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From: Walter <>
Subject: [RYLAND] Louisa Ann Ryland, 1814-1889
Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2000 04:54:07 -0800


Posted on: RYLAND Biographies
Reply Here: http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/gc/surnames/r/y/RYLAND/biographies/118

Surname: Ryland, Pemberton, Smith
-------------------------

Louisa Ann RYLAND (1814 - 1889) was the single greatest philanthropist
in the history of Birmingham, England. Yet she was a retiring, reclusive
maiden lady who shunned the public spotlight. A recent article in the Birmingham
Post (Sept. 9, 2000) termed her "the generous mother of the city."

She was born Jan. 17, 1814, in Edgbaston, a luxurious suburb of Birmingham,
the only child of Samuel Ryland (1764-1843) and Ann Pemberton (1771-1815).

Birmingham was the heart of the Industrial Revolution, bringing forth innovations
that changed the world: the steam engine. . . the hansom cab. . . gas lights.
But what made the Ryland family wealthy was their vision of future growth.
In three generations, they grew from a family of makers of buttons, pins,
and toys into one of the largest land-owning entities in Birmingham. What
had once been mediocre outlying farmland became prime real estate, as the
city's industry and housing had grown and the value of land had grown along
with it.

Great progress in industry had its down side. In the early Victorian era,
the city was a wretched place to live -- inconceivably overcrowded, filled
with the stench of factory smoke and even fouler contaminents. Streets
were unpaved, working conditions were abysmal, pay was low. One child of
every six died before the age of one. Disease and crime were facts of daily
life amid the Dickensian squalor.

These conditions did not touch the Rylands. Edgbaston, like their subsequent
residence at Sherborne, was a comfortable suburban haven for the well-off,
strictly zoned to keep metalworking and manufacturing out.

Louisa was only a baby when her mother died. Her father never remarried,
and as the only child, Louisa learned well the lessons of prudent investment
and financial management. When she was 29, her father died, leaving her
estates worth more than a million pounds in Ladywood, Sparkhill, Small
Heath, Northfield and Moseley, as well as others at Stratford and Sherborne.

We are told discreetly that Louisa was "disappointed in love," and can
only guess at the circumstances. The Birmingham Post article recounts the
popular story that she was prohibited by her father from marrying her true
love, one Henry Smith, Jr. That sadly romantic tale may or may not be mythical.
But since Smith himself remained unmarried until 15 years after Samuel
Ryland's death, the story seems unlikely.

Whatever may have happened, Louisa was never to have a family of her own.
Instead, she adopted the people of Birmingham. The city had been very,
very good to her and her family, and she resolved to give some of it back,
to do what she could with her resources to make life bearable for the citizens
of her beloved but troubled city. She contributed to recreation, education,
worship, and public health. She was so reticent and private that we may
never know the full extent of her benevolence.

Appropriately, the first major contribution (known to this writer, at least)
begins on Ryland Street in Ladywood, where Louisa donated land and funds
to build St. Barnabus's Church. She laid the cornerstone for the church
Aug. 1, 1857, and that for the church school next door three years later.
A photo of St. Barnabus as it used to be, may be seen at http://www.mizar.btinternet.co.uk/brum/images/sparkh/stbarnabus.jpg

Those buildings are gone now, as Ryland Street has been completely rebuilt
since the Second World War. Also missing is a public house on that street
-- the Ryland Arms -- an institution of which Louisa Ryland unquestionably
disapproved. She used her considerable influence to have the only licensed
pub in Sherborne closed. But she did open a coffeeshop and reading room
at Barford, at which she hosted an annual gathering of the local poor folk.

She also built the church for her own parish at Sherborne, from designs
by Sir Gilbert Scott, with a few ideas of her own. Her parents are entombed
within the church in a striking stone sarcophagus with ornate carvings
and inlays bearing the large letter R, the family crest, and repetitions
of "Not The Last" -- the family motto.

