ABSTRACT
The seventh decade of the nineteenth century was one of security and of tranquil growth for Birmingham and District. In the first place, the course of the trade cycle demands attention. The two developments which knowledge of later events show to have been of most consequence occurred in the gun and iron trades. In the brass industry, however, progress was maintained. The history of the industries between 1860 and 1870 stands out in contrast to the gradual changes and uneventful progress which characterized the economic life of the area as a whole. A large number of new firms were established in the heavy branch of the trade. The gun trade, to take the first instance, was subject to great changes, which were not only to have far-reaching effects on its future, but which were to exercise a powerful influence on the industrial structure of the area as a whole.
