[1] In 1846, founders Elizabeth Bache Harrold and Mary Badger rented a small home in Carpenter Road, Edgbaston[2] which they subsequently opened as a school for the blind, initially with six students.
Over the years, the organization grew in size, placing graduates in various roles and positions previously not accessible to the blind.
In 1909, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited the institution, and conferred their royal patronage.
The BRIB kept the house at Lickey Grange much the same, but developed the grounds to accommodate the needs of a residential school.
[5] Meanwhile, in 1985, the Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind was incorporated under the laws of Great Britain and assumed all financial and operational activities of the previously unincorporated charity.