Liverpool

Liverpool, situated on the north bank of the Mersey, in Lancashire, is—if we include Birkenhead, on the opposite side of the river—the second largest town in the United Kingdom. A port not only for the adjacent manufacturing districts, but for the commerce with America, it ranks in maritime importance before the metropolis itself—a circumstance due to its position on the west coast of England. It is situated at three-quarters of an hour's distance by railway from Manchester (31½ miles), four and a quarter hours from London (201 miles), six hours from Edinburgh (220 miles), and seven hours by rail and steamer from Dublin. The rise of Liverpool is remarkable. In the middle of the 14th century it contained only 840 inhabitants and 168 cottages; whilst in 1561 its population was only 690. This decadence accounts for the circumstance that though the town was represented in parliament in 1296 and 1306, there were no members summoned between the last-named date and 1547. It is interesting to note here that Francis Bacon (afterwards Lord Chancellor) was M.P. for Liverpool in the years 1588-92. It was not until 1647 that Liverpool was made a free port (having been subject down to that date to the Chester officers); and it was not erected into a separate parish until 1697, when its population numbered about 5000 souls, and its shipping about 80 vessels. Between 1710 and 1760 its population increased from 8160 to 25,780, and its commercial navy from 84 vessels to 1245. In 1700 its first regular dock was built on the site where the custom-house stands at the present day. From 1760 to 1800 the population advanced from 25,700 to 77,700 inhabitants, the shipping from 1200 vessels to 5000, and the amount of dock-dues collected from £2300 to £28,300, nearly two-thirds of the increase taking place during the last fifteen years of the period. The chief cause of this extraordinary progress was the rapid growth of the cotton industry: the consumption of raw cotton having risen from 5,000,000 lb. in 1781 to 48,000,000 lb. in 1801; while the official value of cotton products exported had, in the meantime, increased from £355,000 to £7,051,000. Simultaneously with the mechanical revolution brought about by Hargreaves, Arkwright, Crompton, and others, there came an increased foreign trade, and an augmented inland business, owing to the opening of the Bridgewater (q.v.) Canal in 1771. About the same period, too, a great start was given to the shipbuilding trade of the port by several extensive orders received from government: some 15 vessels of war being launched between 1777 and 1782, of very considerable tonnage, and ranging between 16 and 50 guns. Liverpool as the leading port connected with the African trade, almost monopolised the traffic in slaves between Africa and the West Indies, &c. As late as 1807 her shipowners had 185 vessels engaged in the business, capable of carrying about 44,000 slaves. By the close of the last century Liverpool had far outstripped Bristol in commercial importance.

But great as was the progress made during the closing twenty years of the 18th century, it was far exceeded in the 19th; in 1881 the population within the municipal boundary was 552,508, and within the parliamentary boundary 601,050. In the next decade there was however an apparent decrease, the population of the city at the census of 1891, after some readjustment of areas, was 517,951, and of the parliamentary borough, 584,471. Adding to this the population of Birkenhead (q.v.), on the opposite side of the river, we get 684,328; so that, with other adjoining places, the total population of what may be termed the port of Liverpool is about 700,000. A very large number of merchants, brokers, tradesmen, clerks, and working-men, whose daily occupations are in Liverpool, have their residences on the Cheshire side of the river. The passenger traffic between the two sides of the river averages 69,000 per day, of which 44,000 are by the various ferries and 25,000 through the Mersey railway tunnel. The progress in population and tonnage compares as follows:

The figures include the suburbs of both places. Of the entire population it is estimated that 150,000 are Irish and about the same number Welsh.

The effect of the Manchester Ship Canal on the trade of Liverpool has not been so injurious as was at one time expected. It does not follow that what Manchester secures Liverpool loses; and the more economical management of the Dock Estate, and the reduced railway charges which the competition of the canal enforces, may in the long-run actually bring more business to Liverpool.