Having previously donated funds for the purchase of Aston Park and Victoria
Park, Small Heath, Louisa donated her own estate in Moseley to the Corporation
of Birmingham for a large public park. She would not permit it to be named
Ryland Park, and requested that it be opened without ceremony or fanfare.

Cannon Hill Park remains today the flagship of the city's vast park system,
80 acres incorporating a children's playground, a bowling green, a miniature
golf course, tennis courts, a boating lake, nature trails, and a garden
with a greenhouse filled with tropical plants. The Midland Arts Centre,
also in the park, comprises a theater,art gallery, restaurant and bookshop.
The park adjoins the world-famous Edgbaston Cricket Grounds.

Then-and-now views of this beautiful park may be seen at http://www.mizar.btinternet.co.uk/brum/cannonhill.htm

Louisa had a flair for design and gardening. She personally sketched the
designs for most of the park, to a standard to equal the landscaping of
her own estates.

To further the development of young artists, Louisa was the chief contributor
to the Birmingham Government School of Ornamental Art, on the corner of
Edmund Street and Margaret Street. The school is now known as the Birmingham
Institute of Art and Design, part of the University of Central England.
She endowed a well-managed fund for student scholarships -- which are still
being awarded today, 125 years later.

In 1878, she gave her house on Stratford Road to be converted into the
Birmingham and Midlands Women's Hospital, financed the alterations necessary
for the conversion, and leased the building for a nominal rental for 42
years. This hospital is still in service, having moved alongside the Edgbaston
Hospital's maternity facility in 1995.

Louisa Ann Ryland died on Jan. 25, 1889, at her primary residence, the
Hill in Barford. She left an estate much greater than she had inherited.
For official purposes of probate, it was valued at just under three-quarters
of a million pounds. Unofficial estimates ot the true value of her holdings
range upwards to 2 million pounds. This would be the equivalent of 130
million today -- nearly $200 million in US dollars.

Her will is an extraordinarily lengthy and complex document, mentioning
some 100 individuals by name. She provided generously for hospitals, churches,
and schools, and for numerous friends and relatives. But conditional upon
the bequests: the executors had to be satisfied that the institutions spent
the money as she directed. And individual heirs, unless they were named
Ryland or married members of the nobility, were to add "Ryland" to their
surname, or forfeit their inheritance.

The son of the late Henry Smith, linked at least in romantic legend with
the youthful Louisa, was one of the major heirs. William Charles Henry
Alston Smith was known thereafter as Charles Smith-Ryland. The Smith-Ryland
family remains today major landowners in Barford and Sherborne.

At her own request, she was not buried in the elaborate stone tomb in the
Sherborne Church, but in the cemetery outside, alongside her former nurse
and companion. Her pallbearers were her servants and laborers from the
village.

And she left a note: "I am ashamed to mention that the idea has occurred
to me that it is possible some little memorial of me may be proposed in
Birmingham. Now, I entreat that such may not be the case, for I shrink
from having any money collected or trouble taken for such a purpose." This
wish was complied with for many years thereafter.

The Birmingham of today has come far from its gritty past. Today, it is
a beautiful city, having grown to become the second largest metropolis
in Britain. That did not come about by accident.

Some say Birmingham is the best-run large city in the world. Its Housing
Authority and social services are the largest and most active departments
of their kind in the United Kingdom. These departments, dedicated to enhancing
the quality of life for all the citizens, are housed in a large, new office
building on Newhall Street in the City Centre -- most appropriately named
the Louisa Ryland House.

So one might conclude that at last, a fitting memorial now stands to Louisa
Ryland, and without any money being collected or "trouble taken" for the
purpose. But to paraphrase, if you're ever in Birmingham and are seeking
her monument, just look around.

[Many kind friends and distant cousins have contributed to my new-found
interest in the Rylands and in Birmingham itself, particularly Ann Seeley,
Derek S. Wootton, Robert Deloyde and David Winstone, all of metropolitan
Birmingham, and Mandy Pemberton of Melbourne, Australia. All mis-statements
and omissions are, naturally, my own. -- Walter]



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