Recollections of Old Liverpool Part 3

The smoke first made its appearance at the lower windows of the Town Hall. The doors having been forced, a party of men got into the interior of the building, and brought out for safety the books of the various departments, and some of the town's officers having arrived, something like system took the place of the dreadful confusion which prevailed.

The town records, the treasurer's accounts, and the muniments, etc., were safely removed to a house at the end of High-street. I helped to keep order. a.s.sisted by many other volunteers for the work we formed a lane so that there should be no impediment to a quick removal of anything that was portable. The fire was first discovered about five o'clock in the morning by the watchman on duty in the street. They were dull old fellows, those watchmen, and of but little use, for in calling the hour nine times out of ten they made a mistake. The thieves laughed them to scorn. When the watchman saw smoke issuing from the windows he gave the alarm without delay. The fire soon showed itself, when it had once got ahead. When the new Exchange was erected, after the former one had been taken down in 1748, somebody persuaded the authorities to have the woodwork and timber of the new building steeped in a composition of rosin and turpentine, so as to make the wood more durable. It may therefore be readily imagined how inflammable such a composition would make the wood, and how fiercely it burned when once ignited. There had been a perceptible odour of some sort experienced in the Exchange building for some days, and this was afterwards discovered to have arisen from the woodwork under the council-chamber having taken fire through a flue communicating from the Loan-office; and there is no doubt it had been smouldering for days before it actually made its appearance. It could not have been ten minutes after I arrived on the spot before the flames burst out in all their fury. It was an awfully grand sight. It was yet dark. What with the rus.h.i.+ng and pus.h.i.+ng of the anxious crowd, the roaring of the fierce flames, and the calling of distracted people, it was an event and scene never to be forgotten. The building was soon all in a blaze, and nothing on earth could have stopped that frightful conflagration. It was a mercy it was a calm frosty morning or the houses in the four streets adjacent must have caught the flame. From the age of these houses, the quant.i.ty of timber in them, the narrowness of the streets, and the absence of a copious supply of water, I am sure Liverpool would have been half consumed if a wind had sprung up. I thought the building looked like a great funeral pile as the flames roared out on all sides. It was a grand, yet dreadful sight. The whole of Castle-street was occupied by people, although, from the position of the Exchange, a full front view could not be obtained, it being almost parallel with the west side of Castle-street. The best view of it was where I stood at the top of Dale-street, by Moss's bank. The dome, being constructed of wood, soon took fire, was burnt, and fell in. We had not then as now powerful engines, long reels of hose, and bands of active men well trained to their arduous and dangerous duties, still, everybody did his best and seemed desirous of doing something. We did that something with a will, but without much order, system, or discretion. The engines in use were not powerful, and the supply of water was not only tardy but scanty, as you may believe when I tell you it had to be brought from the town wells, the Dye-house Well in Greetham-street, the Old Fall Well in Rose-street (where Alderman's Bennett's ironwork warehouse stands, near the corner of Rose-street--by the way, Rose-street was called after Mr.

Rose, who lived in the house next the Stork Hotel), and the wells on Shaw's-brow; indeed, every possible source where water could be obtained, was put in requisition. The inhabitants allowed the rain-water to be taken from their water-b.u.t.ts in the vicinity to such liberal extent that I verily believe there was not a drop of rain-water to be got for love or money when that eventful day was out. Staid housewives for many a day after complained of the dirt the trampling of feet had made in their lobbies and yards, and deplored the loss of their stores of soft-water.

At that time water was precious, every drop that could be obtained was saved, garnered, and carefully kept. Every drop of hard-water we consumed had to be brought to our doors and paid for by the "Hessian" or bucket. The water-carts were old b.u.t.ts upon wheels, drawn by sorry horses and driven by fat old creatures, half men half women in their attire and manners. The buckets were made of leather and the water was sold at a halfpenny per Hessian. They were so called, I believe, from their fancied resemblance to the Hessian boots. You may judge how inadequate a supply of water we had when our wants were dependent upon such aid. The water-carts came rumbling and tumbling along the streets, in many cases losing one-half of their loads by the unusual speed at which they were driven and the awkwardness of their drivers. Water was also carted from the river, and I helped with others to push the carts up Water-street. The steep ascent of this street in its badly paved condition made this work extremely laborious. But everybody helped and did what they could, and those who did nothing made up for deeds by words and shouted and bawled and told the others what they ought to do.

