JOHN COLLINS - BIRMINGHAM TOWN COUNCILLOR
It has been thought by some historians and writers that John Collins disappeared from public life following his release from prison in July 1840. This is not the case. In addition to running his own grocery business, Collins spent his first year of freedom attending numerous dinners and political meetings as far away as London and Scotland where he received well-earned recognition for his part in the early days of the Chartist Movement.
COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
John Collins helped establish the Christian Chartist Church in Birmingham serving as Pastor along with Arthur O'Neill. Following the failure of the 1842 National Petition and the subsequent lull in the Chartist Movement, there was a change in Collins' focus as he begins to take up with grass root causes. In February at a weekly meeting of the Birmingham Anti-Corn Law Association, chaired by the Mayor, regarding the repeal of the Corn Laws and Monoplies, Collins seconds a resolution to send an Anti-Corn Law petition to the House of Commons (Modern Birmingham & Institutions, A Langford). By 15th October he has clearly shifted his interest to still more localized affairs when he addressed a Town Hall meeting and spoke out against a proposed and highly unpopular Church Tax of sixpence in the pound - which was subsequently defeated (Modern Birmingham & Institutions, A Langford).
In June 1845 Collins attended a public meeting convened by the Mayor to discuss a resolution to bring together various local government boards under one entity, including a new committee to orchestrate that transfer of power. As a speaker in favour of the amalgamation Collins suggested an amendment that "every householder" be included in the instruction of said committee. Not surprisingly, when put to the vote the amendment lost by a large majority, though the original resolution was subsequently passed (Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 2 June 1845). Collins expected too much of the middle class Town Councillors who did not want input or interference from working class householders. No doubt Collins learned from that experience.
In July 1846 we see evidence of Collins' diplomacy when he attended a dinner for sixty or more at the Grand Turk on Ludgate Hill in Birmingham to celebrate the passing of a ministerial free-trade measure. At the request of the chairman, John Collins made the toast of the evening to "Sir Robert Peel, the greatest benefactor of the country." Collins goes onto adroitly explain his reasons for the toast, which he would have considered an insult or a joke three or four years before (Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 6 July 1846).
Later that year, he attended a Town Hall meeting regarding the financial difficulties of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Collins was the first of several speakers calling on those present to pledge their financial support, and in his usual way was well armed with various facts and figures regarding the hospital's state of affairs (Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 30 November 1846).
In July 1847 Collins was deputy chairman of the General Committee promoting the re-election of Reform Candidates Muntz and Scholfield to Parliament, and together with Councillor J Baldwin co-authored a notice to that effect in the local paper (Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 26 July 1847). In the subsequent August elections Muntz and Scholfield were elected Members of Parliament for Birmingham.
In June 1845 Collins attended a public meeting convened by the Mayor to discuss a resolution to bring together various local government boards under one entity, including a new committee to orchestrate that transfer of power. As a speaker in favour of the amalgamation Collins suggested an amendment that "every householder" be included in the instruction of said committee. Not surprisingly, when put to the vote the amendment lost by a large majority, though the original resolution was subsequently passed (Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 2 June 1845). Collins expected too much of the middle class Town Councillors who did not want input or interference from working class householders. No doubt Collins learned from that experience.
In July 1846 we see evidence of Collins' diplomacy when he attended a dinner for sixty or more at the Grand Turk on Ludgate Hill in Birmingham to celebrate the passing of a ministerial free-trade measure. At the request of the chairman, John Collins made the toast of the evening to "Sir Robert Peel, the greatest benefactor of the country." Collins goes onto adroitly explain his reasons for the toast, which he would have considered an insult or a joke three or four years before (Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 6 July 1846).
Later that year, he attended a Town Hall meeting regarding the financial difficulties of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Collins was the first of several speakers calling on those present to pledge their financial support, and in his usual way was well armed with various facts and figures regarding the hospital's state of affairs (Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 30 November 1846).
In July 1847 Collins was deputy chairman of the General Committee promoting the re-election of Reform Candidates Muntz and Scholfield to Parliament, and together with Councillor J Baldwin co-authored a notice to that effect in the local paper (Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 26 July 1847). In the subsequent August elections Muntz and Scholfield were elected Members of Parliament for Birmingham.
TOWN COUNCILLOR
John Collins had long been concern with wasteful government spending. It featured in his speeches and in the book he co-wrote with William Lovett. Although Collins was no longer in the forefront of the Chartist Movement, he was well-known from his 'Chartist Days,' and was still much respected by the working and middle class people of Birmingham. Feargus O'Connor referred to him as "Honest John Collins," and on Wednesday 24 November 1847 Collins was elected Town Councillor for the Ladywood ward of Birmingham. (various newspapers incl Norfolk News, Kendal Mercury 28 Nov 1847, Dumfries & Galloway Standard 8 December 1847) It was an opportunity for John Collins to help put a curb on public spending.
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He was a member of the all important Rate Payers Protection Society that celebrated its first anniversary in 1847. The Society, established by Alderman J Allday, effected immense savings in the local expenditure of the Borough of Birmingham, and "surpassed in an incredibly short period any public effort on record; and the extraordinary result achieved, so led to the formation of similar associations in other towns."
At a meeting for a proposed new Birmingham workhouse recommended by the Guardians for the Poor (where Collins found himself rubbing shoulders with the Mayor of Birmingham and the famed John Cadbury) Collins supported a resolution for a new workhouse to be erected on the site of the then present workhouse in Lichfield Street (Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 14 Sept 1846). Later at a Guardians of the Poor quarterly meeting held on 7 February 1848 when the location of the new workhouse was once again up for debate, Collins made a motion in favour of a new site at Birmingham Heath and recommended several new members to the New Workhouse Committee. (Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 7 Feb 1848)
In early 1848 at a meeting of the Town Council, held at the Public Offices on Moor Street, Collins was ever watchful of Borough spending and queried expenses incurred by the Town Clerk who was drawing up the list of registered voters. As a result, this prompted further discussion and the subject was referred back to the Finance Committee (Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 10 Jan 1848).
Collins was also a member of the Birmingham Freehold Land Society started in 1848 for promoting the extension of the county franchise. Following the Reform Act of 1832, the two main voting qualifications included ownership of a freehold with a minimum value of 40 shillings, and the occupation (as a tenant or owner) of a house worth at least £10 a year. The particular objects of the Birmingham Freehold Land Society were “to facilitate the acquisition of freehold land, and the erection of houses thereon; and to enable such of its members as are eligible to obtain the county franchise, and to afford to all of them a secure and profitable investment for money.” [Freehold Land Societies, William Tweedie 1853].
In 1849 he was still involved in public life as a Birmingham Town Councillor representing the district of Ladywood (1849 Whites Trade Directory of Birmingham) in which part of the town Collins lived. However, by 1851 he had fallen ill and was unable to complete his ambitions. He withdrew from public life and passed away in August the following year.