People and place in Moseley, a middle-class Birmingham suburb, 1850-1900

Berry, Janet (2021). People and place in Moseley, a middle-class Birmingham suburb, 1850-1900. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis is a local history study of a nineteenth-century middle-class suburb which also looks at the wider significance. It asks when, how and why Moseley developed as a suburb in the nineteenth century and who was instrumental in its development. It also investigates what the suburb looked like, who lived there, how homes were divided up and decorated and furnished, how life was lived in the home and how residents operated in the public sphere. The study focuses on space, place and people; involves case studies of individuals, groups, roads and areas; raises issues of class, gender and new technology; addresses the notion of separate spheres - urban-rural, public-private, work-home and male-female; explores local reactions to developments; and compares Moseley to other local and national suburbs. The thesis aims to understand what it meant to be middle class and suburban at the time and in a specific place, draws out connections to broader themes and the impact of
external pressures on the local scene. It adds to the literature on suburban development by taking this much broader approach, an approach that goes beyond the how, when and why of Moseley’s development as a suburb. A wide range of primary sources are used, including building plans, sanitary assessments, auctioneers’ bills, sales catalogues and estate plans, maps, images, bills and receipts, vestry minutes, funerary monuments, wills, annual reports, programmes and posters, newspapers and magazines, trade directories, correspondence, memorial cards and contemporary writings.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):