Fortunately, only one life was lost, that of a fool-hardy young man who would press forward to see the fire better--he rushed up to the High-street door and a piece of timber fell on him. The surging of the crowd caused several persons to be struck down and trampled upon. I saved one woman's life by beating off the people who would have crushed her. By twelve o'clock the fire had slackened considerably, and by the evening it was to all appearance subdued. But the fire in the interior remained smouldering for some time afterwards. In the churches on that day the event was alluded to in a very feeling manner, and in St. Peter's Church the rector offered up a prayer of thanksgiving that the town had been spared from a more extensive calamity.

At this time High-street (there was a famous tavern called the "Punch-Bowl" in this street) was the communication between Castle-street and Old Hall-street, and it is a most strange circ.u.mstance that the direct line of road was not retained instead of cutting the new street called Exchange-street East through the houses and gardens between t.i.thebarn-street and Dale-street. It was a great mistake, and everybody said so at the time. Many great mistakes have been made in respect to our streets and public buildings, not the least of which was the blunder of filling up the Old Dock, and erecting that huge and ugly edifice, the Custom-house, thereon.

I believe if the conflagration had extended from the Exchange to some distance in the adjoining streets, we should have had some vast improvements effected. From the narrowness of Castle-street may be imagined what a scene of confusion it must have been during the fire. It is quite a wonder that many lives were not lost during that morning of terror. The inhabitants of the four streets in many cases prepared for flight, for the fire raged so fiercely at one time that the escape of the houses in the vicinity from destruction seemed miraculous. While I was helping to draw water from the yard of some people I knew in Castle-street, a burning ember or piece of timber fell into a lot of dirty paper which would in five minutes have been alight if I had not been there to extinguish it. There were many such wonderful escapes recorded.

The trial of Mr. Charles Angus for the alleged murder of Miss Margaret Burns (who was his late wife's half-sister) in 1808, may be considered as one of the _causes celebres_ of the time. It took place at Lancaster, on the 2nd of September, before Sir Alan Chambre. Sergeant c.o.c.kle, and Messrs. Holroyd, Raine and Clark, were for the Crown; Mr. T. Statham, attorney. Messrs. Topping, Scarlett, and Cross for the prisoner; Mr.

Atkinson, attorney. Mr. Angus was a gentleman of Scotch birth, and resided in Liverpool--in King-street, I think. He had been at one time an a.s.sistant to a druggist, where he was supposed to have obtained a knowledge of the properties of poisons, and he was charged with putting this knowledge to account in attempting to produce abortion in the case of Miss Burns, who was suspected of being pregnant by him, and thereby causing her death. Miss Burns was Mr. Angus's housekeeper, and governess to his three children. The case rested entirely on circ.u.mstantial evidence, made out against the prisoner by his conduct previous to the supposed commission of the deed, by his conduct at the time and afterwards. At the time the strongest prejudice ran against Mr. Angus, and it must be said that the public were not satisfied with the verdict of the jury; but at this distance of time, those who had an opportunity of looking over the evidence, and remembering the case in all its bearings, will at once say dispa.s.sionately that there was not a shadow of evidence against Mr. Angus. Miss Burns, who had been unwell for some time, was noticed previous to the 23rd of March, 1808, to be ailing, and that her size had materially enlarged; and it was suspected, as adduced by several witnesses, that she was _enceinte_. On the 23rd of March she complained of being very unwell, and went to lie down on a sofa in the breakfast-room where she remained the whole of the day, thirsting and vomiting. Mr. Angus would not allow his servants to sit up with Miss Burns, but remained in the room with her the whole of that night, the next day, and the following night. On the 25th Miss Burns said she felt better. A servant on that morning was sent to Henry-street for some Madeira that Miss Burns fancied. On her return, not seeing the lady on the sofa, where an hour previous she had left her, she looked round the room and discovered her doubled up in a corner of the room with her face towards the wainscot, while Mr. Angus was asleep sitting in a chair covered by a counterpane. The evidence was most conflicting. Several witnesses declared Miss Burns was not pregnant, others that they believed she was. The medical evidence was also of a most bewildering and diverse nature. Some of the most eminent surgeons in Liverpool were examined, and none of them agreed on the case. This fact came out that no signs of childbirth were visible as having taken place--no dead infant was discovered. The room in which Miss Burns and Mr. Angus were, was at all times accessible to the servants, and no cries of parturition were heard during the lady's illness. The fact of the matter was, Miss Burns had suffered from an internal complaint, and died from natural causes. This was shown by Dr. Carson, then a young and rising physician at the time, and who afterwards published a pamphlet in which he utterly demolished the medical evidence given at the trial for the crown.

