act of 1879, by the authority of the ecclesiastical commissioners, an
endowment fund of about £100,000 having been subscribed for the
purpose. The parish, which was separated from Walton-on-the-Hill in
1699, contained two churches, St Nicholas, the ancient chapel, and St
Peter's, then built. There were two rectors, the living being held in
medieties. Of recent years changes have been sanctioned by parliament.
The living is now held by a single incumbent, and a large number of
the churches which have since been built have been formed into
parishes by the ecclesiastical commissioners. St Peter's has been
constituted the pro-cathedral, pending the erection of the cathedral.
Besides the two original parish churches, there are 103 others
belonging to the establishment. The Roman Catholics form a very
numerous and powerful body in the city, and it is estimated that from
a third to a fourth of the entire population are Roman Catholics. A
large part of these are Irish settlers or their descendants, but this
district of Lancashire has always been a stronghold of Roman
Catholicism, many of the landed gentry belonging to old Roman Catholic
families.
_Charities._--The earliest charitable foundation is the Blue Coat
hospital, established in 1708, for orphans and fatherless children
born within the borough. The original building, opened in 1718, is a
quaint and characteristic specimen of the architecture of the period.
It now maintains two hundred and fifty boys and one hundred girls. In
1906 the school was removed to new buildings at Wavertree. There is an
orphan asylum, established in 1840, for boys, girls and infants, and a
seamen's orphan asylum, begun in 1869, for boys and girls. The Roman
Catholics have similar establishments. The Liverpool dispensaries
founded in 1778 were among the pioneers of medical charity. The Royal
Infirmary (opened in 1749) had a school of medicine attached, which
has been very successful, and is now merged in the university. The
sailors' home, opened in 1852, designed to provide board, lodging and
medical attendance at a moderate charge for the seamen frequenting the
port, is one of Liverpool's best-known charities. The David Lewis
Workmen's Hostel is an effort to solve the difficulty of providing
accommodation for unmarried men of the artizan class.
_Literature, Art and Science._--The free library, museum and gallery
of arts, established and managed by the city council, was originated
in 1850. The first library building was erected by Sir William Brown.
The Derby museum, containing the collections of Edward, the 13th earl,
was presented by his son. The Mayer museum of historical antiquities
and art was contributed by Mr Joseph Mayer, F.S.A. Sir Andrew Walker
(d. 1893) erected in 1877 the art gallery which bears his name. Large
additions were made in 1884, the cost being again defrayed by Sir
Andrew Walker. An annual exhibition of painting is held in the autumn
and a permanent collection has been formed, which was augmented in
1894 when the examples of early Italian art numbering altogether about
180 pictures, collected at the beginning of the 19th century by
William Roscoe, were deposited in the gallery. The Picton circular
reading-room, and the rotunda lecture-room were built by the
corporation and opened in 1879. Alterations in the museum were
completed in 1902 by which its size was practically doubled. The
literary and philosophical society was established in 1812. The Royal
Institution, established mainly through the efforts of Roscoe in 1817,
possessed a fine gallery of early art in the Walker Art Gallery, and
is the centre of the literary institutions of the town.
