| Description | The minutes are printed and signed by the committee Chairman. The minutes are in uniformly titled minute volumes. The minutes include detailed reports about the inspection, cleaning and maintenance of lights that fell under the various districts overseen by the department; types of lighting used (i.e. gas, automatic lighting); the cleaning of incandescent chimneys; information on staff employed by the Lighting Department; departmental accounts and statements of income and expenditure; and related correspondence and papers. The minutes include a great deal of information about the lighting of slum districts and courtyards in Birmingham, another key aspect of the sanitary and housing reform measures implemented in Birmingham's more dilapidated central areas during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The minutes covering the First World War (1914 - 1918) also include some references and correspondence relating to the reduction or extinguishing of street lights to minimise the risk of air raid damage (see BCC/1/BP/3/1/1). Minute volume BCC/1/BP/3/1/2 includes a loose copy of a letter sent by the Chief Constable of Birmingham City Police to Councillor C. Crump (Chairman of the Lighting Sub-Committee) dated 4 July 1919 concerning damage to street lighting in the city. |