The jury, after a few minutes' deliberation, returned a verdict, finding the prisoner "Not Guilty," on grounds as unimpeachable as the trial. In some of the circ.u.mstances attending and resulting from it, it was disgraceful, especially on the part of the medical witnesses for the crown, in their conduct towards the one for the defence--Dr. Carson. I have before me an authentic "Report of the Trial," "A Vindication of their Opinions," published by those witnesses, and Dr. Carson's "Remarks"

on that publication, in which he exposes their shortcomings with a master's hand, in a style as terse as it is bold, and as elegant as it is severe; never were the weapons of irony, satire, and invective more effectively used; his impeachment is as withering as his victory at the trial was complete. The authors of the "Vindications" had not only done what in them lay to ruin him in every conceivable way, public and private, but they had exposed themselves to his "Remarks," all-pungent as they were, by going into court and giving opinions founded upon "the most disgracefully deficient dissection ever made." The sore which they had inflicted upon themselves at the trial did not heal under the caustic of the "Remarks"; and so the doctor became a victim to local prejudice, pa.s.sion, and persecution. But he gained to himself a world-wide reputation which outlived them all; the honours of the French Academy were bestowed upon him, and he took his stand among the literary and scientific magnates of the day. As to the trial, the theory of the prosecution was that the prisoner caused the lady's death by administering a poison to procure abortion, and it was based upon a hole in the coats of the stomach, and a peculiar mark in the uterus; the medical witnesses for the crown affirming that the former could not have arisen from any other known cause than poison, and the latter a sure sign of recent delivery. No poison was found in the stomach or intestines, nor were the supposed contents of the uterus ever found, and no other part of the body was examined. The hole in the stomach presented the same appearance, and was described in the same terms as those which John Hunter had called attention to as occurring in certain cases of sudden death, where there was no suspicion of poisoning, and caused by the action of the gastric juice. Doctor Carson accepted Hunter's facts, but propounded a theory of his own, being guided to his conclusions by the experiments of Sir John Pringle and Dr. Bride, in reference to water at the temperature of 90 degrees dissolving animal substances. He successfully combated the notion about poisoning from another point of view, namely, the symptoms during life, the comparative mildness of which did not correspond with the usual effects of the poison fixed upon. As to the mark in the uterus, he gave his opinion that it might have arisen from other causes than the one alleged; two phenomena were absent, and upon this fact he a.s.serted it to be physically impossible that there could have been a recent delivery; and, moreover, in his "Remarks," he proved mathematically that the mark was four times the size it ought to have been on that hypothesis. Miss Burns had not been attended professionally by any one as she was averse to doctors. Mr. Angus in his defence ascribed the whole of the legal proceedings against him to the malevolence of two interested parties, and had it not now been for their influence, the circ.u.mstance of Miss Burns' death would have pa.s.sed over without remark. Mr. Angus, so far from desiring to harm Miss Burns, expressed himself as deeply indebted to her for her care of his children and the affection and attention to his comforts she had always manifested, and emphatically declared he "loved and respected her too well to dream of doing her any harm."

CHAPTER VI.

When I look around and see the various changes that have taken place in this "good old town" I am sometimes lost in wonderment. Narrow, inconvenient, ill-paved streets have been succeeded by broad thoroughfares--old tumble-down houses have been replaced by handsome and costly buildings, while the poor little humble shops that once were sufficient for our wants have been completely eclipsed by the gigantic and elegant "establishments" of the present day.

I recollect Dale-street when it was a narrow thoroughfare, ill-paved and ill-lighted at night. It was not half the present width. In 1808, as the town began to spread and its traffic increase, great complaints were constantly being made of the inconvenience of the princ.i.p.al streets, and it was agreed on all sides that something should be done towards improvement. The first movement was made by widening Dale-street; the improvement being by throwing the thoroughfare open from Castle-street to Temple-court, but it really was not until 1820 that this street was set out in anything like a bold and handsome manner. Great difficulties were constantly thrown in the way of alterations by many of the inhabitants, who had lived in their old houses, made fortunes under their roofs, and were hoping to live and die where they had been born and brought up.