_Education._--Sunday schools were founded for poor children in 1784,
as the result of a town's meeting. These were soon followed by
day-schools supplied by the various denominations. The first were the
Old Church schools in Moorfields (1789), the Unitarian schools in
Mount Pleasant (1790) and Manesty Lane (1792) and the Wesleyan
Brunswick school (1790). In 1826 the corporation founded two
elementary schools, one of which, the North Corporation school, was
erected in part substitution for the grammar school founded by John
Crosse, rector of St Nicholas Fleshshambles, London, a native of
Liverpool, in 1515, and carried on by the Corporation until 1815. From
this date onward the number rapidly increased until the beginning of
the School Board in 1870, and afterwards. Mention should be made of
the training ship "Indefatigable" moored in the Mersey for the sons
and orphans of sailors, and the reformatory institution at Heswall,
Co. Chester, which has recently replaced the training ship "Akbar"
formerly moored in the Mersey. Semi-private schools were founded by
public subscription--the Royal Institution school (1819), the
Liverpool Institute (1825) and the Liverpool College (1840). The first
has ceased to exist. The Institute was a development of the Mechanics'
Institute and was managed by a council of subscribers. It was divided
into a high school and a commercial school. Under a scheme of the
Board of Education under the Charitable Trusts Act this school,
together with the Blackburne House high school for girls, became a
public secondary school and was handed over to the corporation in
1905. Liverpool College was formerly divided into three schools,
upper, middle and lower, for different classes of the community. The
middle and lower schools passed into the control of the corporation in
1907. The Sefton Park elementary school and the Pupil Teachers'
College in Clarence Street were transformed into municipal secondary
schools for boys and girls in 1907; the corporation has also a
secondary school for girls at Aigburth. There are several schools
maintained by the Roman Catholics, two schools of the Girls' Public
Day School Company and a large number of private schools. A cadet
ship, the "Conway," for the training of boys intending to become
officers in the mercantile marine, is moored in the Mersey. There are
two training colleges for women, one undenominational, and the other
conducted by the sisters of Notre Dame for Roman Catholic women. The
central municipal technical school is in the Museum Buildings, and
there are three branch technical schools. There are also a nautical
college, a school of cookery and a school of art controlled by the
Education Committee.
Liverpool University, as University College, received its charter of
incorporation in 1881, and in 1884 was admitted as a college of the
Victoria University. In the same year the medical school of the Royal
Infirmary became part of the University College. In 1900 a
supplemental charter extended the powers of self-government and
brought the college into closer relations with the authorities of the
city and with local institutions by providing for their fuller
representation on the court of governors. In 1903 the charter of
incorporation of the university of Liverpool was received, thus
constituting it an independent university. The university is governed
by the king as visitor, by a chancellor, two pro-chancellors, a
vice-chancellor and a treasurer, by a court of over 300 members
representing donors and public bodies, a council, senate, faculties
and convocation. The fine group of buildings is situated on Brownlow
Hill.
_Trade and Commerce._--In 1800 the tonnage of ships entering the port
was 490,060; in 1908 it reached 17,111,814 tons. In 1800 4746 vessels
entered, averaging 94 tons; in 1908 there were 25,739, averaging 665
tons. The commerce of Liverpool extends to every part of the world,
but probably the intercourse with North America stands pre-eminent,
there being lines of steamers to New York, Philadelphia, Boston,
Baltimore, Galveston, New Orleans and the Canadian ports. Cotton is
the great staple import. Grain comes next, American (North and South)
and Australian wheat and oats occupying a large proportion of the
market. An enormous trade in American provisions, including live
cattle, is carried on. Tobacco has always been a leading article of
import into Liverpool, along with the sugar and rum from the West
Indies. Timber forms an important part of the imports, the stacking
yards extending for miles along the northern docks. In regard to
exports, Liverpool possesses decided advantages; lying so near the
great manufacturing districts of Lancashire and the West Riding of
Yorkshire, this port is the natural channel of transmission for their
goods, although the Manchester ship canal diverts a certain proportion
of the traffic, while coal and salt are also largely exported.
_Manufactures._--The manufactures of Liverpool are not extensive.
Attempts have been repeatedly made to establish cotton mills in and
near the city, but have resulted in failure. Engineering works,
especially connected with marine navigation, have grown up on a large
scale. Shipbuilding, in the early part of the 19th century, was active
and prosperous, but has practically ceased. During the latter half of
the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, pottery and china
manufacture flourished in Liverpool. John Sadler, a Liverpool
manufacturer, was the inventor of printing on pottery, and during the
early period of Josiah Wedgwood's career all his goods which required
printing had to be sent to Liverpool. A large establishment, called
the Herculaneum Pottery, was founded in a suburb on the bank of the
Mersey, but the trade has long disappeared. Litherland, the inventor
of the lever watch, was a Liverpool manufacturer, and Liverpool-made
watches have always been held in high estimation. There are several
extensive sugar refineries and corn mills. The confectionery trade has
developed during recent years, several large works having been built,
induced by the prospect of obtaining cheap sugar directly from the
Liverpool quays. The cutting, blending and preparing of crude tobacco
have led to the erection of factories employing some thousands of
hands. There are also large mills for oil-pressing and making
cattle-cake.
