Railways.—There are three terminal passenger stations in Liverpool, the London & North Western at Lime Street, the Lancashire & Yorkshire at Exchange and the combined station of the Midland, Great Northern & Great Central at Central. By the Mersey tunnel (opened in 1886) connexion is made with the Wirral railway, the Great Central, the Great Western and the London & North Western, on the Cheshire side of the river. The Liverpool electric overhead railway running along the line of docks from Seaforth to Dingle was opened in 1893, and in 1905 a junction was made with the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway by which through passenger traffic between Southport and the Dingle has been established. In 1895 the Riverside station at the Prince’s dock was completed, giving direct access from the landing stage to the London and North Western system.Water Supply.—The original supply of water was from wells in the sandstone rock, but in 1847 an act was passed, under which extensive works were constructed at Rivington, about 25 m. distant, and a much larger supply was obtained. The vast increase of population led to further requirements, and in 1880 another act gave power to impound the waters of the Vyrnwy, one of the affluents of the Severn. These works were completed in 1892, a temporary supply having been obtained a year earlier. The corporation had also, however, obtained power to impound the waters of the Conwy and Marchnant rivers, and to bring them into Lake Vyrnwy, the main reservoir, by means of tunnels. This work was completed and opened by the prince of Wales (George V.) in March 1910.Tramways.—The corporation in 1896 purchased the property, rights, powers and privileges of the Liverpool Electric Supply Company, and in the following year the undertaking of the Liverpool Tramway Company, which they formally took over in the autumn of the same year. Since that date a large and extended system of electric tramways has been laid down, which has led to a very remarkable increase in the receipts and the number of passengers carried.Administration of Justice.—The city has quarter-sessions for criminal cases, presided over by the recorder, and held eight times in the year. At least two police courts sit daily, and more if required. One is presided over by the stipendiary magistrate and the others by the lay magistrates and the coroner. The court of passage is a very ancient institution, possibly dating from the foundation of the borough by King John, and intended for cases arising out of the imports and exports passing through the town. Its jurisdiction has been confirmed and settled by parliament and it is competent to try civil cases arising within the city to any amount. The mayor isex-officiothe judge, but the presiding judge is an assessor appointed by the crown and paid by the corporation. The court sits about five times a year. There is a Liverpool district registry of the chancery of the County Palatine of Lancaster which has concurrent jurisdiction with the high court (chancery division) within the hundred of West Derby. The vice-chancellor holds sittings in Liverpool. There is a Liverpool district registry of the high court of justice with common law, chancery, probate and admiralty jurisdiction, under two district registrars. The Liverpool county court has the usual limited jurisdiction over a wide local area, together with bankruptcy jurisdiction over the county court districts of St Helens, Widnes, Ormskirk and Southport, and admiralty jurisdiction over the same districts with the addition of Birkenhead, Chester, Runcorn and Warrington. There are two judges attached to the court.Ecclesiastical.—The see of Liverpool was created in 1880 under the act of 1879, by the authority of the ecclesiastical commissioners, an endowment fund of about £100,000 having been subscribed for the purpose. The parish, which was separated from Walton-on-the-Hill in 1699, contained two churches, St Nicholas, the ancient chapel, and St Peter’s, then built. There were two rectors, the living being held in medieties. Of recent years changes have been sanctioned by parliament. The living is now held by a single incumbent, and a large number of the churches which have since been built have been formed into parishes by the ecclesiastical commissioners. St Peter’s has been constituted the pro-cathedral, pending the erection of the cathedral. Besides the two original parish churches, there are 103 others belonging to the establishment. The Roman Catholics form a very numerous and powerful body in the city, and it is estimated that from a third to a fourth of the entire population are Roman Catholics. A large part of these are Irish settlers or their descendants, but this district of Lancashire has always been a stronghold of Roman Catholicism, many of the landed gentry belonging to old Roman Catholic families.Charities.—The earliest charitable foundation is the Blue Coat hospital, established in 1708, for orphans and fatherless children born within the borough. The original building, opened in 1718, is a quaint and characteristic specimen of the architecture of the period. It now maintains two hundred and fifty boys and one hundred girls. In 1906 the school was removed to new buildings at Wavertree. There is an orphan asylum, established in 1840, for boys, girls and infants, and a seamen’s orphan asylum, begun in 1869, for boys and girls. The Roman Catholics have similar establishments. The Liverpool dispensaries founded in 1778 were among the pioneers of medical charity. The Royal Infirmary (opened in 1749) had a school of medicine attached, which has been very successful, and is now merged in the university. The sailors’ home, opened in 1852, designed to provide board, lodging and medical attendance at a moderate charge for the seamen frequenting the port, is one of Liverpool’s best-known charities. The David Lewis Workmen’s Hostel is an effort to solve the difficulty of providing accommodation for unmarried men of the artizan class.Literature, Art and Science.—The free library, museum and gallery of arts, established and managed by the city council, was originated in 1850. The first library building was erected by Sir William Brown. The Derby museum, containing the collections of Edward, the 13th earl, was presented by his son. The Mayer museum of historical antiquities and art was contributed by Mr Joseph Mayer, F.S.A. Sir Andrew Walker (d. 1893) erected in 1877 the art gallery which bears his name. Large additions were made in 1884, the cost being again defrayed by Sir Andrew Walker. An annual exhibition of painting is held in the autumn and a permanent collection has been formed, which was augmented in 1894 when the examples of earlyItalian art numbering altogether about 180 pictures, collected at the beginning of the 19th century by William Roscoe, were deposited in the gallery. The Picton circular reading-room, and the rotunda lecture-room were built by the corporation and opened in 1879. Alterations in the museum were completed in 1902 by which its size was practically doubled. The literary and philosophical society was established in 1812. The Royal Institution, established mainly through the efforts of Roscoe in 1817, possessed a fine gallery of early art in the Walker Art Gallery, and is the centre of the literary institutions of the town.Education.