In 1894 the total tonnage of ships that entered and cleared at Liverpool (excluding coastwise sail- ings) was 10,489,578, as compared with 14,433,580 at London, and 10,478,391 at Cardiff. The imports of colonial and foreign merchandise at Liverpool show a value of £95,630,489; the exports of home produce to foreign ports, £78,080,359, and of foreign and colonial produce, £1,254,037. The whole foreign trade of Liverpool in 1895 was £186,250,875, as compared with a total at London of £224,718,326; all other ports dividing amongst them the remaining 40 per cent. of the trade of the whole country. Liverpool accounts for about one-fifth of the British tonnage, one-tenth of the foreign, and one-sixth of the total, and only falls behind London in respect of the foreign. Liverpool figures for one-fourth of the imports, more than two-fifths of the exports, and nearly one-third of the entire foreign trade of the United Kingdom. Of 145 million cwt. of bread-stuffs imported, 28 million came through Liverpool; as did also 3½ million out of 6 million cwt. of bacon, hams, beef, pork, and lard; 3 million out of 6 million cwt. of rice; 6½ million out of 17½ million cwt. of unrefined sugar; and 23 million out of 46 million lb. tobacco. Liverpool shipped £46,342,000 out of £71,986,000 worth of cotton products exported; £9,232,000 out of £25,006,000 worth of woollens; £2,942,000 out of £5,552,000 worth of linens; £11,705,000 out of £30,866,000 worth of metals; £4,502,000 out of £12,939,000 worth of machinery; and £1,489,000 out of £3,168,000 worth of hardware and cutlery.

This gigantic trade has given rise to the magnificent system of docks extending along the margin of the river for a distance of nearly 6½ miles, containing 25 miles of quay-space and 380 acres of water-space, besides 9 miles of quay-space and 164 acres of water-space at Birkenhead, making a total of 34 miles and 544 acres respectively. There are also 17 acres of water-space in the docks worked by the various canal companies, and there are besides 14,920 feet of graving-docks, of which 2430 feet are in Birkenhead. The total area of the Dock Estate is 1083 acres in Liverpool and 506 acres in Birkenhead. The whole of the docks (except the Salthouse, King's, and part of the George's and Queen's) have been built since 1812, and are regarded as amongst the greatest engineering triumphs of the 19th century. Several of the docks are enclosed with large warehouses: the erection of those round the Albert Dock cost £358,000. The dock itself cost £141,000. The warehouses round the Waterloo Dock contain large grain-elevators, which are a wonder in themselves. For the accommodation of the river traffic (passenger, goods, and mails) there is a floating landing-stage, 2063 feet long and 80 feet wide, with seven large bridges connecting it with the shore; also a floating bridge, 550 feet long and 35 feet wide, by means of which an easy incline for carriage traffic is maintained at all stages of the tide. The steamer traffic, conducted by regular liners with every port of importance in the world, draws large numbers of emigrant and other passengers to the town. The total amount of capital invested in the Dock Estate is £17,088,683. See the article Dock.

Of the seven railways in direct connection with the city, the North-Western, Lancashire and Yorkshire, and Midland have handsome passenger stations, and numerous goods stations are spread over the town and on the line of docks. There are five tunnels under the town. The Mersey railway tunnel, 1230 yards long, connecting Liverpool with Birkenhead, was begun in 1881, and opened by the Prince of Wales in 1886. The capital invested in the Mersey Railway amounts to £2,224,000. Number of passengers in 1890, 9,318,235. Prior to 1857 the water-supply of the town was derived chiefly from the works at Bootle and Harrington. In 1850 steps were taken to erect the works at Revington (near Bolton), which were opened in 1857. In 1881 the foundation of new water-works was laid at Lake Vyrnwy, about 25 miles from Oswestry and 45 miles in a straight line from Liverpool. Liverpool has several extensive ship-building-yards, iron and brass foundries, chain-cable and anchor smithies, engine-works, tar and turpentine distilleries, rice and flour mills, tobacco, cigar, and soap manufactories, breweries, sugar-refineries, roperies, glass-works, chronometer and watch manufactories.

The architecture of the town has been greatly improved in the latter half of the 19th century, and it now possesses many fine thoroughfares, thronged with numerous splendid edifices. The domed Town-hall, in the Corinthian style, was originally built in 1754, but has since been considerably enlarged. St George's Hall is a grand building in the Greco-Roman style, nearly 500 feet long, built between 1838 and 1854. It comprises the assize court, a great hall 169 feet in length, 87 feet in width, and 74 to 82 feet high; and a smaller concert-room. The organ in the great hall cost £10,000, and the entire building £330,000. Municipal Offices, Custom-house, Sailors' Home, Police-courts, Workhouses, Baths and Wash-houses, Water-works, and Gas-offices are also noteworthy. The Free Library and Museum, opened in 1860, and presented to the town by Sir William Brown, cost £40,000; with it are incorporated the Museum of Natural History presented by the thirteenth Earl of Derby, and the Museum of Antiquities presented by Mr Mayer. Other institutions are the Walker Art Gallery, presented by Sir A. B. Walker, Bart., at a cost of £35,000; the Picton Reading-room, erected by the corporation at a cost of £25,000; the Botanic Gardens, Observatory, the Liverpool College, Liverpool Institute, Queen's College, Medical Institute, Royal Institution, the various schools attached to the national and other churches, Academy of Fine Arts, the Exchange, Lyceum, and Athenæum, news-rooms and libraries, and numerous associations devoted to commercial, political, philosophical, scientific, and religious affairs. University College, on the model of Owens College, was inaugurated in 1882; the endowment is over £125,000. The college, affiliated to the Victoria University, Manchester (see OWENS COLLEGE), had, in 1890, sixteen professors and lecturers in the literature and science department, and fourteen chairs in the medical department. There are about one hundred charitable institutions in the city. There are some 270 churches and chapels, of which 92 belong to the Established Church, 29 to Roman Catholics, 25 to Welsh Nonconformists, 24 to Presbyterians, 21 to Wesleyans, 18 to Methodists, 17 to Baptists, 14 to Independents, and 30 to various bodies, including 6 Unitarian chapels, 3 synagogues, a Friends' meeting-house, and a Greek church. The see of Liverpool was created in 1880, with an endowment of £100,000, raised by public subscription. There are seven cemeteries, only one of which is situated within the city.

