&c., connected them with our local history in many ways.  Though the family, according to Dugdale and others, had a chapel of their own, the hamlet appertained to the parish of Aston, to the mother church of which one Henry de Erdington added an isle, and the family arms long appeared in the heraldic tracery of its windows.  Erdington Church (St. Barnabas) was built in 1823, as a chapel of ease to Aston, and it was not until 1858 that the district was formed into a separate and distinct ecclesiastical parish, the vicar of Aston being the patron of the living.  In addition to the chapel at Oscott, the Catholics have here one of the most handsome places of worship in the district, erected in 1850 at a cost of over L20,000, a Monastery, &c., being connected therewith.  Erdington, which has doubled its population within the last twenty years, has its Public Hall and Literary Institute, erected in 1864, Police Station, Post Office, and several chapels, in addition to the almshouses and orphanage, erected by Sir Josiah Mason, noticed in another part of this work.  See also “Population Tables,” &c.

Estate Agents.—­For the purposes of general business, Kelly’s Directory will be found the best reference.  The office for the Calthorpe estate is at 65 Hagley Road; for the William Dudley Trust estates, at Imperial Chambers B, Colmore Row; for the Great Western Railway properties at 103, Great Charles Street; for the Heathfield Estate in Heathfield Road, Handsworth; for the Horton (Isaac) properties at 41, Colmore Row; Sir Joseph Mason’s estate at the Orphanage, Erdington.

Exchange.—­Corner of Stephenson Place and New Street, having a frontage of 64 feet to the latter, and 186 feet to the former.  The foundation stone was laid January 2, 1863, the architect being Mr. Edward Holmes, and the building was opened January 2, 1865, the original cost being a little under L20,000.  It has since been enlarged (1876-78) to nearly twice the original size, under the direction of Mr. J.A.  Chatwin.  The property and speculation of a private company, it was (December 2, 1880) incorporated, under the Joint Stock Companies’ Act, and returns a fair dividend on the capital expended.  In addition to the Exchange and Chamber of Commerce proper, with the usual secretarial and committee rooms appertaining thereto, refreshment, billiard, and retiring rooms, &c., there is a large assembly-room, frequently used for balls, concerts, and entertainments of a public character.  The dimensions of the principal hall are 70 feet length, 40 feet width, with a height of 23 feet, the assembly-room above being same size, but loftier.  The central tower is 110 feet high, the turret, in which there was placed a clock made by John Inshaw, to be moved by electro-magnetic power (but which is now only noted for its incorrectness), rising some 45 feet above the cornice.  Other portions of the building are let off in offices.