—Sunday schools were founded for poor children in 1784, as the result of a town’s meeting. These were soon followed by day-schools supplied by the various denominations. The first were the Old Church schools in Moorfields (1789), the Unitarian schools in Mount Pleasant (1790) and Manesty Lane (1792) and the Wesleyan Brunswick school (1790). In 1826 the corporation founded two elementary schools, one of which, the North Corporation school, was erected in part substitution for the grammar school founded by John Crosse, rector of St Nicholas Fleshshambles, London, a native of Liverpool, in 1515, and carried on by the Corporation until 1815. From this date onward the number rapidly increased until the beginning of the School Board in 1870, and afterwards. Mention should be made of the training ship “Indefatigable” moored in the Mersey for the sons and orphans of sailors, and the reformatory institution at Heswall, Co. Chester, which has recently replaced the training ship “Akbar” formerly moored in the Mersey. Semi-private schools were founded by public subscription—the Royal Institution school (1819), the Liverpool Institute (1825) and the Liverpool College (1840). The first has ceased to exist. The Institute was a development of the Mechanics’ Institute and was managed by a council of subscribers. It was divided into a high school and a commercial school. Under a scheme of the Board of Education under the Charitable Trusts Act this school, together with the Blackburne House high school for girls, became a public secondary school and was handed over to the corporation in 1905. Liverpool College was formerly divided into three schools, upper, middle and lower, for different classes of the community. The middle and lower schools passed into the control of the corporation in 1907. The Sefton Park elementary school and the Pupil Teachers’ College in Clarence Street were transformed into municipal secondary schools for boys and girls in 1907; the corporation has also a secondary school for girls at Aigburth. There are several schools maintained by the Roman Catholics, two schools of the Girls’ Public Day School Company and a large number of private schools. A cadet ship, the “Conway,” for the training of boys intending to become officers in the mercantile marine, is moored in the Mersey. There are two training colleges for women, one undenominational, and the other conducted by the sisters of Notre Dame for Roman Catholic women. The central municipal technical school is in the Museum Buildings, and there are three branch technical schools. There are also a nautical college, a school of cookery and a school of art controlled by the Education Committee.Liverpool University, as University College, received its charter of incorporation in 1881, and in 1884 was admitted as a college of the Victoria University. In the same year the medical school of the Royal Infirmary became part of the University College. In 1900 a supplemental charter extended the powers of self-government and brought the college into closer relations with the authorities of the city and with local institutions by providing for their fuller representation on the court of governors. In 1903 the charter of incorporation of the university of Liverpool was received, thus constituting it an independent university. The university is governed by the king as visitor, by a chancellor, two pro-chancellors, a vice-chancellor and a treasurer, by a court of over 300 members representing donors and public bodies, a council, senate, faculties and convocation. The fine group of buildings is situated on Brownlow Hill.Trade and Commerce.—In 1800 the tonnage of ships entering the port was 490,060; in 1908 it reached 17,111,814 tons. In 1800 4746 vessels entered, averaging 94 tons; in 1908 there were 25,739, averaging 665 tons. The commerce of Liverpool extends to every part of the world, but probably the intercourse with North America stands pre-eminent, there being lines of steamers to New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Galveston, New Orleans and the Canadian ports. Cotton is the great staple import. Grain comes next, American (North and South) and Australian wheat and oats occupying a large proportion of the market. An enormous trade in American provisions, including live cattle, is carried on. Tobacco has always been a leading article of import into Liverpool, along with the sugar and rum from the West Indies. Timber forms an important part of the imports, the stacking yards extending for miles along the northern docks. In regard to exports, Liverpool possesses decided advantages; lying so near the great manufacturing districts of Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire, this port is the natural channel of transmission for their goods, although the Manchester ship canal diverts a certain proportion of the traffic, while coal and salt are also largely exported.Manufactures.—The manufactures of Liverpool are not extensive. Attempts have been repeatedly made to establish cotton mills in and near the city, but have resulted in failure. Engineering works, especially connected with marine navigation, have grown up on a large scale. Shipbuilding, in the early part of the 19th century, was active and prosperous, but has practically ceased. During the latter half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, pottery and china manufacture flourished in Liverpool. John Sadler, a Liverpool manufacturer, was the inventor of printing on pottery, and during the early period of Josiah Wedgwood’s career all his goods which required printing had to be sent to Liverpool. A large establishment, called the Herculaneum Pottery, was founded in a suburb on the bank of the Mersey, but the trade has long disappeared. Litherland, the inventor of the lever watch, was a Liverpool manufacturer, and Liverpool-made watches have always been held in high estimation. There are several extensive sugar refineries and corn mills. The confectionery trade has developed during recent years, several large works having been built, induced by the prospect of obtaining cheap sugar directly from the Liverpool quays. The cutting, blending and preparing of crude tobacco have led to the erection of factories employing some thousands of hands. There are also large mills for oil-pressing and making cattle-cake.
