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.
