terrible years
of poverty and privation in this town and neighbourhood. In 1838,
380,000 doles were made to poor people from a fund raised by public
subscription. In the summer of 1840, local trade was so bad that we have
been told as many as 10,000 persons applied at one office alone for free
passages to Australia, and all unsuccessfully. Empty houses could be
counted by the hundred. There was great distress in the winter of
1853-4, considerable amounts being subscribed for charitable relief. In
the first three months of 1855, there were distributed among the poor
11,745 loaves of bread, 175,500 pints of soup, and L725 in cash. The sum
of L10,328 was subscribed for and expended in the relief of the
unemployed in the winter of 1878-79--the number of families receiving
the same being calculated at 195,165, with a total of 494,731 persons.

~Harmonies.~--See "_Musical Societies_."

~Hats and Hatters.~--In 1820 there was but one hatter in the town, Harry
Evans, and his price for best "beavers" was a guinea and a half,
"silks," which first appeared in 1812, not being popular and "felts"
unknown. Strangers have noted one peculiarity of the native Brums, and
that is their innate dislike to "top hats," few of which are worn here
(in comparison to population) except on Sunday, when respectable
mechanics churchward-bound mount the chimney pot. In the revolutionary
days of 1848, &c., when local political feeling ran high in favour of
Pole and Hungarian, soft broad-brimmed felt hats, with flowing black
feathers were _en regle_, and most of the advanced leaders of the day
thus adorned themselves. Now, the ladies monopolise the feathers and the
glories thereof. According to the scale measure used by hatters, the
average size of hats worn is that called 6-7/8, representing one-half of
the length and breadth of a man's head, but it has been noted by
"S.D.R." that several local worthies have had much larger craniums,
George Dawson requiring a 7-1/2 sized hat, Mr. Charles Geach a 7-3/4,
and Sir Josiah Mason a little over an 8. An old Soho man once told the
writer that Matthew Boulton's head-gear had to be specially made for
him, and, to judge from a bust of M.B., now in his possession, the hat
required must have been extra size indeed.

~Hearth Duty.~--In 1663, an Act was passed for the better ordering and
collecting the revenue derived from "Hearth Money," and we gather a few
figures from a return then made, as showing the comparati