Railways.—There are three terminal passenger stations in Liverpool, the London & North Western at Lime Street, the Lancashire & Yorkshire at Exchange and the combined station of the Midland, Great Northern & Great Central at Central. By the Mersey tunnel (opened in 1886) connexion is made with the Wirral railway, the Great Central, the Great Western and the London & North Western, on the Cheshire side of the river. The Liverpool electric overhead railway running along the line of docks from Seaforth to Dingle was opened in 1893, and in 1905 a junction was made with the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway by which through passenger traffic between Southport and the Dingle has been established. In 1895 the Riverside station at the Prince’s dock was completed, giving direct access from the landing stage to the London and North Western system.
Water Supply.—The original supply of water was from wells in the sandstone rock, but in 1847 an act was passed, under which extensive works were constructed at Rivington, about 25 m. distant, and a much larger supply was obtained. The vast increase of population led to further requirements, and in 1880 another act gave power to impound the waters of the Vyrnwy, one of the affluents of the Severn. These works were completed in 1892, a temporary supply having been obtained a year earlier. The corporation had also, however, obtained power to impound the waters of the Conwy and Marchnant rivers, and to bring them into Lake Vyrnwy, the main reservoir, by means of tunnels. This work was completed and opened by the prince of Wales (George V.) in March 1910.
Tramways.—The corporation in 1896 purchased the property, rights, powers and privileges of the Liverpool Electric Supply Company, and in the following year the undertaking of the Liverpool Tramway Company, which they formally took over in the autumn of the same year. Since that date a large and extended system of electric tramways has been laid down, which has led to a very remarkable increase in the receipts and the number of passengers carried.
Administration of Justice.—The city has quarter-sessions for criminal cases, presided over by the recorder, and held eight times in the year. At least two police courts sit daily, and more if required. One is presided over by the stipendiary magistrate and the others by the lay magistrates and the coroner. The court of passage is a very ancient institution, possibly dating from the foundation of the borough by King John, and intended for cases arising out of the imports and exports passing through the town. Its jurisdiction has been confirmed and settled by parliament and it is competent to try civil cases arising within the city to any amount. The mayor isex-officiothe judge, but the presiding judge is an assessor appointed by the crown and paid by the corporation. The court sits about five times a year. There is a Liverpool district registry of the chancery of the County Palatine of Lancaster which has concurrent jurisdiction with the high court (chancery division) within the hundred of West Derby. The vice-chancellor holds sittings in Liverpool. There is a Liverpool district registry of the high court of justice with common law, chancery, probate and admiralty jurisdiction, under two district registrars. The Liverpool county court has the usual limited jurisdiction over a wide local area, together with bankruptcy jurisdiction over the county court districts of St Helens, Widnes, Ormskirk and Southport, and admiralty jurisdiction over the same districts with the addition of Birkenhead, Chester, Runcorn and Warrington. There are two judges attached to the court.
Ecclesiastical.—The see of Liverpool was created in 1880 under the act of 1879, by the authority of the ecclesiastical commissioners, an endowment fund of about £100,000 having been subscribed for the purpose. The parish, which was separated from Walton-on-the-Hill in 1699, contained two churches, St Nicholas, the ancient chapel, and St Peter’s, then built. There were two rectors, the living being held in medieties. Of recent years changes have been sanctioned by parliament. The living is now held by a single incumbent, and a large number of the churches which have since been built have been formed into parishes by the ecclesiastical commissioners. St Peter’s has been constituted the pro-cathedral, pending the erection of the cathedral. Besides the two original parish churches, there are 103 others belonging to the establishment. The Roman Catholics form a very numerous and powerful body in the city, and it is estimated that from a third to a fourth of the entire population are Roman Catholics. A large part of these are Irish settlers or their descendants, but this district of Lancashire has always been a stronghold of Roman Catholicism, many of the landed gentry belonging to old Roman Catholic families.
