Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Liverpool
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===Early history=== In the [[Middle Ages]], Liverpool first existed as farmland within the [[West Derby Hundred]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Victoria history of the county of Lancaster. Edited by William Farrer and J. Brownbill|url=https://archive.org/stream/victoriahistoryo04farruoft/victoriahistoryo04farruoft_djvu.txt?referer=clickfind.com.au|access-date=8 October 2023|website=clickfind.com.au}}</ref> before growing into a small town of farmers, fishermen and tradesmen and tactical army base for [[John of England|King John of England]]. The town was planned with its own [[Liverpool Castle|castle]], although due to outbreaks of disease and its subordinance to the nearby [[Deva Victrix|Roman port of Chester]], the town's growth and prosperity stagnated until the late 17th and early 18th centuries. There was substantial growth in the mid- to late 18th century, when the town became the most heavily involved European port in the [[Atlantic slave trade]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=European traders|url=https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/history-of-slavery/europe|website=liverpoolmuseums.org.uk|access-date=23 September 2023|archive-date=19 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619190054/http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism/slavery/europe/index.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> [[John of England|King John]]'s [[letters patent]] of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool (then spelt as ''Liuerpul''). There is no evidence that the place had previously been a centre of any trade. The borough was probably created because King John decided that it would be a convenient place to embark men and supplies for his [[John's first expedition to Ireland|Irish campaigns]]: in particular his [[Lordship of Ireland|Irish campaign of 1209]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Memorials of Liverpool|volume=1. Historical|first=J.A.|last=Picton|edition=2nd|date=1875|publisher=Longmans, Green & Co.|location=London|pages=11β12|url=https://archive.org/details/memorialsliverp02pictgoog/page/10/mode/2up?view=theater|oclc=10476612}}</ref><ref name="BHOLderhun">{{cite web|title=West Derby hundred: The City of Liverpool|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol4/pp1-4#h3-0002|publisher=British History Online|access-date=9 September 2023|archive-date=18 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230918184736/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol4/pp1-4#h3-0002|url-status=live}}</ref> The original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a [[royal charter]], making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in the shape of a double cross: Bank Street (now [[Water Street, Liverpool|Water Street]]), [[Castle Street, Liverpool|Castle Street]], [[Chapel Street, Liverpool|Chapel Street]], [[Dale Street]], Juggler Street (now [[High Street, Liverpool|High Street]]), Moor Street (now [[Tithebarn Street]]) and Whiteacre Street (now [[Old Hall Street]]).<ref name="BHOLderhun"/> [[Liverpool Castle]] was built before 1235, and survived until it was demolished in the 1720s.<ref name="BHOLcastle">{{cite web|title=Liverpool: The castle and development of the town|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol4/pp4-36|publisher=British History Online|access-date=9 September 2023|archive-date=31 July 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180731173644/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol4/pp4-36|url-status=live}}</ref> By the middle of the 16th century, the population was still around 600, although this was likely to have fallen from an earlier peak of 1,000 people due to slow trade and the effects of the [[1557 influenza pandemic|plague]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=History of Liverpool|url=https://www.history.co.uk/article/history-of-liverpool|access-date=20 September 2023|website=history.co.uk|archive-date=2 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002185750/https://www.history.co.uk/article/history-of-liverpool|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Medieval port|url=https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/stories/medieval-port|access-date=20 September 2023|website=liverpoolmuseums.org.uk|archive-date=2 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002191249/https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/stories/medieval-port|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Liverpool in the Middle Ages|url=https://localhistories.org/a-history-of-liverpool|access-date=20 September 2023|website=localhistories.org|date=14 March 2021|archive-date=28 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928053327/https://localhistories.org/a-history-of-liverpool/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 17th century, there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for control of the town were waged during the [[English Civil War]], including a brief siege in 1644.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The York March, 1644|url=http://bcw-project.org/military/english-civil-war/northern-england/the-york-march|access-date=1 May 2022|website=bcw-project.org|archive-date=25 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225084838/http://bcw-project.org/military/english-civil-war/northern-england/the-york-march|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1699, the same year as its first recorded [[slave ship]], ''Liverpool Merchant'', set sail for Africa,<ref>{{cite web|title=Liverpool's Slavery History Trail|publisher=Lodging-World.com|date=16 August 2017|url=https://www.lodging-world.com/blog/liverpools-slavery-history-trail|access-date=16 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817214544/https://www.lodging-world.com/blog/liverpools-slavery-history-trail/|archive-date=17 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Liverpool was made a parish by [[Act of Parliament]]. But arguably, the legislation of 1695 that reformed the Liverpool council <!-- how? in what way? -->was of more significance to its subsequent development.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire|title=Creating a Port: Liverpool 1695β1715|first=Michael|last=Power|volume=149|year=1999|pages=51β71|url=https://www.hslc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/149-4-Power.pdf|access-date=31 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831041026/https://www.hslc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/149-4-Power.pdf|archive-date=31 August 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> Since [[Roman Britain|Roman times]] nearby [[Chester]] on the [[River Dee, Wales|River Dee]] had been the region's principal port on the [[Irish Sea]]. However, as the Dee began to [[Silt|silt up]], maritime trade from Chester became increasingly difficult and shifted towards Liverpool on the neighbouring [[River Mersey]]. The first of the [[Port of Liverpool|Liverpool docks]] was constructed in 1715, and the system of docks gradually grew into a large interconnected system.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Liverpool: The docks|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol4/pp41-43|access-date=21 September 2023|website=british-history.ac.uk|archive-date=18 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230918184748/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol4/pp41-43|url-status=live}}</ref> As trade from the [[West Indies]], including sugar, surpassed that of Ireland and Europe, and as the [[River Dee, Wales|River Dee]] continued to silt up, Liverpool began to grow even faster. The first commercial [[wet dock]] was built in Liverpool in 1715.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Lost Dock of Liverpool|publisher=Channel 4: Time Team, 21 April 2008|url=http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/2008/liverpool/liverpool-found.html|access-date=2 June 2008|archive-date=4 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604145405/http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/2008/liverpool/liverpool-found.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Liverpool Dock System|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2 January 1898|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C07EFD91039E433A25751C0A9679C94699ED7CF|access-date=2 June 2008|archive-date=9 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809181141/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C07EFD91039E433A25751C0A9679C94699ED7CF|url-status=live}} Note: "pdf" reader needed to see full article</ref> Substantial profits from the [[Atlantic slave trade|slave trade]] and tobacco helped the town to prosper and rapidly grow, although several prominent local men, including [[William Rathbone IV|William Rathbone]], [[William Roscoe]] and [[Edward Rushton]], were at the forefront of the [[Abolitionism in the United Kingdom|local abolitionist movement]].<ref>{{Cite ODNB|title=Roscoe circle|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-101301|access-date=20 September 2023|date=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/101301}}</ref>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)