The buildings devoted to commercial pursuits are also very fine and numerous. Amongst them are the Exchange, Liverpool and London Insurance Chambers, Royal Insurance, and Queen Insurance buildings (all local companies), and many others. The Exchange was originally built in 1803-8, but was rebuilt and enlarged in 1864-67. The cost of the new building, which stands upon about two acres of ground, was about £600,000. The general merchants and brokers, shipowners and brokers, metal merchants and brokers, wool brokers, leather brokers, &c. meet daily in the news-room—175 feet long, 90 feet wide, and 50 feet high. The cotton merchants and brokers meet (according to the custom of nearly a century) in the open air, in the spacious area or 'flags.' The style of the building is French Renaissance. Of clubs there are the Reform, Junior Reform, Conservative, Palatine, Exchange, &c. There are fourteen banks in the town, and several of them are possessed of very large and handsome business premises. Amongst these may be named the branch of the Bank of England, and the Liverpool, Union, North-Western, Parr's, District, Commercial, National Provincial, and North and South Wales banks. Of monuments the chief are those of the Queen, Prince Albert, William IV., Nelson, Wellington, Huskisson, and Beaconsfield, besides several in the Town-hall, St George's Hall, Free Library, and parks. The parks are eight in number—the Stanley, Sefton, Prince's, Botanic, Kensington, Newsham, Sheil, and Wavertree.

The market-days are Wednesday and Saturday, for general agricultural produce, and Tuesday and Friday for corn. The fairs for horses and cattle are held July 25th and November 11th. The corn trade transacts its business in the Corn Exchange, Brunswick Street, and there is an extensive market for the cattle-dealers in Kensington. For agricultural produce there is the Northern Hay Market. For edibles of all kinds there are St John's, and St James's, Gill Street, and St Martin's markets. There are six daily (four morning and two evening) and four weekly newspapers, besides the Daily Telegraph and Bill of Entry, exclusively devoted to shipping matters, three weekly literary periodicals, and one scientific monthly magazine. Since 1885 Liverpool returns nine members to parliament.

The name Liverpool first occurs in a deed of 1190: the etymology is not improbably the Cymric Llywypwl, 'the expanse at the pool,' or 'the pool at the confluence.' The Derby (Stanley) and Sefton (Molynenx) families, whose mansions are only a short distance from the town, have from the earliest times been intimately connected with the borough and city. Several members of both families served the office of mayor in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Amongst other worthies, natives of the town, may be mentioned Jeremiah Horrocks, the eminent astronomer; George Stubbs, eminent as an animal painter; John Deare, sculptor; John Sadler, inventor of painting on pottery; Pcter Letherland, inventor of the patent lever watch; Mrs Hemans, the poetess; Benjamin Spence, sculptor; and William Roscoe, poet, historian, and banker. Other 'Liverpudlians' of eminence in various departments of life were Viscount Cardwell, Bishop Lightfoot, General Earle, Mr Gladstone, Sir James Picton, A. H. Clough, Meadows Taylor, the actor Sothern, Ansdell, Gunter, Waterhouse, A. W. Hunt, Walter Crane, W. S. Jevons, and the new 'Liverpool school'—a term held to comprise J. A. Noble, William Watson, Hall Caine, R. Le Gallienne, and others.

See Baines, History of the Commerce and Town of Liverpool (1852); Picton, Memorials of Liverpool (2 vols. 1873; 2d ed. 1876); and The Cotton Trade of Great Britain, with a History of the Liverpool Cotton Market, by the writer of the present article (1886).