Charities.—The earliest charitable foundation is the Blue Coat hospital, established in 1708, for orphans and fatherless children born within the borough. The original building, opened in 1718, is a quaint and characteristic specimen of the architecture of the period. It now maintains two hundred and fifty boys and one hundred girls. In 1906 the school was removed to new buildings at Wavertree. There is an orphan asylum, established in 1840, for boys, girls and infants, and a seamen’s orphan asylum, begun in 1869, for boys and girls. The Roman Catholics have similar establishments. The Liverpool dispensaries founded in 1778 were among the pioneers of medical charity. The Royal Infirmary (opened in 1749) had a school of medicine attached, which has been very successful, and is now merged in the university. The sailors’ home, opened in 1852, designed to provide board, lodging and medical attendance at a moderate charge for the seamen frequenting the port, is one of Liverpool’s best-known charities. The David Lewis Workmen’s Hostel is an effort to solve the difficulty of providing accommodation for unmarried men of the artizan class.
Literature, Art and Science.—The free library, museum and gallery of arts, established and managed by the city council, was originated in 1850. The first library building was erected by Sir William Brown. The Derby museum, containing the collections of Edward, the 13th earl, was presented by his son. The Mayer museum of historical antiquities and art was contributed by Mr Joseph Mayer, F.S.A. Sir Andrew Walker (d. 1893) erected in 1877 the art gallery which bears his name. Large additions were made in 1884, the cost being again defrayed by Sir Andrew Walker. An annual exhibition of painting is held in the autumn and a permanent collection has been formed, which was augmented in 1894 when the examples of earlyItalian art numbering altogether about 180 pictures, collected at the beginning of the 19th century by William Roscoe, were deposited in the gallery. The Picton circular reading-room, and the rotunda lecture-room were built by the corporation and opened in 1879. Alterations in the museum were completed in 1902 by which its size was practically doubled. The literary and philosophical society was established in 1812. The Royal Institution, established mainly through the efforts of Roscoe in 1817, possessed a fine gallery of early art in the Walker Art Gallery, and is the centre of the literary institutions of the town.
Education.—Sunday schools were founded for poor children in 1784, as the result of a town’s meeting. These were soon followed by day-schools supplied by the various denominations. The first were the Old Church schools in Moorfields (1789), the Unitarian schools in Mount Pleasant (1790) and Manesty Lane (1792) and the Wesleyan Brunswick school (1790). In 1826 the corporation founded two elementary schools, one of which, the North Corporation school, was erected in part substitution for the grammar school founded by John Crosse, rector of St Nicholas Fleshshambles, London, a native of Liverpool, in 1515, and carried on by the Corporation until 1815. From this date onward the number rapidly increased until the beginning of the School Board in 1870, and afterwards. Mention should be made of the training ship “Indefatigable” moored in the Mersey for the sons and orphans of sailors, and the reformatory institution at Heswall, Co. Chester, which has recently replaced the training ship “Akbar” formerly moored in the Mersey. Semi-private schools were founded by public subscription—the Royal Institution school (1819), the Liverpool Institute (1825) and the Liverpool College (1840). The first has ceased to exist. The Institute was a development of the Mechanics’ Institute and was managed by a council of subscribers. It was divided into a high school and a commercial school. Under a scheme of the Board of Education under the Charitable Trusts Act this school, together with the Blackburne House high school for girls, became a public secondary school and was handed over to the corporation in 1905. Liverpool College was formerly divided into three schools, upper, middle and lower, for different classes of the community. The middle and lower schools passed into the control of the corporation in 1907. The Sefton Park elementary school and the Pupil Teachers’ College in Clarence Street were transformed into municipal secondary schools for boys and girls in 1907; the corporation has also a secondary school for girls at Aigburth. There are several schools maintained by the Roman Catholics, two schools of the Girls’ Public Day School Company and a large number of private schools. A cadet ship, the “Conway,” for the training of boys intending to become officers in the mercantile marine, is moored in the Mersey. There are two training colleges for women, one undenominational, and the other conducted by the sisters of Notre Dame for Roman Catholic women. The central municipal technical school is in the Museum Buildings, and there are three branch technical schools. There are also a nautical college, a school of cookery and a school of art controlled by the Education Committee.
Liverpool University, as University College, received its charter of incorporation in 1881, and in 1884 was admitted as a college of the Victoria University. In the same year the medical school of the Royal Infirmary became part of the University College. In 1900 a supplemental charter extended the powers of self-government and brought the college into closer relations with the authorities of the city and with local institutions by providing for their fuller representation on the court of governors. In 1903 the charter of incorporation of the university of Liverpool was received, thus constituting it an independent university. The university is governed by the king as visitor, by a chancellor, two pro-chancellors, a vice-chancellor and a treasurer, by a court of over 300 members representing donors and public bodies, a council, senate, faculties and convocation. The fine group of buildings is situated on Brownlow Hill.
Trade and Commerce.—In 1800 the tonnage of ships entering the port was 490,060; in 1908 it reached 17,111,814 tons. In 1800 4746 vessels entered, averaging 94 tons; in 1908 there were 25,739, averaging 665 tons. The commerce of Liverpool extends to every part of the world, but probably the intercourse with North America stands pre-eminent, there being lines of steamers to New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Galveston, New Orleans and the Canadian ports. Cotton is the great staple import. Grain comes next, American (North and South) and Australian wheat and oats occupying a large proportion of the market. An enormous trade in American provisions, including live cattle, is carried on. Tobacco has always been a leading article of import into Liverpool, along with the sugar and rum from the West Indies. Timber forms an important part of the imports, the stacking yards extending for miles along the northern docks. In regard to exports, Liverpool possesses decided advantages; lying so near the great manufacturing districts of Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire, this port is the natural channel of transmission for their goods, although the Manchester ship canal diverts a certain proportion of the traffic, while coal and salt are also largely exported.
