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Liverpool at 800
On 28 August 1207 King John signed a charter which effectively created the town of Liverpool (first referred in writing to as 'Liuerpol' or 'dirty pool' some twenty years earlier). John's intention was to use the new settlement as a military base against Ireland and Scotland.
Liverpool's early growth was slow—by the mid-sixteenth century the population was estimated at just 600 people. But by the late 1500s it had overtaken Chester as the largest trading centre in the north-west and within two centuries was the country's third largest port, becoming the 'second city of empire' by the late 1800s.
The Oxford DNB includes biographies of more than 350 people born in Liverpool and over 700 one-time residents. To celebrate Liverpool's birthday here are just a few:
A city built
- Joseph Williamson (1769–1840), spent more than 10 years tunnelling under the city; his excavations in the Edge Hill area are now open to the public.
- Sir Thomas Johnson (bap. 1664, d. 1728), city politician who promoted trade and the development of the city's docks.
- Sir John Moores (1896–1993), creator of Littlewood's football pools, now commemorated in the name of one of Liverpool's two universities.
Political city
- Eleanor Rathbone (1872–1946), social reformer, who became Liverpool's first female councillor in 1909; her father William Rathbone (1819–1902) was a leading city merchant and benefactor responsible for the Liverpool Training School and Home for Nurses.
- Eric Heffer (1922–1991), left-wing MP for Liverpool Walton from 1964.
- William Gladstone (1809–1898), four-times prime
minister between 1868 and 1894, born at 62 Rodney Street, Liverpool.
- Bessie Braddock (1899–1970) trade unionist and the first woman to represent Liverpool in parliament, from 1945.
City of culture
- Edward Chambré Hardman (1898–1988), photographer, best-known for his pictorial record of the city; his home and studio at 59 Rodney Street is now a National Trust property.
- Adrian Henri (1932–2000), poet responsible (with Roger McGough and Brian Patten) for the celebrated Mersey Sound collection of 1967.
- Edward Rushton (1756–1814), poet, anti-slavery campaigner, and patron of the Liverpool School for the Indigent Blind, the first of its kind in the country.
- Fritz Spiegl (1926–2003), musician and humorist, his arrangement of local folksong 'Johnny Todd' became a top-10 hit.
Second city of the empire
- David Lewis (1823–1885), department store owner, opened his first shop on Ranelagh Street in 1846—speciality the 'knickerbocker suit'.
- Sarah Clayton (1712–1779), property developer responsible for Liverpool's Clayton Square, named after her father, the city's long-serving MP.
- Frank Hornby (1863–1936) by the late 1920s his Liverpool factory employed 1200 people and supplied Meccano worldwide.
A city at play
- William Lynn (1792–1870), hotelier who brought steeplechase racing to Aintree in 1835; the race—the 'Grand Liverpool' until 1843—became the Grand National; the racecourse was later owned by Mirabel Topham (1891–1980).
- Lucy Walker (1836–1916), Liverpool-born mountaineer and the first woman to climb the Matterhorn, on a diet of champagne and sponge cake.
- Dixie Dean (1907–1980), his record of 60 goals in the 1927–8 season remains to be broken.
- Bill Shankly (1913–1981), king of the Kop and creator of 'Fortress Anfield'.
Where now?
It's easy to search the Oxford DNB for people associated with a place. Using People Search you can find men and women who were born, baptized, educated, resident, died or buried in a particular location.
There's free access to the complete ODNB in nearly all public libraries across Britain, with the majority offering remote access so you can log-in from home.
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