West's House on the Hagley Road, Birmingham


The location of West's House, Hagley Road

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Roseneath

The house on Reservoir Road which Mary West shared with her daughter, Fanny de la Hunt.

Charles Green's House

Walter Newton Fisher's House

The Birmingham Medical Institute

Queen's Hospital, Birmingham (exterior)


Queen's Hospital, Birmingham (ward)

Queen's Hospital in Bath Row was founded by William Sands Cox in 1841 as a teaching hospital for students at his medical college, Queen’s College. West was Residential Medical Officer there from 1854-57 and was appointed to a post of Honorary Surgeon at the hospital in 1857 after a long and very bitter election dispute. He held the post until his death in May, 1883. The hospital became The Accident Hospital in the 20th century and is now a Hall of Residence for students of the University of Birmingham. More information about the hospital is available here.

Church of the Redeemer, Ladywood, Birmingham (exterior)


Church of the Redeemer, Ladywood, Birmingham (interior)

Further pictures of the Church of the Redeemer are available here.

Church of the Ascension, Hall Green, Birmingham

The Wests' family grave is located at the Church of the Ascension.

Saint Augustine's, Edgbaston

St Augustine’s Church, Edgbaston was built in 1868 on land provided by the Gillott family. As a contemporary observer noted, its worshippers consisted of the 'Who’s Who?' of Birmingham. They were ‘prosperous, happy and content.’ (D Cannadine, Lords and Landlords. The Aristocracy and the Towns 1774-1967, England; Leicester University Press, 1980: 215). For the church today, see here.

The Town Hall, Birmingham

Begun in 1832, Birmingham's Town Hall was built largely out of clay dug up to build its foundations. Its colonnade was modelled on that of the temple of Castor and Pollux at Rome. The building has just been refurbished - for present-day information, see here.

The Botanical Gardens, Birmingham, 1874

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens were originally laid out for the Birmingham Botanical and Horticultural Society on a site of 12½ acres in Edgbaston. The land was part of the estate of Lord Calthorpe, landowner of most the Edgbaston area. The gardens were opened to the public in 1832.

King Edward's Five Ways

This new addition to the King Edward's Foundation was housed in the old Edgbaston Proprietary School and a second neighbouring school. For the school today, see here.

Sherbourne Road

Acock’s Green

In West's day, Acock’s Green was a village some five miles south east of Birmingham. West moved there with his new wife, mother and grandmother in the mid 1860s, and several of his children were born there. Even by West’s time, it was possible to travel from Acock’s Green into Birmingham by train. West and his most of his family were buried in The Church of the Ascension, in nearby Hall Green. Pictures of Acock's Green in the early 1900s are available here.

Edgbaston

From 1874 until his death, West lived with his family on the Hagley Road in Edgbaston - Birmingham's leafiest and most affluent suburb. For their house, see pictures, above. Part of the Calthorpe Estate, Edgbaston has retained its sought-after residential character to this day. For historic photographs of Edgbaston, see here.

Solihull

In West's day, Solihull was a small village, some eight miles south east of Birmingham. Further information on its history, with pictures from the Victorian era, is available here.

The Hen and Chickens

The Stork Hotel, Aston

Warwick House

Covering nearly two acres of land, Warwick House was Birmingham’s largest drapery and furnishing business. It was founded in 1836 by West’s friend, William Holliday, and was situated on the corner of New Street and Corporation St.

Llandudno

A seaside resort on the north coast of Wales popular with the professional classes. It could be reached easily by train from Birmingham, and was surprisingly commercialised by the early 1880s. Pictures of modern Llandudno are available here.

Naples in the 1890s

An excellent blog about modern Naples and its many historical sites may be found here, while further period postcards can be seen here.

Highfield House School, Wath upon Dearne, Yorkshire

Attended by Sarah Hammond West as a child.

Parish church, Darfield, Yorkshire

The church where Sarah and James West were married in 1864.