The Heroic Age in Birmingham History Exhibition

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Mon 27 Feb 2023 - Wed 12 Apr 2023

The Birmingham Civic Society and ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project has unveiled blue plaques commemorating the work of George Dawson and Samuel Timmins in founding the Shakespeare Memorial Library in Birmingham.

The unveiling took place against the backdrop of a new exhibition from the Jewellery Quarter Research Trust in the Shakespeare Memorial Room at the Library of Birmingham which celebrates the two men’s involvement in ensuring Birmingham’s Shakespeare heritage.



The exhibition, 'The Heroic Age in Birmingham History', is the sixth community-curated exhibition created as part of the ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project. It tells the story of how George Dawson, Samuel Timmins, Joseph Chamberlain and JT Bunce made a significant impact on Birmingham’s history and founded municipal buildings including schools, museums, swimming baths, hospitals and libraries.

The plaque for George Dawson, a nonconformist preacher and lecturer, will be erected in the Skyline Room, outside the Shakespeare Memorial Library. Samuel Timmins inherited a family manufacturing business but his true passion was literature and he dedicated his efforts to establishing the Shakespeare Memorial Library. His plaque will be erected on his home in Elvetham Road, Edgbaston soon after the ceremony.

Professor Michael Butler of Birmingham Civic Society said: “We award Blue Plaques to significant sites around the city and to people who have excelled in their career or made a significant contribution to our city and we are delighted to be celebrating Dawson and Timmins contributions to Birmingham.”

The ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project is a celebration of the Birmingham Shakespeare Memorial Library –the first great Shakespeare library in the world and the only great Shakespeare collection which belongs to all the people of a city.

Project director Professor Ewan Fernie said: “We love sharing the great public Shakespeare collection which George Dawson and Sam Timmins established, and I’m looking forward to honouring those pioneers with richly deserved blue plaques. And where better to do so than outside Birmingham’s historic Shakespeare Memorial Room, part of the first great Shakespeare library in the world, which owes its very existence to Dawson and Timmins?”

The ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project is a collaboration between the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City Council, with funding contributed by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and History West Midlands. For more information see here .

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