Many tough battles had the authorities to fight with the owners of the property. Some were most unreasonable in the compensation they demanded, while others for a time obstinately refused to enter into any negotiations whatever, completely disregarding all promised advantages.

The most obtuse and determined man was a shoemaker or cobbler, who owned a small house and shop which stood near Hockenall-alley. Nothing could persuade him to go out of his house or listen to any proposition. Out he would not go, although his neighbours had disappeared and his house actually stood like an island in the midst of the traffic current. The road was carried on each side of his house, but there stood the cobbler's stall alone in its glory. While new and comfortable dwellings were springing up, the old cobbler laughed at his persecutors, defied them, and stood his ground in spite of all entreaty. There the house stood in the middle of the street, and for a long time put a stop to further and complete improvement, until the authorities, roused by the indignation of the public, took forcible possession of the place and pulled the old obnoxious building about the owner's ears, in spite of his resistance and his fighting manfully for what he thought were his rights; nor would he leave the house until it had been unroofed, the floors torn up, and the walls crumbling and falling down from room to room. The cobbler stuck to his old house to the last, showing fight all through, with a determination and persistence worthy of a n.o.bler cause. Some few years ago a barber, also in Dale-street, exhibited an equal degree of persistence in keeping possession of his shop which was wanted for an improvement near Temple-street. This man clung to his old house and shop until it was made utterly uninhabitable..

Dale-street, when I was a boy, was not very much broader than Sir Thomas's Buildings; in some parts it was quite as narrow, especially about c.u.mberland-street end. The carrying trade at one time from Liverpool was by means of packhorses, long strings of which used to leave the town with their burthens, attended by their drivers, and always mustered together in considerable number in Dale-street previous to starting. This they did that they might be strong enough to resist the highwaymen who infested the roads at the end of the last century. I have often heard my father talk of these free gentlemen's exploits, and the sometimes droll adventures arising from their presence. He used to tell a story of three volunteer officers going to Warrington by the stage to a county muster, being stopped by a pretended footpad (a friend in disguise) the other side of Prescot, and ignominiously robbed of everything they possessed, even their very swords. I cannot say I believed the story, because I felt sure no officers, whatever service they might be in, would have allowed themselves to be so treated. My father frequented the tavern which stood where Promoli's Bazaar now stands, and where all the leading tradesmen used to a.s.semble, and he told us that the three officers were there one night and were terribly "trotted" about their losses and that they did not altogether "deny the soft impeachment." There was a good story current in Liverpool, I have been told, in 1745, touching the doings of Mr. Campbell's regiment which, when the rebellion broke out in that year, was suddenly called into active service with orders to march to Manchester, by way of Warrington, to resist a party of Scots said to be in that neighbourhood. The regiment marched at night, and of course threw out an advanced guard.

When about two miles this side of Warrington, the vanguard fell back reporting that they had seen a party of the enemy bivouacking in the road about a quarter of a mile ahead, and that they could see them quite plainly lying on the ground, at the sides and in the middle of the road.

A halt was called, and a council of war summoned. Hearts beat quickly in some hardy frames who boldly advised an onward march, while others were for retreating until some good plan of attack could be determined upon.

Some were for diverging from the road and continuing the march through the lanes and bye-ways, so that, if necessary, the enemy could be outflanked. One bolder than the rest offered to go forward as a scout.

His proposition was eagerly accepted. Away he went, and soon in the distance a terrible uproar was heard--the volunteers flew to arms, and waited in breathless suspense. They were surprised, however, to hear the alarm raised, but no shots fired. The row subsided, when presently the gallant scout was seen approaching with a prisoner he had bravely captured--in the form of a fat goose. The fact was that a flock of geese had got out into the road, and they presented an appearance to the advanced guard of troops bivouacking. The bold men of Liverpool were then led undauntedly forward, and it was said that every other man marched into Warrington with his supper on his knapsack.

The most admirable improvements that the town underwent was when Lord-street was widened and the Crescent formed, the completion of which undertaking cost upwards of half a million of money. Castle-street was narrow, badly paved, and badly lighted at night, as, indeed, was the whole town. Yet, I recollect there were some people who objected to the improvements at the top of Lord-street, who clung pertinaciously to the old Potato Market, and the block of buildings called Castle Hill. The houses that were erected upon the site of Castle Ditch had the floors of some of their rooms greatly inclined in consequence of the subsidence of the soil. There was a joke current at the time that these apartments ought to be devoted to dining purposes, as the gravy would always run to one side of the plate!