_Docks._--The docks of the port of Liverpool on both sides of the Mersey
are owned and managed by the same public trust, the Mersey Docks and
Harbour Board. On the Liverpool side they extend along the margin of the
estuary 6½ m., of which 1¼ m. is in the borough of Bootle. The
Birkenhead docks have not such a frontage, but they extend a long way
backward. The water area of the Liverpool docks and basins is 418 acres,
with a lineal quayage of 27 m. The Birkenhead docks, including the great
float of 120 acres, contain a water area of 165 acres, with a lineal
quayage of 9½ m. The system of enclosed docks was begun by the
corporation in 1709. They constituted from the first a public trust, the
corporation never having derived any direct revenue from them, though
the common council of the borough were the trustees, and in the first
instance formed the committee of management. Gradually the payers of
dock rates on ships and goods acquired influence, and were introduced
into the governing body, and ultimately, by an act of 1857, the
corporation was superseded. The management is vested in the Mersey Docks
and Harbour Board, consisting of twenty-eight members, four of whom are
nominated by the Mersey Conservancy commissioners, who consist of the
first lord of the Admiralty, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster
and the president of the Board of Trade, and the rest elected by the
payers of rates on ships and goods, of whom a register is kept and
annually revised. The revenue is derived from tonnage rates on ships,
dock rates on goods, town dues on goods, with various minor sources of
income.
Down to 1843 the docks were confined to the Liverpool side of the
Mersey. Several attempts made to establish docks in Cheshire had been
frustrated by the Liverpool corporation, who bought up the land and kept
it in their own hands. In 1843, however, a scheme for docks in
Birkenhead was carried through which ultimately proved unsuccessful, and
the enterprise was acquired in 1855 by Liverpool. The Birkenhead docks
were for many years only partially used, but are now an important
centre for corn-milling, the importation of foreign cattle and export
trade to the East. In addition to the wet docks, there are in Liverpool
fourteen graving docks and three in Birkenhead, besides a gridiron on
the Liverpool side.
The first portion of the great landing stage, known as the Georges'
stage, was constructed in 1847, from the plans of Mr (afterwards Sir)
William Cubitt, F.R.S. This was 500 ft. long. In 1857 the Prince's
stage, 1000 ft. long, was built to the north of the Georges' stage and
distant from it 500 ft. In 1874 the intervening space was filled up and
the Georges' stage reconstructed. The fabric had just been completed,
and was waiting to be inaugurated, when on the 28th of July 1874 it was
destroyed by fire. It was again constructed with improvements. In 1896
it was farther extended to the north, and its length is now 2478 ft. and
its breadth 80 ft. It is supported on floating pontoons about 200 in
number, connected with the river wall by eight bridges, besides a
floating bridge for heavy traffic 550 ft. in length and 35 ft. in width.
The southern half is devoted to the traffic of the Mersey ferries, of
which there are seven--New Brighton, Egremont, Seacombe, Birkenhead,
Rock Ferry, New Ferry and Eastham. The northern half is used by
ocean-going steamers and their tenders. The warehouses for storing
produce form a prominent feature in the commercial part of the city.
Down to 1841 these were entirely in private hands, distributed as chance
might direct, but in that year a determined effort was made to construct
docks with warehouses on the margin of the quays. This met with
considerable opposition from those interested, and led to a municipal
revolution, but the project was ultimately carried out in the
construction of the Albert dock and warehouses, which were opened by
Prince Albert in 1845. For general produce these warehouses are falling
somewhat into disuse, but grain warehouses have been constructed by the
dock board at Liverpool and Birkenhead, with machinery for discharging,
elevating, distributing, drying and delivering. Warehouses for the
storage of tobacco and wool have also been built by the board. The
Stanley tobacco warehouse is the largest of its kind in the world, the
area of its fourteen floors being some 36 acres.
Dredging operations at the bar of the Queen's channel, in the channel
itself and at the landing stage enables the largest ocean liners to
enter the river and approach the stage at practically all states of
the tide. The dredging at the bar was begun as an experiment in
September 1890 by two of the board's ordinary hopper barges of 500
tons capacity each fitted with centrifugal pumps. The result was
favourable, and larger vessels have been introduced. Before dredging
was begun the depth of water at dead low water of spring tides on the
bar was only 11 ft.; now there is about 28 ft. under the same
conditions. The space over which dredging has been carried on at the
bar measures about 7000 ft. by 1250 ft., the latter being the average
width of the buoyed cut or channel through the bar. Dredging has also
taken place on shoals and projections of sand-banks in the main sea
channels.
