Harborne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Harborne is an area 3 miles southwest from Birmingham city centre, England. It is a Birmingham City Council ward in the formal district and in the parliamentary constituency of Birmingham Edgbaston.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Demographics
4 Famous residents
5 Politics
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Geography

Harborne is located at Latitude 52.45 (52° 27′ N) Longitude -1.95 (1° 57′ W).

As a parish, it covered an area of 3,300 acres, 100 acres of which was of woodland and plantations.

[edit] History

The earliest mention of Harborne is an entry in the Domesday Book of 1086, however the settlement pre-dates this.

The spelling of Harborne has appeared with several variations through the centuries, and the derivation of the place name has often been disputed. One of the more probable suggestions is 'boundary brook', although 'high brow' and 'dirty brook' are also possibilities.

Harborne became part of the county borough of Birmingham and thus transferred from Staffordshire to Warwickshire in 1891 by the Local Govt. Bd.'s Prov. Orders Conf. (No. 13) Act, 54 & 55 Vic. c. 161 (local act). Then became part of the West Midlands in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972.

Harborne railway station, at the end of a short branch off the LMS Birmingham-Wolverhampton line at Ladywood, closed in the 1960s.

Many residents of the area are academics from the nearby University of Birmingham, as well as medical staff from nearby hospitals.

[edit] Demographics

The 2001 census revealed that 21,296 lived in Harborne and that 16.5% of people were aged under 16, 62.5% were aged between 16 and 59, while 21.0% were aged over 60. The minority ethnic population made up 22.0% (4,701) of the ward’s population, compared with 29.6% for Birmingham. 61.3% of households were owner occupied and 17.6% were rented from either the local authority, housing association or other registered social landlord. The remaining 21.1% of households rented privately or lived rent free. The census found that 66.0% (10,390) of the population aged 16 to 74 were working or seeking work, this compared with 60.4% for Birmingham.

[edit] Famous residents

Harborne's most notable resident was the poet W. H. Auden - the present day swimming baths stand on the site of his former house. Other famous residents include landscape painter David Cox, the composer Granville Bantock and Thomas Attwood who became the first MP from Birmingham. The Nobel Prize-winning chemist and physicist Francis William Aston was born in Harborne in 1877. The Arts and Crafts jeweller-silversmith George Edward Hunt resided in Harborne from about 1900 until his death in 1960.

[edit] Politics

Harborne ward forms part of the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency at Westminster, currently represented by Labour's Gisela Stuart. However, at local level it is firmly Conservative; its three councillors all hail from that party and include current council leader Mike Whitby. The other two councillors are John Alden and Peter Hollingworth.

The ward has adopted a Ward Support Officer with the current holder of the title being Ken Brown.