A great increase has taken place in the value of property in every part of the town. In Castle-street sixty years ago a house and shop could be had for 30 pounds per annum. The premises in which Roscoe's Bank was carried on, and now occupied by Messrs. Nixon, were purchased by Mr.

Harvey who, finding his property remaining unoccupied for so long a time, began to despair of letting it, and grew quite nervous about his bargain.

On the formation of Brunswick-street, projected in 1786, this handsome thoroughfare was cut through Smock-alley and the houses in Chorley-street, and swept away a portion of the old Theatre Royal in Drury-lane; it then ran down to the old Custom-house yard, on the site of which the Goree Piazzas and warehouses were erected. Drury-lane was formerly called Entwhistle-street, after an old and influential family who filled high offices in the town in their day.

Any one can fancy what Castle-street must have been when the market was held in it, by filling Cable-street with baskets of farmers' produce, and blocking it up with all sorts of provisions and stalls, in which the usual marketable commodities would be exposed for sale.

The introduction of Gas in the town was an immense stride in the march of improvement; yet there were not a few persons who bitterly complained of the Gas Company so often disturbing the streets to enable them to lay down their pipes. Frequent letters appeared in the papers of the time to that effect. Previous to 1817 the town was wretchedly lighted by oil lamps which used to go out upon all trifling occasions and for insufficient reasons. They only pretended to show light at the best of times. The lamps were not lit in summer nor on moonlight nights. They were generally extinguished by four or five o'clock in the morning.

The gentry were at one time attended by link-men or boys in their night excursions. These links were stiff, tarred ropes about the thickness of a man's arm. They gave a flaring light with any quant.i.ty of bituminous-odoured smoke. In front of one or two of the old houses of Liverpool I have seen a remnant of the link days, in an extinguisher attached to the lamp iron. I think there is (or was) one in Mount Pleasant, near the house with the variegated pebble pavement in front (laid down, by the way, by a blind man). The link-extinguisher was a sort of narrow iron funnel of about six inches in diameter at the widest end. It was usually attached to a lamp-iron, and was used by thrusting the link up it, when the light was to be put out.

People in those days seldom went out at night without a lantern, for what with the ruggedness of the pavements and the vile state of the roads it was by no means safe to life or limb to go without some mode of illuminating the way.

Gas was introduced in 1816 and 1817. Only one side of Castle-street was lighted at first. While we now acknowledge the invaluable introduction of this fluid, when we consider the vast area over which it casts its pleasant and cheerful beams, and the price we also pay for such an unmistakable comfort and blessing, we shall not fail to peruse the first advertis.e.m.e.nt of the Gas Company with intense interest. With this belief I insert a copy of it. The rate of charge and the mode of ascertaining the quant.i.ty of light consumed cannot but prove curious to us and rather puzzling perhaps to understand.

LIVERPOOL GAS-LIGHT COMPANY.

SCALE OF CHARGES per Annum for Burners of various sizes, calculated for lighting to the hours below mentioned:-- Till Till Till Till Till 8 9 10 11 12 o'Clock.

o'Clock. o'Clock. o'Clock. o'Clock.

One Argand. l. s. d. l. s. d. l. s. d. l. s. d. l. s. d.

No. 1, 3 0 0 3 18 0 4 16 0 5 12 0 6 8 0 No. 2, 2 14 0 3 5 0 4 0 0 4 14 0 5 8 0 No. 3, 2 2 0 2 14 0 3 7 0 3 18 0 4 10 0 One Batwing. 2 14 0 3 5 0 4 0 0 4 14 0 5 8 0

Persons who wish to take the Light, may make application at the Company's Office, Hatton-garden, where their names will be entered numerically in a Book, and Branch-pipes laid in rotation, the Company only contracting to fix the pipes just within the house, and to supply the Light when the interior is fitted up, and made air-tight and perfect, which must be done by each individual, and approved by the Company's Engineer.

No extra charge will be made, if the Light be extinguished in a quarter of an hour after the time contracted for, and on Sat.u.r.day evenings the Company will allow burning till twelve o'clock.

The Rents will be collected at the commencement of each Quarter, and will be apportioned as follows: Two-thirds of the above prices for the two winter quarters, and One-third for the two summer quarters.

