Liverpool - A History of the City and River Mersey, UK - stijlnet.com

By 1229 the new port had also won the right to a charter enabling the merchants to set up a Guild. It was a town of small craftsmen, tradesmen, farmers and fishermen. Trade in the port was mainly with Ireland but also in wines from France. Small though Liverpool was, the borough had the right to send 2 MPs to parliament by the closing years of the 13th century. Liverpool remained an important port to whichever king was on the throne. Archived documents exist which indicate time and again that the port was the designated point from which soldiers would embark (mainly for Ireland) and the fleet assemble. However, the economy of the town was still mainly agricultural in character.

Despite setbacks: pirates, ships wrecked, and the attempts by Chester to subordinate the port of Liverpool to its own authority, Liverpool slowly began to thrive and grow as foreign and local trade increased. By the early 1600s salt had become an important export commodity for Liverpool. It was sent to destinations as far afield as Newfoundland (where it was used for salting fish) and Cornwall. Malt was sent, for export, from Tewksbury and there was even a cargo of tobacco arrived from the West Indies. At this time the population was possibly around 2000.

Liverpool Castle had been constructed in the mid 13th century. It stood on high ground overlooking the town and river and was described as having 4 towers and being surrounded by a dry moat. There was, orignally, a hall, brewhouse and bakery, a chapel and an orchard, together with a dovecote. The castle didn't see much military action until the Civil War when Royalist forces took the castle in 1644 but only held it until the following year when a Parliamentarian army re-took it. In 1659, orders from Parliament arrived demanding that the castle should be destroyed. In fact, only a part the walls and the gatehouse were actually removed. However, by the early 1700s the buildings were in need of maintenace and were becoming both an eyesore and a liability as rights to the castle were contested and a community of vagrants and small traders were encouraged to live there by Lord Molyneux. Eventually, in 1715 the dispute was settled, in the courts, in favour of the town corporation and work began on razing what remained of the castle to the gound. The church of St. George was built on the site and consecrated in 1734.

During, and after, the Civil War in the mid 17th century powerful and influential figures in Liverpool were pro- parliament and Protestant; supporters of Cromwell and, subsequently, King William and Mary and then Queen Anne. During the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745 the town was staunchly behind the king and government.

During the 18th century Liverpol began to feel the advantages of the ever-expanding trade links with the West Indies; mainly the import of sugar and tobacco and the export of linen mixture cloths from the factories around Manchester, Alongside the legitimate and respectable trade there was an ever increasing involvement in the less salubrious activites of smuggling and slaves. Along with the ports of Bristol and London, Liverpool would become synonymous with the iniquitous slave trade of the 18th century. It was a trade which would bring great financial rewards but would leave the town with a legacy of shame. The outward bound ships, to Africa, carried cheap ornaments and other goods which were exchanged for the slaves, which were then shipped to Virginia, or Kingston in Jamaica where the Liverpool merchants had their own agents. Here the slaves were sold at a massive profit before the ships were loaded with sugar and tobacco, etc., for the return journey to Liverpool. It was in these early years of the 18th century that the need for a deep dock and more effective harbour was recognised and resulted in the construction of the Salthouse Dock which was completed in 1753. This event marks the turning point in Liverpool's evolution; the rivers were made deeper to facillate movement of goods, the channels were charted and the first canals, linking Liverpool with the manufacturing towns growing as a result of the Industrial Revolution, made an appearance. The first 50 years of the 18th century saw the volume of shipping in the port increase by 300% and the town's population increase by almost 400%.

The first major setback came with the American War of Independence. Trade with the erstwhile colonies came to a virtual standstill and the seas were dangerous as privateers roamed the waters looking for easy pickings amongst the English ships. Patriotism was the order of the day, however and there was support for the troops sent out to fight in the colonies. Later, when France, Spain and Holland became involved, the privateers, this time from Liverpool, once again came into their own bringing about a period of daring and lucrative activities. However, this didn't compensate for the almost complete loss of legitimate trade with the Americas and it was with great relief that the news, that the war was over, was greeted.

The French Revolution, following so quickly, caused a 'hiccup' but Liverpool's trade was expanding rapidly and even the loss of legitimate trade with France became only a minor consideration. French privateers became something of a problem and trading vessels had to be prepared to fight off marauding French pirates. The jail at Liverpool became full of French seamen, taken prisoner when their attacks on ships, from Liverpool, were repulsed (4000 prisoners in 1799). The volatile nature of the sea-faring population found an outlet, for its energies, in preparing the town to withstand any attack from either the sea or land, as Napoleon's threat to the security of England grew. Guns were brought in to arm the fort; The dock entrances were fortified; large numbers of regular and volunteer troops were quartered in the town; the Duke of Gloucester was in overall command of the defences.

