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History of Liverpool
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History of Liverpool
Featured Property
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Local Information
Liverpool Misc Links
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Liverpool was first recognised as a town with the charter granted in 1207 by King John. King John, while in the North West of England on a fact-finding mission, discovered a ‘pool’ or inlet. This pool, as a natural sheltered harbour, made it a suitable location for a port. Thus, King John acquired the land as a port to assist with his Irish campaigns. The name Liverpool refers to the thick, sluggish maybe reddy coloured water of the pool.
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The growth of trade and thus jobs in Liverpool brought massive population expansion. Immigrant Irish (in massive numbers due to problems in Ireland such as the potato famine of the 1840s), Welsh, Scottish, Scandinavian, Dutch, Germans and Poles all made Liverpool their home. Many of these people stayed but thousands more passed through the port on their way to the New World. Trading links with China also brought a large Chinese Community to the city. In fact Liverpool has the oldest ‘China Town’ in Europe.
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The 1930s brought the first problems for then Port of Liverpool. The decline in world trade, especially with the USA, Liverpool’s major trading partner, brought unemployment to the city. The main employer, the Docks no longer had the need for the masses of labour. The slave trade was by now abolished and emigration was tailing off. Men from Liverpool marched to London in protest about the standards of living and massive unemployment. The 1930s were an era of casual labour on the docks.
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By the 1980s the city had real problems. Although unemployment, casual labour and poverty were nothing new to the city, the 1980s brought a downward spiral of decline. It became obvious that even with an increase in world trade the port was never going to employ vast numbers as in the past. The city needed help in the form of cash injection from Government to halt population decline. However, these funds were slow in coming forward and the continuing barrage of criticism of the city in the press did not help with inward investment.
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| MDC’s landmark project was the £100 million restoration of Albert Dock, now a successful visitor attraction and accommodation a range of bars, restaurants and retail outlets, as well as office space, luxury residential accommodation, The Beatles Story attraction, the Merseyside Maritime Museum and Tate Gallery Liverpool. |
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