If the Lights amount, by the above table, to 10 pounds per annum, a Discount of 2.5 per cent. will be allowed; if to 20 pounds, 5 per cent.; if to 30 pounds, 7.5 per cent.; if to 40 pounds, 10 per cent.; and if to 50 pounds, 12.5 per cent.

By Order of the Committee, CHARLES ROWLINSON, Secretary.

6_th_ _June_, 1817.

Just fancy such a tariff to be in existence at present!

Lord-street, previous to 1827, was very narrow; it was not so wide even as Dale-street. The houses and all the streets in Liverpool were just as we see in third-rate country towns, having bowed shop-windows, or square ones, projecting from the side of the house. I recollect Church-street and Ranelagh-street being paved in the centre only. Cable-street, Redcross-street and Park-lane were only flagged in 1821; and nearly all the houses in these streets were then private dwellings. In Ranelagh-street the houses had high steps to the front doors. The porches of the old houses in Liverpool were remarkable for their handsome appearance and patterns. Many still remain but they are yearly decreasing in number. I recollect when the only shops in Church-street were a grocer's (where part of Compton House now stands) and a confectioner's at the corner of Church-alley. Bold-street was nearly all private houses, and there were very few shops in it, even some forty years ago. Seventy years since there was scarcely a house of any sort in it. I have been told that where the Athenaeum now stands in Church-street, there was once a large pond on which the skaters used to cut a figure, and that a farm-house stood at the corner of Hanover-street. Some houses in Hanover-street will be noticed as being built out at angles with the street. This was to secure a good view of the river from the windows. At the corner of Bold-street some ninety years ago was a milkman's cottage and dairy. Whitechapel, when I was a lad, was a dreadful thoroughfare. I have seen it deep in water, and boats rowed about, conveying people from house to house, in times of flood. There used to be a channel with water running down the centre of the street, which was considerably lower than it is at present. It was no uncommon thing for the cellars of all the houses to be filled with water, and even now, I believe, some portion of the neighbourhood is not unfrequently rendered damp and uncomfortable. In the cellars under the Forum, in Marble-street, there is a very deep well which is at all times full; this well drains the premises. This Forum, about fifty years ago, was a well-known and much frequented arena for disputations of all sorts.

Many a clever speaker has addressed audiences now pa.s.sed away. Speaker and spoken to are for the most part gone. A great change took place some forty years ago in the locality where St. John's Market now stands.

There was a ropewalk here which extended from where the angle of the building faces the Amphitheatre, as far as Renshaw-street. There was a field at one time to the north of the ropery skirted by hedges which went down the site of the present Hood-street, and round to where there is now a large draper's shop in the Old Haymarket; the hedge then went up John's-lane, and so round by the site of the lamp opposite the Queen's Hotel, along Limekiln-lane to Ranelagh-street. These were all fields, being a portion of what was anciently called "the Great Heath." It was at one time intended to erect a handsome Crescent where the cab-stand is now. The almshouses stood on this ground. Limekiln-lane, now Lime-street, was so called from the limekiln that stood on the site of the present Skelhorn-street. Here were open fields, which extended to the London-road, quite famous for the a.s.sembling of all sorts of rough characters, especially on summer evenings, and on Sundays.

c.o.c.k-fighting, dog-fighting, and pugilistic encounters used to be carried on daily, and scenes of the utmost confusion took place, until public murmurings compelled the authorities to keep order. It was in the fields about where the Lord Nelson-street rooms stand, that my grandfather recollects seeing three, if not four, men hung for being mixed up in the rebellion of '45. They were hung there in chains for some time, and afterwards buried at the foot of the gallows as a warning to evil-doers.

There were several mills in this vicinity, one of which was called the White Mill, and there was a very curious story once commonly current about it, in the town to the effect that the owner of it had been murdered by a friend of his who kept a mill lower down the hill.

Whitemill-street is called after this White Mill. The lower mill stood where Hotham-street is now, which formerly was called Duncan-street. The mill occupied the site of the Quaker's school, which was pulled down to make room for the railway yard. When this mill was razed to the ground, a grave was discovered in the foundation, in which was a skeleton, and it was freely said that this was the White Mill miller, who had so mysteriously disappeared some years previously. It was the talk of the town at the time, and crowds of persons went to the spot to look at the grave. When the mill in Duncan-street was taken down it was so rotten that it was razed to the ground in one day. Where St. George's Hall now stands was the Infirmary. It faced Islington Triangle, afterwards converted into a market-place, being built round with small shops, having a pump in the middle. When this market was discontinued in 1848, the tenants were removed to Gill-street, on its opening in September of that year. The Infirmary consisted of two wings and a centre; at the back was a s.p.a.cious garden or airing ground. On Shaw's Brow lived the potters.

