Liverpool and its streets
Curiosities in names
In brief:-
I was introduced to him last week and he is full of the subject ! It is nice to meet a man who is overflowing with the something, if that something happens to be interesting. It had reference to street nomenclature, with special bearing on Liverpool. At first I thought he was going to bore me, but he didn't bore me, he interested me. He was a visitor to our city and he had been doing the place thoroughly, and, knew more about it than those who had lived here all their lives.
He talked about the principle on which the streets of Liverpool had been named, and asked who was responsible for it. I told him that primarily the property owner was, but after he had chosen the name of his streets he had to submit them to the Corporation for approval, to prevent here and there two streets having the same name. At one time some confusion was caused by duplicate names, but this was remedied by a careful system of naming and re-naming.
By this time we were both fully absorbed in the subject and here is an outline of the results of our research:-
In the centre of the city many streets take one back to the history of ancient Liverpool, by the aid of Picton's "Memorials of Liverpool," we will find such to be the case.
Castle St recalls when Liverpool had its castle, Tower-buildings brings to our minds its tower, Oldhall St the ancient Hall, Pool Lane, [now South Castle St], recalls the period when the river Mersey, had not on its Lamcashire side many miles of docks. Church St is associated with the ecclesiastical life of Liverpool and Water St guides the traveller in the direction of the river.
The town was a very small place, the custom adopted of calling some of the thoroughfares leading out of the borough by the names of the destination to which they led.
London Rd is associated with the days of the stage-coach and the perils of the journey sixty or seventy years ago in that time-honoured vehicle from Liverpool to London.
In the names of Lowhill and Brownlow hill, Picton tells us "We preserve a faint memory of the interment of chief men of our own race, more than twelve hundred years since." Today to perpetuate a memory of some of our great men we build a monument or order a statue, and have it erected in the stone yard - I mean St John's Gardens at the back of St Georges Hall.
Streets named after persons or forefathers desired to honour - Sir Thomas JOHNSON, the 1st mayor under the new charter in 1695, and who represented our borough in ten parliaments is remembered by Sir Thomas - buildings [now Sir Thomas St] the site of the buildings erected by him now occupied by the Municipal offices in Dale St. Gildart's gardens named after Richard GILDART another Liverpool worthy.
As Liverpool extended and new thoroughfares came into being plates were fixed to the corners recalling such honoured and familiar names as, ROSCOE, HUSKISSON, GLADSTONE, CANNING, RATHBONE, RAFFLES, GASCOYNE, SANDON, MOSS, NEWTON, HARDMAN, HOWARD, ASPINALL etc.
Today Liverpool is a great city of streets which has from time to time extended its boundaries.
In our midst we have "The Holyland," a district in Anfield - and here off Townsend Lane we find roads boasting such names as, Abbey, Priory, Cathedral, Chapel, Monastery, Bishop, Canon, Vicar, Rector, Curate and such like. Some builder in Anfield and the corporation having aided and abetted him - has been fond of the names of the fair sex, he has christened thoroughfares in which he has property, Edith Rd, Miriam Rd, Gertrude Rd, Elsie Rd and Lillian Rd. The residents have not far to travel in reaching the "Lake District," off Breck Rd, North , Streets are Rydal, Ullswater, Coniston, Windermere and Grasmere.
To visit "the land of the poets and musicians" you must make your way to Lodge Lane, where you will find Longfellow and Wordsworth streets and after passing by the Cedar, Lime, Moss and Fern Groves you will reach the streets of Handel and Mozart, still plod on to Upper Warwick St and look along Thackeray, Dickens, Tennyson and Herman Streets, and then make your way further into Princes Park and visit, "the land of the Earls." The names of such great statesmen as Gladstone, Beaconsfield and Salisbury seem to be very popular in old and new Liverpool with builders.
There are parts of the city where one would expect to find seafarers, the streets bearing the names of steamers of the Cunard Line. Some again named after rivers.
His Majesty's Judges visiting Liverpool are put up in the Judges Lodgings at Newsham Park, lest we should forget the names of their Lordships, we find off Kensington, thoroughfares bearing the names of Coleridge, Grantham, Hawkins, Esher, Denman etc, and they are in good company with Albert Edward, Empress, Leopold, Albany and Connaught Roads, which are in turn close by Jubilee Drive.
The months of the year are not overlooked, and if you cannot, when in Lower Breck Rd, Anfield, get the weather you want in March Rd, you should try those of July, August and September a bit lower down.
I study Mill St there I see Jordan Place and crossing it to the other side of Mill St, meet, Moses, Isaac, Jacob and David streets.
T.H.
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Grenville Street South
Was formerly named Leveson Street, the scene of an horrific family massacre, in 1849, that of Mrs Ann HINRICHSON [pregnant at the time], her two sons, Henry George aged five, three year old John Alfred and her housekeeper named Mary PARR [who died 10 days later due to her injuries]. Mrs HINRICHSON of 20 Leveson St, had taken in a lodger named WILSON who rented an apartment, her husband Capt HINRICHSON was away at sea at the time. WILSON was convicted of the murders and hanged at Kirkdale jail on September 15th 1849. The murders caused such outrage and shame that the name of the street was changed
Copyright 2002 / To date