William Fergusson Irvine

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 Liverpool electric overhead railway running along the line of docks from Seaforth to Dingle was opened in 1893, and in 1905 a junction was made with the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway by which through passenger traffic between Southport and the Dingle has been established. ”

“ The vice-chancellor holds sittings in Liverpool. There is a Liverpool district registry of the high court of justice with common law, chancery, probate and admiralty jurisdiction, under two district registrars. The Liverpool county court has the usual limited jurisdiction over a wide local area, together with bankruptcy jurisdiction over the county court districts of St Helens, Widnes, Ormskirk and Southport, and admiralty jurisdiction over the same districts with the addition of Birkenhead, Chester, Runcorn and Warrington. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ This resulted in a high rate of mortality, to contend with which enormous sums have been expended in sanitary reforms of various kinds. The more modern cottages and blocks of artisan dwellings have tended to reduce the rate of mortality.
Parks.—The earliest public park, the Prince’s Park, was laid out in 1843 by private enterprise, and is owned by trustees, but the reversion has been acquired by the corporation. Sefton Park, the most extensive, containing 269 acres, was opened in 1872. A large portion of the land round the margin has been leased for the erection of villas. ”

“ 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. ”