There were upwards of 2,000 persons engaged in this trade, which was carried on to a very great extent. Pottery in Liverpool was a considerable manufacture, and it is said that it was Mr. Sadler, a potter who lived in Harrington-street, that first discovered the art of printing upon earthenware, through seeing his children stick pieces of printed cotton fabric on some damaged plates they were playing with. There were many other large potteries in Liverpool at one period, besides those on Shaw's Brow. There was one at the corner of Fontenoy-street, of which Alderman Shaw was proprietor. There was one at the bottom of Duke-street. This was kept by Mr. Drinkwater, who married Captain Leece's daughter, after whom Leece-street is named. Pothouse-lane is a reminder of the old trade. There were other potteries on Copperas-hill.

I do not recollect much about these potteries; but I have heard my father and mother talk about them amongst their "Recollections." This trade seems to have departed from this town most strangely. The last remnant of it was in the works that were in operation down by the river-side near the present Toxteth Docks. Watch-making has always been a great trade in Liverpool. The first introducer of it was Mr. Wyke, who lived in Dale-street, on the site of the present public offices. Mr. Wyke came from Prescot, and carried on a large trade in watches about the year 1758. Mr. Litherland, the inventor of the chronometer, died in Church-street. On Mr. Wyke's premises and garden the Gas Works were afterwards erected, which were removed to Newington some few years ago.

Amongst many others I have seen some very remarkable changes that have taken place about Bevington-hill. I recollect very well what is now called "Summer Seat" being gardens, and the view from them to the river quite uninterrupted. There was near them a house built by a shoemaker who had made a fortune by his trade; it was called "Lapstone Hall." The inn called the "Bush" had a bough hanging out with the motto "Good Wine Needs no Bush." The sailors were very fond of going up to Bevington-Bush on Sundays with their sweethearts, and many a boisterous scene have I witnessed there. The view was really beautiful from the gardens. Where the market stands in Scotland-road there used to be a large stone quarry.

The houses in Scotland-road beyond the market are all of very late erection. I can well recollect open fields and market gardens thereabouts, and, indeed, all the way up where Scotland-road now is, there used to be fields. The Preston-road wound round up Bevington-Bush.

The Everton range looked very pretty from the Kirkdale-road, especially when handsome mansions began to dot its crest. I recollect along this road cornfields, meadows and gardens. Scotland-road is a comparatively newly-formed thoroughfare. Any one turning to the left at the bottom of Scotland-road, and going to Bevington-Bush will see, in those old houses on the right hand, of what Liverpool, in my young days, was composed.

Very few specimens of the old town houses are now remaining, so speedily do they become modernized and altered. I like those quaint old buildings although they were not very comfortable within, from their narrow windows and low ceilings, but there has been a great deal of mirth and jollity in some of those old low-roofed houses in the town, in our great privateering and slave-dealing times.

I have often heard old people talk about _their_ "Recollections" of the town. I have heard them speak of Clayton-square being laid out in the memorable year of 1745. Mrs. or Madame Clayton to whose family this part of the town chiefly belonged, was the daughter of Mr. Clayton who was Mayor in 1689, and who represented the town in parliament for eight sessions. Madame Clayton's house stood near Cases-street. Her garden was said to have been the best kept and most productive in the town. It was this lady who started the first private carriage in Liverpool. I have heard it said that people used to stare at it, as if it was something wonderful. The streets about Church-street are all called after the old families. Parker-street was called after Mr. Parker, of Cuerdon, who married Miss Ann Clayton. Their daughter Jane married one of the Tarletons. Tarleton-street is named after Colonel Banastre Tarleton. Banastre-street is named after him also. Houghton-street is after the old Houghton family. Williamson-square was laid out in 1745 by Mr. Williamson. Basnett-street was called after the Basnetts, at one time a very influential family of old Liverpool; Leigh-street after the Leighs; Cases-street after the Cases. Mr. Rose, who projected many streets at the north end of the town on his extensive property, seems to have adopted the poets' names to distinguish his thoroughfares, as in Chaucer, Ben Jonson, Juvenal, Virgil, Dryden, Milton, Sawney (Alexander) Pope-street, etc. Meadows-street, Scotland-road, was named after Mr.