The early years of the 19th century saw the prosperity of the town suffer as the threat from France continued and the American Civil War exacerbated the situation as American privateers took to the seas in enormous numbers. However, hanging on, and maintaining trade links, Liverpool survived and in 1815 emerged as one of the most important trading ports, funnelling goods to and fro, between Europe and America.

It mustn't be forgotten that, in the background, a revoution of a different sort was taking place. Lancashire was the setting for the Industrial Revolution, with Manchester at the hub and Liverpool ready and waiting to import and export the various manufactured goods. Trade with the East Indies, previously confined to the East India Company, was opened and Liverpool ships were to be found rounding the Cape of Good Hope as India became one of the most important markets for goods exported from Liverpool. Additionally, Liverpool found a ready market in South America as the Spanish colonies declared themselves eager to trade with Liverpool. Liverpool now found itself in a position from which it controlled the Atlantic trade; exported an endless supply of goods manufactured in the industrial areas of the Midlands and North West; and had ever increasing trade with South America and the East Indies. It was a period of prosperity and the population grew alongside it.

The downside of the port's prosperity, 4 new docks built, increased shipping, increased dock area, was that local and smaller industries peaked and then declined, often to disappear completely as energies were channelled exclusively into the port activities. In the late 18th century shipbuilding was at its height, the number of boats involved in the Greenland fisheries was at its highest, small iron foundries, potteries and the curing of herrings for export were all thriving industries which, by 1815, had practically ceased to exist. Liverpool had become a town dependent almost entirely on its sea-borne trade.

The growing population of the town was a mixture of indigenous folk, Welsh, Scots and Irish. New housing didn't keep pace with the rising numbers and the living conditions of the poor were amongst the most terrible to be found. Many of the poorest lived in cellars with only straw for a bed, and many more in makeshift buildings without either water or the means to dispose of sewage. In the closing years of the 18th century, with 1 in every 7 dwellings licenced to sell liquor, it was a violent, dangerous place with many living in abject poverty and with little hope of improvement. At the same time Liverpool was also a vibrant place of evangelical church reformers and of intellectual activity, the latter demonstrated by the founding of the Liverpool Library, the Athenaeum and the Royal Institution.

The 19th century saw increasing prosperity and the slow progress in improvements of social conditions. The Albert Dock was constructed, many fine buildings were erected and institutions were founded. The Royal Liver Building, The Cunard Building and The Port of Liverpool Building, collectively known as 'The Three Graces', were built at Pierhead. The potato famines, in Ireland, in the middle years of the 19th century, created an influx of Irish immigrants into the port as they escaped the horrors of starvation in their own country. In 1880 Liverpool, with a population now over half a million, was officially declared a city.

Liverpool entered the 20th century on a bouyant note. There were still many social problems to be addressed but progress was being made. Building on the new Anglican Cathedral was started in 1904 followed, in 1967, by the controversially modern Roman Catholic Cathedral of Christ the King. The Depression years of the 30s hit Liverpool hard and up to a third of the workforce was unemployed. During World War ll Liverpool was targeted by heavy German bombers determined to cut Britain's supply lines across the Atlantic. The city suffered very heavy bombing, especially for a period during the early summer of 1941.

In the years following the war Liverpool, like many other cities, suffered an economic decline and, despite a programme of re-building, suffered as a result. The various manufacturing and port industries declined sharply or closed; fewer ships entered the port; the advent of containerised shipping meant that Liverpool could no longer compete as there wasn't the space to unload and store the containers. Unemployment figures escalated and, in the 1980s, were amongst the highest in Britain. Like many other cities, Liverpool needed to find a way out of this situation of decline and, like many others, decided to re-invent itself as a tourist destination; a city offering cultural opportunities and entertainment.

Liverpool now offers the visitor a wealth of experiences to enjoy. There is an annual Mersey River Festival, attracting visitors from all over the country; there are museums, art galleries, theatres, 2 famous cathedrals, a heritage of music: sea shanties, folk songs and, of course, it is the home of the Beatles, birthplace of one of the most famous groups of all time; the list is endless.

As the crowning achievement, and final accolade, Liverpool is set to become, Capital of Culture 2008.

Nearby : For our History of Manchester click here

A Brief History of Liverpool...