Carl Chinn

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Carl Steven Alfred Chinn,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 6 September 1956) is an English historian, writer and broadcaster whose working life has been devoted to the study and popularisation of the city of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

. He broadcast a programme on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

from the mid—1990s focusing on Birmingham's history. In 1990, he was contracted to lecture at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

, where he subsequently became a full professor in 2002. During this year he was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) for his "services to local history and to charities."

Early life

Chinn was born at Sorrento Hospital in Moseley, Birmingham. His father, Alfred (died 26 April 2010), was known as "Buck" and was a notable football supporter and local activist from

Sparkbrook Sparkbrook is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, England. It is one of the four wards forming the Hall Green formal district within Birmingham City Council. Etymology The area receives its name from Spark Brook, a small stream that f ...

. His mother, Sylvia, was known as "Sylvie" and was from Aston. Chinn grew up in

and was educated at

Moseley School Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...

and the

Career

Chinn initially followed his father and grandfather into

bookmaking A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookm ...

before entering

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, gaining his PhD in 1986. His work in the community made him a popular figure, and in 1994 he was invited by the ''

Birmingham Evening Mail The ''Birmingham Mail'' (branded the ''Black Country Mail'' in the Black Country) is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, England but distributed around Birmingham, the Black Country, and Solihull and parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire a ...

'' to write a two-page feature on local history. This proved extremely popular and Chinn wrote a weekly column for the paper until 2016. Chinn held the position of Professor of Community History at the

until 2015 and is now Emeritus Professor. He was also Director of the ''Birmingham Lives'' multimedia archive at UoB (formerly at

South Birmingham College South & City College Birmingham is a further education and higher education college in Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), ...

). 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 ''Midlands Today'' is the BBC's regional television news service for the West Midlands. It was launched in 1964 and is presented by Mary Rhodes, Nick Owen, Elizabeth Glinka, Rebecca Wood and Shefali Oza. Overview ''Midlands Today'' is produ ...

''; and wrote a weekly local history column for the ''

Express & Star The ''Express & Star'' is a regional evening newspaper in Britain. Founded in 1889, it is based in Wolverhampton, England, and covers the West Midlands county and Staffordshire. Currently edited by Martin Wright, the ''Express & Star'' publish ...

''. 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. In 2000 Chinn was a leading figure in the temporarily successful, but eventually doomed, campaign to save the Longbridge car factory from closure. In 2001 he was awarded the

for services to local history and charity. 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. Chinn has also been prominent in the campaigns to save the last back-to-back houses in Birmingham, now a

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

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 campaigning for the reopening of St John's Church, Dudley. In December 2010 he appeared on

Ian Hislop Ian David Hislop (born 13 July 1960) is a British journalist, satirist, writer, broadcaster, and editor of the magazine ''Private Eye''. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programmes and has been a team captain on the BBC quiz sho ...

'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 A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...

''.

Politics

In the 1980s he was briefly a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

, which broke from

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

in protest at its perceived leftward shift, and later went on to merge with the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

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%).

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. Chinn is a supporter of Aston Villa FC''Brummies'' (video), Carl Chinn & Malcolm Stent, Pennslake Productions, 1995 and has a season ticket at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...

. Chinn is a descendant of

Peaky Blinders The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1910s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to middle-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, rack ...

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

, Edward Derrick.

Bibliography

* ''They Worked All Their Lives: Women of the Urban Poor in England, 1880–1939'' (1988) Manchester University Press. . * ''Homes For People: Council Housing and Urban Renewal in Birmingham 1840–1999'' (1989) Birmingham Books. Expanded and revised edition (1999) Brewin Books. . * ''Keeping the City Alive: Twenty-one years of Urban Renewal in Birmingham'' (1993) Birmingham City Council. * ''Birmingham: The Great Working City'' (1994) Birmingham City Council. * ''Poverty Amidst Prosperity: Urban Poor in England, 1834–1914'' (1995) Manchester University Press. . * ''Brum Undaunted: Birmingham During the Blitz'' (1996) Birmingham Library Services. * ''Our Brum'' (1997) Birmingham Evening Mail. * ''The Cadbury Story: A Short History'' (1998) Brewin Books. . * ''Our Brum: Volume 2'' (1998) Birmingham Evening Mail. . * ''1,000 Years of Brum'' (1999) Birmingham Evening Mail. * ''From Little Acorns Grow: History of the West Bromwich Building Society'' (1999) Brewin Books. . * ''Our Brum: Volume 3'' (1999) Birmingham Evening Mail. * ''Brum and Brummies'' (2000) Brewin Books. . * ''"We Ain't Going Away!": The Battle for Longbridge'' (2000) Brewin Books. Co-authored with Steve Dyson. . * ''Proper Brummie: A Dictionary of Birmingham Words and Sayings'' (2001) Brewin Books. Co-authored with Stephen Thorne. . * ''Brum and Brummies: Volume 2'' (2001) Brewin Books. . * ''Birmingham: Bibliography of a City'' (Ed.) (2001) University of Birmingham Press. . * ''Brum and Brummies: Volume 3'' (2002) Brewin Books. . * ''Birmingham Irish: Making Our Mark'' (2003) Birmingham City Council. . * ''The Streets of Brum: Part One'' (2003) Brewin Books. . * ''Better Betting with a Decent Feller: A Social History of Bookmaking'' (2004) Aurum Press. . * ''Black Country Memories'' (2004) Brewin Books. . * ''The Streets of Brum: Part Two'' (2004) Brewin Books. . * * *

References

External links

Virtual Brum (Birmingham)
articles by Carl Chinn (archived)
birmingham mail articles
by Carl Chinn
express and star articles
by Carl Chinn {{DEFAULTSORT:Chinn, Carl 1956 births Living people Academics of the University of Birmingham Alumni of the University of Birmingham British radio presenters Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Birmingham, West Midlands People from Moseley People educated at Moseley School