_Municipality._--Under the Municipal Reform Act of 1835, the boundaries
of the original borough were extended by the annexation of portions of
the surrounding district, while further additions were made in 1895,
1902 and 1905. The city is divided into thirty-five wards with 103
councillors and 34 aldermen. In 1893 the title of mayor was raised to
that of lord mayor. In 1885 the number of members of parliament was
increased to nine by the creation of six new wards. The corporation of
Liverpool has possessed from a very early period considerable landed
property, the first grant having been made by Thomas, earl of Lancaster,
in 1309. This land was originally of value only as a source of supply of
turf for firing, but in modern times its capacity as building land has
been a fruitful source of profit to the town. A large proportion of the
southern district is held in freehold by the corporation and leased to
tenants for terms of seventy-five years, renewable from time to time on
a fixed scale of fines. There was formerly another source of income now
cut off. The fee farm rents and town dues originally belonging to the
crown were purchased from the Molyneux family in 1672 on a long lease,
and subsequently in 1777 converted into a perpetuity. With the growth of
the commerce of the port these dues enormously increased, and became a
cause of great complaint by the shipping interest. In 1856 a bill was
introduced into parliament, and passed, by which the town dues were
transferred to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board on payment of
£1,500,000, which was applied in part to the liquidation of the bonded
debt of the corporation, amounting to £1,150,000.
_History._--During the Norse irruption of the 8th century colonies of
Norsemen settled on both sides of the Mersey, as is indicated by some of
the place-names. After the Conquest, the site of Liverpool formed part
of the fief (inter Ripam et Mersham) granted by the Conqueror to Roger
de Poictou, one of the great family of Montgomery. Although Liverpool is
not named in Domesday it is believed to have been one of the six
berewicks dependent on the manor of West Derby therein mentioned. After
various forfeitures and regrants from the crown, it was handed over by
Henry II. to his falconer Warine. In a deed executed by King John, then
earl of Mortain, about 1191, confirming the grant of this with other
manors to Henry Fitzwarine, son of the former grantee, the name of
Liverpool first occurs. Probably its most plausible derivation is from
the Norse _Hlithar-pollr_, "the pool of the slopes," the pool or inlet
at the mouth of which the village grew up being surrounded by gently
rising slopes. Another possible derivation is from the Prov. E. _lever_,
the yellow flag or rush, A.S. _laefer_.
After the partial conquest of Ireland by Strongbow, earl of Pembroke,
under Henry II., the principal ports of communication were Bristol for
the south and Chester for the north. The gradual silting up of the river
Dee soon so obstructed the navigation as to render Chester unsuitable. A
quay was then constructed at Shotwick, about 8 m. below Chester, with a
castle to protect it from the incursions of the neighbouring Welsh; but
a better site was sought and soon found. Into the tidal waters of the
Mersey a small stream, fed by a peat moss on the elevated land to the
eastward, ran from north-east to south-west, forming at its mouth an
open pool or sea lake, of which many existed on both sides of the river.
The triangular piece of land thus separated formed a promontory of red
sandstone rock, rising in the centre about 50 ft. above the sea-level,
sloping on three sides to the water. The pool was admirably adapted as a
harbour for the vessels of that period, being well protected, and the
tide rising from 15 to 21 ft. King John repurchased the manor from Henry
Fitzwarine, giving him other lands in exchange. Here he founded a
borough, and by letters patent dated at Winchester, 28th of August 1207,
invited his subjects to take up burgages.
From the patent rolls and the sheriff's accounts it appears that
considerable use was made of Liverpool in the 13th century for shipping
stores and reinforcements to Ireland and Wales.
In 1229 a charter was granted by Henry III., authorizing the formation
of a merchants' gild, with hanse and other liberties and free customs,
with freedom from toll throughout the kingdom. Charters were
subsequently granted by successive monarchs down to the reign of William
and Mary, which last was the governing charter to the date of the
Municipal Reform Act (1835). In 1880 when the diocese of Liverpool was
created, the borough was transformed into a city by royal charter.