Manufactures.—The manufactures of Liverpool are not extensive. Attempts have been repeatedly made to establish cotton mills in and near the city, but have resulted in failure. Engineering works, especially connected with marine navigation, have grown up on a large scale. Shipbuilding, in the early part of the 19th century, was active and prosperous, but has practically ceased. During the latter half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, pottery and china manufacture flourished in Liverpool. John Sadler, a Liverpool manufacturer, was the inventor of printing on pottery, and during the early period of Josiah Wedgwood’s career all his goods which required printing had to be sent to Liverpool. A large establishment, called the Herculaneum Pottery, was founded in a suburb on the bank of the Mersey, but the trade has long disappeared. Litherland, the inventor of the lever watch, was a Liverpool manufacturer, and Liverpool-made watches have always been held in high estimation. There are several extensive sugar refineries and corn mills. The confectionery trade has developed during recent years, several large works having been built, induced by the prospect of obtaining cheap sugar directly from the Liverpool quays. The cutting, blending and preparing of crude tobacco have led to the erection of factories employing some thousands of hands. There are also large mills for oil-pressing and making cattle-cake.
Docks.—The docks of the port of Liverpool on both sides of the Mersey are owned and managed by the same public trust, the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. On the Liverpool side they extend along the margin of the estuary 61⁄2m., of which 11⁄4m. is in the borough of Bootle. The Birkenhead docks have not such a frontage, but they extend a long way backward. The water area of the Liverpool docks and basins is 418 acres, with a lineal quayage of 27 m. The Birkenhead docks, including the great float of 120 acres, contain a water area of 165 acres, with a lineal quayage of 91⁄2m. The system of enclosed docks was begun by the corporation in 1709. They constituted from the first a public trust, the corporation never having derived any direct revenue from them, though the common council of the borough were the trustees, and in the first instance formed the committee of management. Gradually the payers of dock rates on ships and goods acquired influence, and were introduced into the governing body, and ultimately, by an act of 1857, the corporation was superseded. The management is vested in the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, consisting of twenty-eight members, four of whom are nominated by the Mersey Conservancy commissioners, who consist of the first lord of the Admiralty, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster and the president of the Board of Trade, and the rest elected by the payers of rates on ships and goods, of whom a register is kept and annually revised. The revenue is derived from tonnage rates on ships, dock rates on goods, town dues on goods, with various minor sources of income.
Down to 1843 the docks were confined to the Liverpool side of the Mersey. Several attempts made to establish docks in Cheshire had been frustrated by the Liverpool corporation, who bought up the land and kept it in their own hands. In 1843, however, a scheme for docks in Birkenhead was carried through which ultimately proved unsuccessful, and the enterprise was acquired in 1855 by Liverpool. The Birkenhead docks were for many years only partially used, but are now an important centre for corn-milling, the importation of foreign cattle and export trade to the East. In addition to the wet docks, there are in Liverpool fourteen graving docks and three in Birkenhead, besides a gridiron on the Liverpool side.
The first portion of the great landing stage, known as the Georges’ stage, was constructed in 1847, from the plans of Mr (afterwards Sir) William Cubitt, F.R.S. This was 500 ft. long. In 1857 the Prince’s stage, 1000 ft. long, was built to the north of the Georges’ stage and distant from it 500 ft. In 1874 the intervening space was filled up and the Georges’ stage reconstructed. The fabric had just been completed, and was waiting to be inaugurated, when on the 28th of July 1874 it was destroyed by fire. It was again constructed with improvements. In 1896 it was farther extended to the north, and its length is now 2478 ft. and its breadth 80 ft. It is supported on floating pontoons about 200 in number, connected with the river wall by eight bridges, besides a floating bridge for heavy traffic 550 ft. in length and 35 ft. in width. The southern half is devoted to the traffic of the Mersey ferries, of which there are seven—New Brighton, Egremont, Seacombe, Birkenhead, Rock Ferry, New Ferry and Eastham. The northern half is used by ocean-going steamers and their tenders. The warehouses for storing produce form a prominent feature in the commercial part of the city. Down to 1841these were entirely in private hands, distributed as chance might direct, but in that year a determined effort was made to construct docks with warehouses on the margin of the quays. This met with considerable opposition from those interested, and led to a municipal revolution, but the project was ultimately carried out in the construction of the Albert dock and warehouses, which were opened by Prince Albert in 1845. For general produce these warehouses are falling somewhat into disuse, but grain warehouses have been constructed by the dock board at Liverpool and Birkenhead, with machinery for discharging, elevating, distributing, drying and delivering. Warehouses for the storage of tobacco and wool have also been built by the board. The Stanley tobacco warehouse is the largest of its kind in the world, the area of its fourteen floors being some 36 acres.
