Carl Chinn

Last updated

Carl Chinn
MBE DL
Carl Chinn 2011-06-12.jpg
Chinn in 2011
Born (1956-09-06) 6 September 1956 (age 68)
Moseley, Birmingham, England
Occupations
  • Historian
  • author
  • radio presenter
  • magazine editor
  • newspaper columnist
Spouse
Kathleen Doyle
​
(m. 1978)​
Children4
Chinn's voice
On the significance of Birmingham's marketplaces
First published 7 September 2011
Website Carl Chinn’s Brum [1]

Carl Steven Alfred Chinn MBE DL (born 6 September 1956) is an English historian, author and radio presenter whose working life has been devoted to the study and popularisation of the city of Birmingham. He broadcast a programme on the BBC from the mid-1990s focusing on Birmingham's history.

Contents

In 1990, he was contracted to lecture [2] at the University of Birmingham, where he subsequently became a full professor in 2002. During this year he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his "services to local history and to charities". [3] [4]

Early life

Chinn was born at Sorrento Hospital in Moseley, Birmingham. [5] His father, Alfred (died 26 April 2010), was known as "Buck" [6] and was a notable football supporter and local activist [6] from Sparkbrook. [5] His mother, Sylvia, was known as "Sylvie" [6] and was from Aston. [5] Chinn grew up in Birmingham and was educated at Moseley School and the University of Birmingham.

Career

Chinn initially followed his father and grandfather into bookmaking before entering academia, gaining his PhD in 1986. [7]

His work in the community made him a popular figure, and in 1994 he was invited by the Birmingham Evening Mail to write a two-page feature on local history. This proved extremely popular and Chinn wrote a weekly column for the paper until 2016. [7]

Chinn held the position of Professor of Community History at the University of Birmingham until 2015 and is now Emeritus Professor. [5] He was also Director of the Birmingham Lives multimedia archive at UoB (formerly at South Birmingham College). [7] He is the author of over thirty books on the history of Birmingham and the urban working class in England. He often appears on local television programmes such as Midlands Today ; and wrote a weekly local history column for the Express & Star . [7] He presented a weekly radio programme on BBC WM from 1994 until it was axed in 2013. He has made three videos and provided spoken links on two CDs of songs about Birmingham. [7]

In 2000 Chinn was a leading figure in the temporarily successful, but eventually doomed, campaign to save the Longbridge car factory from closure. In the 2001 Birthday Honours, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) "for services to the community, especially Local History, in the West Midlands." [5] [8] When the rebuilt Bull Ring was opened in 2003 Chinn criticised it for the lack of concern its developers and planners had shown towards market traders who had been the mainstay of the Bull Ring for the 800 years up to 1964, when the much-criticised previous shopping centre was built on the site. [9] Chinn has also been prominent in the campaigns to save the last back-to-back houses in Birmingham, now a National Trust museum in Inge Street; and for a memorial to the victims of the Second World War Blitz on the city, sited in Edgbaston Street in the Bull Ring. In October 2007 he became patron of the St John's Church Preservation Group, which is[ needs update ] campaigning for the reopening of St John's Church, Dudley. [10]

In December 2010 he appeared on Ian Hislop's BBC television show Age of the Do-Gooders, in which he championed George Dawson; a "non-conformist preacher, and a bit of a showman". He has also appeared on the BBC's Question Time . In 2020 appeared in 'Britains' Biggest Dig' in BBC 4 television mini series exploring HS2 archaeology dig in Birmingham.

Politics

In the 1980s he was briefly a member of the Social Democratic Party,[ citation needed ] which broke from Labour in protest at its perceived leftward shift, and later went on to merge with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats. He stood in the 1983 general election in Birmingham Sparkbrook as an independent, campaigning for import controls to protect local industry, and more investment in council housing. He came last with 281 votes (0.9%). [11]

Personal life

Chinn married Kathleen Doyle in 1978; they have a son and three daughters, one of whom, Tara, has sung professionally on stage with her father. [12]

Chinn is a supporter of Aston Villa FC [12] and has a season ticket at Villa Park.

Chinn is a descendant of Peaky Blinders gangster Edward Derrick. [13] In 2023, he was appointed a deputy lieutenant of the West Midlands. [14]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broad Street, Birmingham</span> Major thoroughfare and popular nightspot centre in Central Birmingham, England

Broad Street is a major thoroughfare and popular nightspot centre in Central Birmingham, England. Traditionally, Broad Street was considered to be outside Birmingham City Centre, but as the city centre expanded with the removal of the Inner Ring Road, Broad Street has been incorporated into the new Westside district of the city centre due to its position within the A4540 road.

The Brummie dialect, or more formally the Birmingham dialect, is spoken by many people in Birmingham, England, and some of its surrounding area. "Brummie" is also a demonym for people from Birmingham. It is often erroneously used in referring to all accents of the West Midlands, as it is markedly distinct from the traditional accent of the adjacent Black Country, but modern-day population mobility has tended to blur the distinction. Population mobility has meant that to a degree, the Brummie accent extends into some parts of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, but much of the accent within the borough might be considered to be closer to contemporary Received Pronunciation (RP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Handsworth, West Midlands</span> Human settlement in England

Handsworth is an inner-city area of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. Historically in Staffordshire, Handsworth lies just outside Birmingham City Centre and near the town of Smethwick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digbeth</span> Human settlement in England

Digbeth is an area of central Birmingham, England. Following the destruction of the Inner Ring Road, Digbeth is now considered a district within Birmingham City Centre. As part of the Big City Plan, Digbeth is undergoing a large redevelopment scheme that will regenerate the old industrial buildings into apartments, retail premises, offices and arts facilities. The district is considered to be Birmingham's "Creative Quarter".

