Carl Chinn MBE Ph.D.

Ancestors

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Bibliography 1.2 Filmography 2 Sources

Biography

Prof. Carl Chin MBE Ph.D. F.Birm.Soc. was born in 16 September 1956. He is the son of Alfred Chinn and Sylvia Perry. ^[1] He is an English historian, writer and broadcaster whose working life has been devoted to the study and popularisation of the city of Birmingham.

He is Professor of Community History at the University of Birmingham and history adviser for the schools of Perry Beeches The Academy. He is a social historian with a national profile, newspaper columnist, public speaker, writer, and charity fundraiser. A campaigner for good causes, he has also been active in pressing for the rights of working-class people and the recognition of the importance of manufacturing.

Professor Chinn is the author of 32 books that include studies of working-class housing, urban working class life, working-class women's lives, manufacturing, Birmingham, the Black Country, and ethnic minorities. He has appeared as an expert on various television programmes ^[2], and is well-known for his weekly local history articles in the 'Birmingham Mail' and 'Express and Star', and for his monthly Brummagem Magazine, ^[3]. Carl is a passionate and proud Brummie and West Midlander who began his teaching career in adult education and who believes strongly in the importance of life-long learning and of opening up educational opportunities to everyone.

Professor Chinn's broadcasting and writing on housing, working-class life, poverty, women, ethnic minorities, and the importance of manufacturing is deeply affected by his family's working-class background and life in the back-to-backs of Birmingham.

Carl Chinn helped lead the effort to preserve and restore Birminghams last examples of back to back housing seen here, now a museum.

This affinity led him to take a prominent role in the campaign to save the last back to backs in Birmingham and turn them into a National Trust Museum. Professor Chinn also featured strongly in the fight to ensure the re-opening of Birmingham's Town Hall, in the drive for a memorial to the paupers who died in Birmingham Workhouse, and in the campaign for a fitting memorial for the victims of the Blitz in Birmingham.

He has been an active supporter of the Birmingham St Patrick's Parade and began the Birmingham St George's Day Association, which has led the way in celebrating England and Englishness in a positive and embracing way.

An ardent supporter of manufacturing, Professor Chinn was a key figure in the battle to keep the Longbridge car factory open in 2001 and has since supported the struggles for jobs at Chubb, Alstom, HP Sauce, and Smith and Nephew.

Picture of Carl Chinn conducting a charity auction for the Acorn Children's Hospice Trust in the Bullring markets, Birmingham.

Throughout his work in the community, his overarching aim has been to push across the belief that each and every person has made their mark upon history and that each and every person has a story to tell – not only about themselves but also about their people who came before them. Professor Chinn believes passionately that history must be democratised and that the lives of supposedly 'ordinary' people matter because the people themselves matter. To these ends his work has focused upon those who too often have been excluded from or marginalised by formal history: the working class, especially the poor; women; and ethnic minorities.

Carl Chinn was awarded the MBE by her Majesty the Queen in June 2001 for his services to local history and his fund-raising for local charities. He has also been involved in building homes for orphans in Romania and in refurbishing a school in the Andes in Ecuador. In 2004 Carl Chinn was made Chair of Community History at the University of Birmingham; and in 2010 he was awarded a Gold Medal by the Institute of Sheet Metal Engineering for his 'commitment, enthusiasm and support for our manufacturing heritage'. In November 2012 he was awarded a special Local Heroes Award by the Birmingham Mail for championing the City and for his work in uncovering its past; and in June 2014, he was made a Master of the Open University for his work in community history.

He was awarded an Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II, in 2002 for his "services to local history and to charities."

Carl Chinn at a reception with Prince Charles

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

Carl 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 and has a season ticket at Villa Park

Bibliography

• They Worked All Their Lives: Women of the Urban Poor in England, 1880–1939 (1988) Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-2437-4.

• Homes For People: Council Housing and Urban Renewal in Birmingham 1840–1999 (1989) Birmingham Books. Expanded and revised edition (1999) Brewin Books. ISBN 1-85858-138-9.

• 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. ISBN 0-7190-3990-8.

• 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. ISBN 1-85858-105-2.

• Our Brum: Volume 2 (1998) Birmingham Evening Mail. ISBN 0-9534316-0-6.

• 1,000 Years of Brum (1999) Birmingham Evening Mail.

• From Little Acorns Grow: History of the West Bromwich Building Society (1999) Brewin Books. ISBN 1-85858-124-9.

• Our Brum: Volume 3 (1999) Birmingham Evening Mail.

• Brum and Brummies (2000) Brewin Books. ISBN 1-85858-181-8.

• "We Ain't Going Away!": The Battle for Longbridge (2000) Brewin Books. Co-authored with Steve Dyson. ISBN 1-85858-174-5.

• Proper Brummie: A Dictionary of Birmingham Words and Sayings (2001) Brewin Books. Co-authored with Steve Thorne. ISBN 1-85858-227-X.

• Brum and Brummies: Volume 2 (2001) Brewin Books. ISBN 1-85858-202-4.

• Birmingham: Bibliography of a City (Ed.) (2001) University of Birmingham Press. ISBN 1-902459-24-5.

• Brum and Brummies: Volume 3 (2002) Brewin Books. ISBN 1-85858-213-X.

• Birmingham Irish: Making Our Mark (2003) Birmingham City Council. ISBN 0-7093-0241-X.

• The Streets of Brum: Part One (2003) Brewin Books. ISBN 1-85858-245-8.

• Better Betting with a Decent Feller: A Social History of Bookmaking (2004) Aurum Press. ISBN 1-84513-009-X.

• Black Country Memories (2004) Brewin Books. ISBN 1-85858-266-0.

• The Streets of Brum: Part Two (2004) Brewin Books. ISBN 1-85858-262-8.

Filmography

• Charlie Chaplin Untold Story (Documentary) (announced) -Himself

• 2018 Central Tonight (TV Series) Himself - Social Historian

• Episode dated 25 January 2018 (2018) ... Himself - Social Historian (as Professor Carl Chinn)

• 2009 The Birth of British Music (TV Series documentary) -Himself, Birmingham University

• Mendelssohn - The Prophet (2009) ... Himself, Birmingham University (as Prof. Carl Chinn)

• 2007 The Way We Were (TV Series documentary) -Himself

• Food & Drink (2007) ... Himself (as Professor Carl Chinn)

• 2007 Timeshift (TV Series documentary) -Himself

• The Edwardian Larder (2007) ... Himself

• 2001 The Cadbury Family: The Sweet Smell of Success (TV Movie documentary) - Himself

• 1999 Question Time (TV Series) - Himself- Episode dated 3 June 1999 -Himself

^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ England & Wales, Birth Index: 1984-2005 Name Carl S Chinn Registration Date 1956 - Jul-Aug-Sep Registration district Birmingham Inferred County West Midlands Re-registration Year 1956 Mother's Maiden Name Percy Volume Number 9c Page number 478
2. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2520812/
3. ↑ http://www.carlchinnsbrum.com/
4. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2520812/

See Also:

• Wikipedia: Carl Chinn
• Wikidata: Item Q5039979, en:Wikipedia