what is known locally as Harborne Village is centred on St Peters Church, Old Church Road, there is also some evidence of a Roman fort around the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and Metchley Park, near Harborne. The earliest written mention of Harborne is an entry in the Domesday Book of 1086, as a non-Quaker area of the city, Harborne became well-supplied with public houses compared to nearby areas such as Edgbaston and Bournville. There is a famous Harborne Run pub crawl consisting of from 10 to 15 pubs, the spelling of Harborne has appeared with several variations through the centuries, and the derivation of the place name has often been disputed. One of the more probable suggestions is boundary brook, although high brow, St Mary’s Church was the first Roman Catholic congregation formed by the Passionists who worshiped in a disused Methodist Chapel on Harborne High Street from 1870. Building work started on the current church, in Vivian Road, on 8 September 1875 and it opened on 6 February 1877. The Augustinians arrived at St Mary’s in 1973 to a growing population and work on a new church, attached to the side of the old church. The St Marys Parish Centre was opened in 1990 and is next door to the church, Harborne became part of the county borough of Birmingham and thus transferred from Staffordshire to Warwickshire in 1891 by the Local Govt. It then became part of the West Midlands in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, Harborne railway station, at the end of the short Harborne Branch Line off the LMS Birmingham-Wolverhampton line at Ladywood, opened on 10 August 1874. It closed to passengers on 26 November 1934 and to traffic in November 1963. It is now the Harborne Walkway, a nature walk and cycling route from Harborne to Ladywood. The 2001 census revealed that 21,070 lived in Harborne, the minority ethnic population made up 22. 0% of the ward’s population, compared with 29. 6% for Birmingham. 61. 3% of households were occupied and 17. 6% were rented from either the local authority. The remaining 21. 1% of households rented privately or lived rent free, the census found that 66. 0% of the population aged 16 to 74 were working or seeking work, this compared with 60. 4% for Birmingham. Many residents of the area are academics from the nearby University of Birmingham, there are four secondary schools in Harborne, Baskerville School, Harborne Academy, Lordswood Boys School and Lordswood Girls School. There are five schools, Birmingham Blue Coat School, Harborne Primary School, Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School, St Marys Catholic Primary School