The crown revenues from the burgage rents and the royal customs were
leased in fee-farm from time to time, sometimes to the corporation, at
other times to private persons. The first lease was from Henry III., in
1229, at £10 per annum. In the same year the borough, with all its
appurtenances, was bestowed with other lands on Ranulf, earl of Chester,
from whom it passed to his brother-in-law William de Ferrers, earl of
Derby, who seems to have built Liverpool castle between 1232 and 1237.
His grandson, Robert de Ferrers, was implicated in the rising of Simon
de Montfort and his lands were confiscated in 1266 when Liverpool passed
into the hands of Edmund, earl of Lancaster. Ultimately Liverpool again
became the property of the crown, when Henry IV. inherited it from his
father John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster. In 1628 Charles I., in great
straits for means which were refused by parliament, offered for sale
about a thousand manors, among which Liverpool was included. The portion
containing Liverpool was purchased by certain merchants of London, who,
in 1635, reconveyed the crown rights, including the fee-farm rent of
£14, 6s. 8d., to Sir Richard Molyneux, then recently created Viscount
Molyneux of Maryborough, for the sum of £450. In 1672 all these rights
and interests were acquired by the corporation.
Apart from the national objects for which Liverpool was founded, its
trade developed slowly. From £10 per annum, in the beginning of the 13th
century, the crown revenues had increased towards the end of the 14th
century, to £38; but then they underwent a decline. The black death
passed over Liverpool about 1360, and carried off a large part of the
population. The Wars of the Roses in the 15th century unsettled the
north-western districts and retarded progress for at least a century.
The crown revenues diminished from £38 to less than half that sum, and
were finally leased at £14, 6s. 8d., at which they continued until the
sale by Charles I. It is, however, not safe to conclude that the reduced
fee-farm rent represents an equivalent decline in prosperity; the
privileges conferred by the various leases differed widely and may
account for much of the apparent discrepancy.
Liverpool sent no representatives to Simon de Montfort's parliament in
1264, but to the first royal parliament, summoned in 1295, the borough
sent two members, and again in 1307. The writs of summons were then
suspended for two centuries and a half. In 1547 Liverpool resumed the
privilege of returning members. In 1588 the borough was represented by
Francis Bacon, the philosopher and statesman. During the Civil War the
town was fortified and garrisoned by the parliament. It sustained three
sieges, and in 1644 was escaladed and taken by Prince Rupert with
considerable slaughter.
The true rise of the commerce of Liverpool dates from the Restoration.
Down to that period its population had been either stationary or
retrogressive, probably never exceeding about 1000. Its trade was
chiefly with Ireland, France and Spain, exporting fish and wool to the
continent, and importing wines, iron and other commodities. The rise of
the manufacturing industry of south Lancashire, and the opening of the
American and West Indian trade, gave the first impulse to the progress
which has since continued. By the end of the century the population had
increased to 5000. In 1699 the borough was constituted a parish distinct
from Walton, to which it had previously appertained. In 1709, the small
existing harbour being found insufficient to accommodate the shipping,
several schemes were propounded for its enlargement, which resulted in
the construction of a wet dock closed with flood-gates impounding the
water, so as to keep the vessels floating during the recess of the tide.
This dock was the first of its kind. The name of the engineer was Thomas
Steers.
About this date the merchants of Liverpool entered upon the slave trade,
into which they were led by their connexion with the West Indies. In
1709 a single vessel of 30 tons burden made a venture from Liverpool and
carried fifteen slaves across the Atlantic. In 1730, encouraged by
parliament, Liverpool went heartily into the new trade. In 1751,
fifty-three ships sailed from Liverpool for Africa, of 5334 tons in the
aggregate. The ships sailed first to the west coast of Africa, where
they shipped the slaves, and thence to the West India Islands, where the
slaves were sold and the proceeds brought home in cargoes of sugar and
rum. In 1765 the number of Liverpool slavers had increased to
eighty-six, carrying 24,200 slaves. By the end of the century
five-sixths of the African trade centred in Liverpool. Just before its
abolition in 1807 the number of Liverpool ships engaged in the traffic
was 185, carrying 49,213 slaves in the year.