In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Harborne like this:
HARBORNE, a village, a parish, and a sub-district in the district of Kings-Norton and county of Stafford. The village stands near the boundaries with Worcestershire, Warwickshire, and Birmingham borough, 3 miles SW of Birmingham; was to have a railway, after 1866, to Birmingham r. station; forms a pleasant suburban residence; is connected with Birmingham by a continuous series of villas and other genteel residences along Harborne road; and has a post office‡ under Birmingham, a police station, a public library, a steel mill, tin ware works, and a spectacles manufactory. ...
The parish includes also the hamlet of Smethwick. Acres, 3, 296. Real property, exclusive of Smethwick, £13, 286; inc. of S., £60, 418. Pop. in 1851, exc. of S., 2, 350; in 1861, 3, 617. Houses, 704. Pop. inc. of S. in 1851, 10, 729; in 1861, 16, 996. Houses, 3, 292. The increase of pop. arose from participation in the prosperity of Birmingham. The manor belongs to the Marquis of Anglesey. Metchley Abbey is the seat of Lord Calthorpe. Much of the area is occupied by suburban outskirts of Birmingham; and a good deal is disposed in market and strawberry gardens. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £600.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield. The church is ancient, with a later English tower; and has been extremely disfigured by modern alterations. The churchyard commands a fine view, over parts of Worcestershire, to the Clent Hills and the Bromsgrove Lickey. The chapelries of North Harborne, HarborneHeath, Smethwick, Smethwick-St. Matthew, and West Smethwick, are separate charges. North Harborne was constituted in 1842, Harborne Heath in 1859; and the other three will be noticed in the article SMETHWICK. Pop. of North Harborne in 1861, 5, 550; of HarborneHeath, 2, 289. Houses, 1, 090 and 473. North Harborne is a vicarage. Value, £300.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield. Harborne Heath is a vicarage. Value, £100. Patron, the Rev. T. Smith. H. H. church was built in 1859, at a cost of upwards of £3, 000; is in the geometric decorated style; and consists of nave, aisles, transept, and chancel, With lofty octagonal turret terminating in a spirelet. There are national schools, with £28 from endowment; four almshouses for families, and one for aged individuals; and other charities, amounting with these, to about £200.
Harborne through time
Harborne is now part of Birmingham district. Click here for graphs and data of how Birmingham has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Harborne itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Harborne, in Birmingham and Staffordshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/8147
Date accessed: 20th April 2024
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