| Description | Parliamentary bills and acts, correspondence, agreements, conveyances, chancery papers and plans.
Arranged chronologically.
The Birmingham and West Suburban Railway Company was formed as a parliamentary company in 1870 to build a single line from the centre of Birmingham to Kings Norton. The line was intended to run parallel to the Birmingham and Worcester Canal across the estate and with a 'Harborne Branch' running westward from Prichatt's road.
Initially amicable relations between the company and the Estate soured when the branch plans were abandoned. These papers cover the private and public bargaining which ensued as Frederick Henry William Gough-Calthorpe and his agent Joseph Edwards sought terms to protect their tenants and the estate (particularly immediately adjacent lands) from 'injury'. It appears some of the lands over which the line passed were compulsorily purchased and consequently some records relating to farming activities were found within Deed Estate Box 11 which forms the core of this section.
The line opened in 1876, now under the direction of the Midland Railway Company. In 1879 this company sought powers to double the line, to have themselves released from the obligations of the Birmingham West Suburban Railway Company and to be able to carry goods. Lord Calthorpe and his tenants opposed these propositions.
A final bought of wrangling commenced in 1881 when the Midland Railway Company made moves to convert the line into main route to Bristol.
See D. Cannadine, Lords and Landlords (Leicester, 1980), pp.178 - 180. |