Dredging operations at the bar of the Queen’s channel, in the channel itself and at the landing stage enables the largest ocean liners to enter the river and approach the stage at practically all states of the tide. The dredging at the bar was begun as an experiment in September 1890 by two of the board’s ordinary hopper barges of 500 tons capacity each fitted with centrifugal pumps. The result was favourable, and larger vessels have been introduced. Before dredging was begun the depth of water at dead low water of spring tides on the bar was only 11 ft.; now there is about 28 ft. under the same conditions. The space over which dredging has been carried on at the bar measures about 7000 ft. by 1250 ft., the latter being the average width of the buoyed cut or channel through the bar. Dredging has also taken place on shoals and projections of sand-banks in the main sea channels.
Dredging operations at the bar of the Queen’s channel, in the channel itself and at the landing stage enables the largest ocean liners to enter the river and approach the stage at practically all states of the tide. The dredging at the bar was begun as an experiment in September 1890 by two of the board’s ordinary hopper barges of 500 tons capacity each fitted with centrifugal pumps. The result was favourable, and larger vessels have been introduced. Before dredging was begun the depth of water at dead low water of spring tides on the bar was only 11 ft.; now there is about 28 ft. under the same conditions. The space over which dredging has been carried on at the bar measures about 7000 ft. by 1250 ft., the latter being the average width of the buoyed cut or channel through the bar. Dredging has also taken place on shoals and projections of sand-banks in the main sea channels.
Municipality.—Under the Municipal Reform Act of 1835, the boundaries of the original borough were extended by the annexation of portions of the surrounding district, while further additions were made in 1895, 1902 and 1905. The city is divided into thirty-five wards with 103 councillors and 34 aldermen. In 1893 the title of mayor was raised to that of lord mayor. In 1885 the number of members of parliament was increased to nine by the creation of six new wards. The corporation of Liverpool has possessed from a very early period considerable landed property, the first grant having been made by Thomas, earl of Lancaster, in 1309. This land was originally of value only as a source of supply of turf for firing, but in modern times its capacity as building land has been a fruitful source of profit to the town. A large proportion of the southern district is held in freehold by the corporation and leased to tenants for terms of seventy-five years, renewable from time to time on a fixed scale of fines. There was formerly another source of income now cut off. The fee farm rents and town dues originally belonging to the crown were purchased from the Molyneux family in 1672 on a long lease, and subsequently in 1777 converted into a perpetuity. With the growth of the commerce of the port these dues enormously increased, and became a cause of great complaint by the shipping interest. In 1856 a bill was introduced into parliament, and passed, by which the town dues were transferred to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board on payment of £1,500,000, which was applied in part to the liquidation of the bonded debt of the corporation, amounting to £1,150,000.
History.—During the Norse irruption of the 8th century colonies of Norsemen settled on both sides of the Mersey, as is indicated by some of the place-names. After the Conquest, the site of Liverpool formed part of the fief (inter Ripam et Mersham) granted by the Conqueror to Roger de Poictou, one of the great family of Montgomery. Although Liverpool is not named in Domesday it is believed to have been one of the six berewicks dependent on the manor of West Derby therein mentioned. After various forfeitures and regrants from the crown, it was handed over by Henry II. to his falconer Warine. In a deed executed by King John, then earl of Mortain, about 1191, confirming the grant of this with other manors to Henry Fitzwarine, son of the former grantee, the name of Liverpool first occurs. Probably its most plausible derivation is from the NorseHlithar-pollr, “the pool of the slopes,” the pool or inlet at the mouth of which the village grew up being surrounded by gently rising slopes. Another possible derivation is from the Prov. E.lever, the yellow flag or rush, A.S.laefer.
After the partial conquest of Ireland by Strongbow, earl of Pembroke, under Henry II., the principal ports of communication were Bristol for the south and Chester for the north. The gradual silting up of the river Dee soon so obstructed the navigation as to render Chester unsuitable. A quay was then constructed at Shotwick, about 8 m. below Chester, with a castle to protect it from the incursions of the neighbouring Welsh; but a better site was sought and soon found. Into the tidal waters of the Mersey a small stream, fed by a peat moss on the elevated land to the eastward, ran from north-east to south-west, forming at its mouth an open pool or sea lake, of which many existed on both sides of the river. The triangular piece of land thus separated formed a promontory of red sandstone rock, rising in the centre about 50 ft. above the sea-level, sloping on three sides to the water. The pool was admirably adapted as a harbour for the vessels of that period, being well protected, and the tide rising from 15 to 21 ft. King John repurchased the manor from Henry Fitzwarine, giving him other lands in exchange. Here he founded a borough, and by letters patent dated at Winchester, 28th of August 1207, invited his subjects to take up burgages.
From the patent rolls and the sheriff’s accounts it appears that considerable use was made of Liverpool in the 13th century for shipping stores and reinforcements to Ireland and Wales.
