Editing Bootle (section)

===Development===
[[Image:Bootle civic buildings 2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Bootle Town Hall]]]]
[[Image:Bootle town hall 4.JPG|thumb|right|''Bootle-cum-Linacre'' inscription on the town hall's external stonework]]
The [[Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway]] arrived in the 1840s and Bootle experienced rapid growth. By the end of the 19th century<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.merseyreporter.com/history/historic/dockseaforth/index.shtml |title=Merseyside History, Seaforth Dock|publisher=Mersey Reporter}}</ref> [[Port of Liverpool|the docks]] had been constructed along the whole of the river front as far as Seaforth Sands to the north. The town became heavily industrialised. Fearful of annexation by Liverpool, Bootle was incorporated as a [[municipal borough]] in 1868<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1GOWTUYFPRQC&q=bootle+docks&pg=PA244|title=Town, City, and Nation|isbn=9780192891631|last1=Waller|first1=Philip J.|last2=Waller|first2=P. J.|year=1983|publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref> under the [[Municipal Corporations Act 1835]], and in 1889 was granted the status of a [[county borough]] by the [[Local Government Act 1888]], becoming independent from the [[administrative county]] of [[Lancashire]]. During this time period it was sometimes formally known as ''Bootle-cum-Linacre''. [[Orrell, Sefton|Orrell]] was added to the borough in 1905. There are still large areas of [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] terraced houses in Bootle, formerly occupied by dock workers. These are built in distinctive pressed red brick.

[[Bootle Town Hall]] and other municipal buildings were erected in the last quarter of the 19th century. The population of the town swelled during this period, boosted in large part by Irish immigration and the attraction of plentiful work on the docks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.merseyreporter.com/history/historic/irish-immigration.shtml |title=Merseyside History, Irish Immigration in Liverpool|publisher=Mersey Reporter}}</ref> The wealth to pay for the splendour of the town hall and the gentrified 'Bootle Village' area was generated by these docks. The skilled workers lived in terraced houses in the east of the town, while the casual dock labourers lived in cramped, dwellings near the dockside. Stories about three streets in particular, Raleigh Street, Dundas Street and Lyons Street, caused great alarm. Lyons Street, the scene of the 'Teapot Murder', was renamed Beresford Street shortly before the [[First World War]].<ref name=photos/>

Bootle was the first borough to elect its own [[School boards in England and Wales|school board]], following the passage of [[William Edward Forster|William Forster]]'s [[Elementary Education Act 1870]]. In 1872 Dr R.J. Sprakeling was appointed the first Medical Officer of Health, and was instrumental in improving sanitary conditions in the town. The Metropole Theatre on Stanley Road played host to stars such as [[music hall]] singer [[Marie Lloyd]].  Tree lined streets surrounded magnificent open spaces, such as Derby Park, North Park and South Park. [[Roman Catholic]] and [[Anglican]] churches sprang up all over the town, and [[Welsh people|Welsh]] immigration brought with it [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]] chapels and the [[temperance movement]]. Local societies thrived, including sports teams, [[scouting|scouts]] and musical groups. The Bootle May Day carnival and the crowning of the [[May Queen]] were highlights of the social year. The town successfully fought against absorption by neighbouring Liverpool in 1903. It subsequently made good use of its [[Latin]] motto ''Respice, Aspice, Prospice'', ("look to the past, the present, the future").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/nostalgia/bootle-remembered-brilliant-archive-photos-7373303|title= In pictures: Bootle through the years in photos from the Echo archive|publisher=Liverpool Echo|date=4 July 2014|access-date=24 November 2020}}</ref>