Page:A century of Birmingham life- or, A chronicle of local events, from 1741 to 1841 (IA centuryofbirming01lang).pdf/24

 claim to beauty whatever, others, and especially some which have been erected of late years, are worthy of great praise, and are decided ornaments to the town and creditable to the skill of the architects. A marked improvement has also taken place in our street architecture, and numerous shops could be named which would bear comparison with those of any city in England.

In page 301 of this work is quoted the result of an accurate survey made of the town in 1785-6, in which the number of streets and houses is given "exclusive either of Deritend, or that part of the town called the Foreign." On this passage, my friend, Mr. Toulmin Smith, whose knowledge of the history of Birmingham is most extensive and accurate, has furnished me with the following very interesting information. He says:—"This is the latest instance that I am aware of in which the term 'Foreign' is used to describe a part of Birmingham. It is curious that this correct term should have gone entirely out of use in Birmingham, while in many other ancient towns in England it is still kept in common use. It was, formerly, always carefully used in descriptions of Birmingham. The town was always spoken of as consisting of (1) The 'Borough of Birmingham and Deritend,' and (2) The 'Foreign of Birmingham.' Both parts are within the Lordship or Manor of Birmingham. The 'Borough' was the older part of the town; and all of it, except Deritend, lies within the Parish of Birmingham. The Foreign' included Bordesley, large parts of Edgbaston, as well as a large part of the Parish of Birmingham itself. The defining line between the 'Borough' and the 'Foreign' could be now drawn without much difficulty, so numerous are the descriptions extant of the property in the place. It may be interesting to mention a few of these, as illustrations of a state of facts which will be new to most readers.

"The first which I will name makes it necessary to point out, by way of preface, one of the strange mistakes made by Hutton, in his History of Birmingham, unhappily, Hutton never gives his authority for any statement; so it is impossible to know how much was copied and how much was guess-work. Whichever it was that inspired his account of