In 1229 a charter was granted by Henry III., authorizing the formation of a merchants’ gild, with hanse and other liberties and free customs, with freedom from toll throughout the kingdom. Charters were subsequently granted by successive monarchs down to the reign of William and Mary, which last was the governing charter to the date of the Municipal Reform Act (1835). In 1880 when the diocese of Liverpool was created, the borough was transformed into a city by royal charter.
The crown revenues from the burgage rents and the royal customs were leased in fee-farm from time to time, sometimes to the corporation, at other times to private persons. The first lease was from Henry III., in 1229, at £10 per annum. In the same year the borough, with all its appurtenances, was bestowed with other lands on Ranulf, earl of Chester, from whom it passed to his brother-in-law William de Ferrers, earl of Derby, who seems to have built Liverpool castle between 1232 and 1237. His grandson, Robert de Ferrers, was implicated in the rising of Simon de Montfort and his lands were confiscated in 1266 when Liverpool passed into the hands of Edmund, earl of Lancaster. Ultimately Liverpool again became the property of the crown, when Henry IV. inherited it from his father John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster. In 1628 Charles I., in great straits for means which were refused by parliament, offered for sale about a thousand manors, among which Liverpool was included. The portion containing Liverpool was purchased by certain merchants of London, who, in 1635, reconveyed the crown rights, including the fee-farm rent of £14, 6s. 8d., to Sir Richard Molyneux, then recently created Viscount Molyneux of Maryborough, for the sum of £450. In 1672 all these rights and interests were acquired by the corporation.
Apart from the national objects for which Liverpool was founded, its trade developed slowly. From £10 per annum, in the beginning of the 13th century, the crown revenues had increased towards the end of the 14th century, to £38; but then they underwent a decline. The black death passed over Liverpool about 1360, and carried off a large part of the population. The Wars of the Roses in the 15th century unsettled the north-western districts and retarded progress for at least a century. The crown revenues diminished from £38 to less than half that sum, and were finally leased at £14, 6s. 8d., at which they continued until the sale by Charles I. It is, however, not safe to conclude that the reduced fee-farm rent represents an equivalent decline in prosperity; the privileges conferred by the various leases differed widely and may account for much of the apparent discrepancy.
Liverpool sent no representatives to Simon de Montfort’s parliament in 1264, but to the first royal parliament, summoned in 1295, the borough sent two members, and again in 1307.The writs of summons were then suspended for two centuries and a half. In 1547 Liverpool resumed the privilege of returning members. In 1588 the borough was represented by Francis Bacon, the philosopher and statesman. During the Civil War the town was fortified and garrisoned by the parliament. It sustained three sieges, and in 1644 was escaladed and taken by Prince Rupert with considerable slaughter.
The true rise of the commerce of Liverpool dates from the Restoration. Down to that period its population had been either stationary or retrogressive, probably never exceeding about 1000. Its trade was chiefly with Ireland, France and Spain, exporting fish and wool to the continent, and importing wines, iron and other commodities. The rise of the manufacturing industry of south Lancashire, and the opening of the American and West Indian trade, gave the first impulse to the progress which has since continued. By the end of the century the population had increased to 5000. In 1699 the borough was constituted a parish distinct from Walton, to which it had previously appertained. In 1709, the small existing harbour being found insufficient to accommodate the shipping, several schemes were propounded for its enlargement, which resulted in the construction of a wet dock closed with flood-gates impounding the water, so as to keep the vessels floating during the recess of the tide. This dock was the first of its kind. The name of the engineer was Thomas Steers.
About this date the merchants of Liverpool entered upon the slave trade, into which they were led by their connexion with the West Indies. In 1709 a single vessel of 30 tons burden made a venture from Liverpool and carried fifteen slaves across the Atlantic. In 1730, encouraged by parliament, Liverpool went heartily into the new trade. In 1751, fifty-three ships sailed from Liverpool for Africa, of 5334 tons in the aggregate. The ships sailed first to the west coast of Africa, where they shipped the slaves, and thence to the West India Islands, where the slaves were sold and the proceeds brought home in cargoes of sugar and rum. In 1765 the number of Liverpool slavers had increased to eighty-six, carrying 24,200 slaves. By the end of the century five-sixths of the African trade centred in Liverpool. Just before its abolition in 1807 the number of Liverpool ships engaged in the traffic was 185, carrying 49,213 slaves in the year.
Another branch of maritime enterprise which attracted the attention of the merchants of Liverpool was privateering, which, during the latter half of the 18th century, was a favourite investment. After the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War with France and Spain, in 1756, the commerce of Liverpool suffered severely, the French having overrun the narrow seas with privateers, and the premiums for insurance against sea risks rose to an amount almost prohibitive. The Liverpool merchants took a lesson from the enemy, and armed and sent out their ships as privateers. Some of the early expeditions proving very successful, almost the whole community rushed into privateering, with results of a very chequered character. When the War of Independence broke out in 1775 American privateers swarmed about the West India Islands, and crossing the Atlantic intercepted British commerce in the narrow seas. The Liverpool merchants again turned their attention to retaliation. Between August 1778 and April 1779, 120 privateers were fitted out in Liverpool, carrying 1986 guns and 8745 men.