William Meadows, who married six wives. His first wife lived two years.

He next married Peggy Robinson, who lived twenty years, and bore him children; after being a widower a month, he again married. This wife lived two years. After remaining a widower seven weeks, he married his fourth wife, who lived eighteen years. After a nine months' single blessedness he again married. After his fifth wife's death he remained a widower thirty-four weeks, and at the age of seventy-five, on the 10th of June, 1807, he married Miss Ann Lowe, of Preston-street. William Meadows was thought to be a bold man. Maguire-street was named after Mr. Maguire who kept a shop in Lord-street. Benson-street was called after Moses Benson, Esq. Bixteth-street after Alderman Bixteth, who is said "to have been publicly thanked by the authorities for paving the front of his house with his own hands." Pudsey-street after Pudsey Dawson.

Seel-street after Mr. Seel, who lived at the corner of it.

Wolstenholme-square and street, after an influential family of that name.

Bold-street after the Bolds, who built the first house in it: now occupied by Mr. Dismore. Colquitt-street after the Colquitts, whose mansion was converted into the Royal Inst.i.tution. Berry-street, was named after Captain Berry, who built the first house at the corner of Bold-street. Cropper-street after the Cropper family. Fazakerly-street after the Fazakerlys. Oakes-street after Captain Oakes, who died in 1808. Lydia Ann-street after Mademoiselle Lydia Ann De La Croix, who married Mr. Perry, the originator of Fawcett's foundry, and the Coal Brook Dale iron works. Mason-street, Edge-hill, was named after Mr.

Mason, who built and endowed Edge-hill church, and whose mansion stood at the corner of Mason-street, the gardens of which extended to the bottom of Paddington. James-street was named after Mr. Roger James, who held large property in it. Preeson's-row was named after Alderman Preeson, who built his house and two others of the old Castle materials. Part of Castle-street is also constructed of the timbers and stones. Old Peter-street which ran out of School-lane has disappeared.

Crosshall-street was called after the Hall and gardens of the Crosses which stood on the site of (or about) Manchester-street. Part of Fenwick-street was called Dry Bridge, a bridge pa.s.sing over the Old Ropery, the name of which is perpetuated in that street. Holden's Weint was re-named Brook-street. Lower Stanley-street was re-named b.u.t.ton-street, after Mr. b.u.t.ton, who lived to a great age, and saw I don't know how many king's reigns. The streets of Liverpool seem to have been named, in some parts of the town, as it were, in cla.s.ses, as I have mentioned. Mr. Rose called his new thoroughfares after the poets, and in another neighbourhood we find the names of celebrated commanders affording street-t.i.tles as in Blake-street, Duncan-street (afterwards Hotham-street), Clarence-street, Russell-street, Rodney-street, Seymour-street, Rupert-street, etc. While on the site of the old Botanic Gardens at the top of Oxford-street, we find Laurel-street, Grove-street, Oak, Vine, and Myrtle-streets. In Kensington, on the site of Dr.

Solomon's property, we have streets named after celebrated lawyers, and this locality is jocosely called "Judge's Land." We have streets thereabout bearing the names of Cottenham, Coltman, Wightman, Patteson, Pollock, and Coleridge, and there may also be found a Gilead and a Solomon-street.

By the way, a reference to Dr. Solomon's property, at Kensington, reminds me of the good stories that were current in Liverpool about the worthy doctor himself. I recollect one wherein the laugh was loud at the Custom-house authorities, who had been nicely bitten by a seizure they had made of some of the doctor's "exports." It was said that a quant.i.ty of "Balm of Gilead," upon which drawback was claimed, had been seized by the Custom-house people as not being of the specified value to ent.i.tle Dr. Solomon to claim so large an amount of drawback. The doctor was, as may be supposed, very wrath at his "goots" being waylaid, but he determined upon revenge. Making up a lot of sugar and water, well-flavoured with spice, the doctor entered a large case "outward,"

declaring it to be of the same value as the former seized case. The trap fell, and the Custom-house authorities were caught, to the intense satisfaction of the doctor, who told them he "vould teach them to seize his goots!"