Creative Writers Sought to Remember Birmingham’s Poor

The memorials you see as you walk around burial sites are often erected by those that could afford them. This is the case in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, where visitors to Key Hill cemetery can see memorials to non-conformists such as Harriet Martineau, Joseph Chamberlain and Alfred Bird (inventor of Bird’s custard). The vast majority of those buried here, however, are in public graves, where the working-class poor paid for the privilege of sharing a final resting place with over a hundred others. If they were lucky, their relatives would pay the extra to have their loved one’s names engraved on one of the large headstones that mark some of the plots. Many, however, were too poor even for this and the headstones often contain less than half of the grave’s occupants. In addition, many plots have no stones at all.

This May, Our Digital Ancestors, in collaboration with the University of Hertfordshire, are launching a project to highlight these graves and work with creative writers to create stories inspired by the lives of some of those buried here. These lives include:

Ada Ellis, born in the workhouse to an unmarried mother, who died after falling down a trapdoor during a thunderstorm
Air Mechanic Frank Jeacock, a tram driver who flew in kite balloons during WWI, was captured and died due to his treatment in a Prisoner of War camp (photo to the left).
William Vaughan, an upholster who became blind during his life and supported himself by selling wares for the Birmingham Royal Institute for the Blind

Creative writers of all levels of experience are invited to attend a workshop on Saturday, May 16^th in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, held in conjunction with Birmingham’s You Only Die Once Festival. In the morning, they will hear from Dr Penny Pritchard and celebrant Steve Rose about how Georgian and Victorian nonconformists were commemorated in death and how this contrasts with modern approaches to death. These conversations will inspire the afternoon’s workshop, where ideas for stories will be sketched out with The Bone Ensemble. This work will continue throughout the summer, with additional workshops on writing and research available to all participants. The resulting stories will be published in an anthology this autumn and we look forward to sharing them with you!

You do not need to be a bestselling author to take part, no experience is necessary and authors will be supported every step of the way. You also don’t need to pay as all activities are free, although booking is essential. For further information and to book see here. If you have any questions, please contact Rachel@cfga.org .