Billesley is a ward within the council constituency and parliamentary constituency of Selly Oak, Birmingham, England. It is 4 miles (6 km) south of the city centre and includes the area of Billesley and much of Yardley Wood as well as the Hollybank Road area of Kings Heath. It is contiguous with the Birmingham wards of Highter's Heath on the south-west, Brandwood and Kings Heath on the west, Moseley on the north and Hall Green South on the east. To the south-east is the Shirley West ward of Solihull.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sparkhill</span> Inner-city area of Birmingham, England

Sparkhill is an inner-city area of Birmingham, England, situated between Springfield, Hall Green and Sparkbrook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nechells</span> Human settlement in England

Nechells is a district ward in central Birmingham, England, whose population in 2011 was 33,957. It is also a ward within the formal district of Ladywood. Nechells local government ward includes areas, for example parts of Birmingham city centre, which are not part of the historic district of Nechells as such, now often referred to in policy documents as "North Nechells, Bloomsbury and Duddeston".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bournbrook</span> Human settlement in England

Bournbrook is an industrial and residential district in southwest Birmingham, England, in the ward of Bournbrook and Selly Park and the parliamentary constituency of Birmingham Selly Oak. Before 2018 it was in Selly Oak Council Ward. Prior to what is commonly termed the Greater Birmingham Act, which came into effect on 9 November 1911, the Bourn Brook watercourse was the North Eastern boundary of Worcestershire, and the area was locally governed by the King's Norton and Northfield Urban District Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Small Heath</span> Area of Birmingham, England

Small Heath is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about 2 miles (3 km) from the city centre.

The Birmingham Boys were a street gang whose power extended from the North of England to London's underworld, between the 1910s and 1930s. They lost control of the South East racecourses to the Sabini gang. In modern times they gained recognition due to the TV series Peaky Blinders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Bore</span> British physicist and politician (born 1946)

Sir Albert Bore is a British nuclear physicist, academic and Labour Party politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Knight</span> British screenwriter and film director

Steven Knight is a British screenwriter, producer, and director for film and television. He wrote the screenplays for the films Closed Circuit, Dirty Pretty Things, and Eastern Promises, and also wrote and directed the films Locke and Hummingbird. Knight is one of three creators of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, a game show that has been remade and aired in around 160 countries worldwide. He is also the creator of the BBC's Peaky Blinders and has written for Commercial Breakdown, The Detectives, See, and Taboo.

Cecil Charles Hudson Moriarty, (1877–1958) was an Irish-born British police officer and Irish rugby international. He won one cap against Wales in 1899. He served as Chief Constable of the Birmingham City Police from 1935 to 1941, and his manuals and books on police procedures became essential guidebooks for police in the United Kingdom.

The city of Birmingham, England is home to an evolving media industry, including news and magazine publishers, radio and television networks, film production and specialist educational media training. The city's first newspaper was published in 1732.

California is a small suburban area of Birmingham, England. It lies 4 miles (6.4 km) south west of Birmingham city centre, near to Woodgate Valley Country Park. It is within Bartley Green ward and the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Selly Oak Park</span>

Selly Oak Park is a public park in Selly Oak, Birmingham, England. It is close to the University of Birmingham. The stump from the "Selly Oak", a large oak tree on Oak Tree Lane was situated in the park after it was felled in 1909.

<i>Peaky Blinders</i> (TV series) British period crime drama TV series (2013–2022)

Peaky Blinders is a British period crime drama television series created by Steven Knight. Set in Birmingham, it follows the exploits of the Peaky Blinders crime gang in the direct aftermath of the First World War. The fictional gang is loosely based on a real urban youth gang who were active in the city from the 1880s to the 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peaky Blinders</span> Criminal gang in Birmingham, England

The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racketeering, illegal bookmaking, and control of gambling. Members wore signature outfits that typically included tailored jackets, lapelled overcoats, buttoned waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom trousers, leather boots, and peaked flat caps. Contrary to the television series of the same name, it is unlikely that they had razor blades sewn into these caps, instead gaining their name from the way they wore them with the cap tilted so that the peak covered one eye.

References

  1. ↑ "Welcome". Carl Chinn’s Brum. Archived from the original on 1 February 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  2. ↑ "Professor Carl Chinn axed from university history post". Express & Star . Wolverhampton, England. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  3. ↑ Griffin, Jon (15 January 2015). "Carl Chinn's sadness as his University of Birmingham role is axed". birminghammail. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  4. ↑ Tom Bushnell (5 January 2011), "BBC WM Radio Carl Chinn MBE & Tom Bushnell talk about the psychology of New Year Re-solutions", YouTube, archived from the original on 13 December 2021, retrieved 29 December 2017
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Professor Carl Chinn". University of Birmingham . Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 "Buck Chinn loses fight against cancer". Birmingham Mail. 27 April 2010. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "BBC – BBC WM Programmes – Carl Chinn". BBC . Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  8. ↑ United Kingdom "No. 56237". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 16 June 2001. p. 15.
  9. ↑ "Historian says Bullring lacks heart". BBC News. 4 September 2003.
  10. ↑ "Save St John's Church". St John's Church Preservation Group. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  11. ↑ "1983 General Election - Birmingham Sparkbrook". Parliament.uk . Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  12. 1 2 Brummies (video), Carl Chinn & Malcolm Stent, Pennslake Productions, 1995
  13. ↑ Ahmed, Ryan. "The Legacy of the Peaky Blinders: A Conversation with a Descendant". The Science Survey . Bronx High School of Science . Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  14. ↑ "West Midlands Lieutenancy – Deputy Lieutenant Commissions". The London Gazette. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.