THOUGHTS ON…
Diane Lindsay
At first sight my eyes slid scornfully past Reminiscences of a Gentlewoman of the Last Century, in the secondhand bookshop, as the ghosts of several generations of Lower Order ancestors insincerely doffed caps and tugged forelocks in sarcastic disrespect. However, I’m a sucker for a gilded spine and noticing a date of 1891, I tugged out a book whose glory had clearly faded a bit since the gentlewoman first reminisced. And I can’t tell you how glad I am I did.
Two yellowing newspaper cuttings fell out, and I swiftly realised that ‘last century’ was actually the 18th and the gentlewoman was one Catherine Hutton, born 1756, daughter of Birmingham historian William Hutton.
I soon discovered I didn’t know as much about local history as I thought I did. Although I have strong Warwickshire and Black Country ties, I have never found a single link to Birmingham. I have to admit, too, that I’d never heard of the Priestly Riots of 1791, and the accompanying unrest that could hardly help but have resonated throughout my dissenting family’s past. These violent riots happened over five days of Establishmentcondoned rabblerousing against dissenters in general and the respected librarian of the Birmingham and Midland Institute, Dr Joseph Priestley and his associates in particular, one of whom was Catherine’s father. The dreadful burning and looting of chapels and homes was inspired by a widely misreported belief that these egalitarian intellectuals supported revolution and the overthrow of Monarchy and the Established Church.