See W. Enfield,Hist. of Leverpool(1773); J. Aikin,Forty Miles round Manchester(1795); T. Troughton,Hist. of Liverpool(1810); M. Gregson,Portfolio of Fragments relating to Hist. of Lancashire(1817); H. Smithers,Liverpool, its Commerce, &c. (1825); R. Syers,Hist. of Everton(1830); E. Baines,Hist. of County Palatine of Lancaster, vol. iv. (1836); T. Baines,Hist. of Commerce and Town of Liverpool(1852); R. Brooke,Liverpool during the last quarter of 18th Century(1853); J. A. Picton,Memorials of Liverpool(2 vols., 1873); Ramsay Muir and Edith M. Platt,A History of Municipal Government in Liverpool(1906); Ramsay Muir,A History of Liverpool(1907).
See W. Enfield,Hist. of Leverpool(1773); J. Aikin,Forty Miles round Manchester(1795); T. Troughton,Hist. of Liverpool(1810); M. Gregson,Portfolio of Fragments relating to Hist. of Lancashire(1817); H. Smithers,Liverpool, its Commerce, &c. (1825); R. Syers,Hist. of Everton(1830); E. Baines,Hist. of County Palatine of Lancaster, vol. iv. (1836); T. Baines,Hist. of Commerce and Town of Liverpool(1852); R. Brooke,Liverpool during the last quarter of 18th Century(1853); J. A. Picton,Memorials of Liverpool(2 vols., 1873); Ramsay Muir and Edith M. Platt,A History of Municipal Government in Liverpool(1906); Ramsay Muir,A History of Liverpool(1907).
(W. F. I.)
LIVERSEDGE, an urban district in the Spen Valley parliamentary division of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, 7 m. S.S.E. of Bradford, on the Lancashire & Yorkshire, GreatNorthern, and London & North Western railways. Pop. (1901) 13,980. The industries are chiefly the manufacture of woollen goods, the making of machinery, chemical manufactures and coal mining.
LIVERY, originally the provision of food, clothing, &c., to household servants. The word is an adaptation of the Anglo-Frenchlivrée, fromlivrer, to deliver (Late Lat.liberare, to set free, to serve, to give freely), in the special sense of distributing. In the sense of a fixed allowance of provender for horses, it survives now only in “livery-stable,”i.e. an establishment where horses and carriages are kept or let out for hire. From the meaning of provision of food and clothing the word is applied to a uniform worn by the retainers and servants of a household. In the 15th century in England a badge, collar or other insignia, the “livery,” was worn by all those who pledged themselves to support one of the great barons in return for his promise of “maintenance,”i.e.of protection against enemies; thus arose the custom of “livery and maintenance,” suppressed by Henry VII. The members of the London city companies wore a distinctive costume or “livery,” whence the term “livery companies.” In law, the term “livery” means “delivery,” the legal handing of property into the possession of another; for “livery of seisin” seeFeoffment.
LIVERY COMPANIES, the name given to particular companies or societies in the city of London. They belong to a class of institutions which at one time were universal in Europe. In most other countries they have disappeared; in England, while their functions have wholly changed, the organization remains. The origin of the city companies is to be found in the craftgilds of the middle ages. The absence of a strong central authority accounts for the tendency of confederation in the beginning of modern societies. Artificial groups, formed in imitation of the family, discharged the duties which the family was no longer able, and the state was not yet able, to undertake. The inhabitants of towns were forced into the societies known as gild-merchants, which in course of time monopolized the municipal government, became exclusive, and so caused the growth of similar societies among excluded citizens. The craftgilds were such societies, composed of handicraftsmen, which entered upon a struggle with the earlier gilds and finally defeated them. The circumstances and results of the struggle were of much the same character in England and on the continent. In London the victory of the crafts is decisively marked by the ordinance of the time of Edward II., which required every citizen to be a member of some trade or mystery, and by another ordinance in 1375 which transferred the right of election of corporate officers (including members of parliament) from the ward-representatives to the trading companies. Henceforward, and for many years, the companies engrossed political and municipal power in the city of London.
The trading fraternities assumed generally the character of corporations in the reign of Edward III. Many of them had been chartered before, but their privileges, hitherto exercised only on sufferance and by payment of their terms, were now confirmed by letters patent. Edward III. himself became a member of the fraternity of Linen Armourers, or Merchant Taylors, and other distinguished persons followed his example. From this time they are called livery companies, “from now generally assuming a distinctive dress or livery.” The origin of the Grocers’ Company is thus described: “Twenty-two persons, carrying on the business of pepperers in Soper’s Lane, Cheapside, agree to meet together, to a dinner, at the Abbot of Bury’s, St Mary Axe, and commit the particulars of their formation into a trading society to writing. They elect after dinner two persons of the company so assembled—Roger Osekyn and Lawrence de Haliwell—as their first governors or wardens, appointing, at the same time, in conformity with the pious custom of the age, a priest or chaplain to celebrate divine offices for their souls” (Heath’s “Account of the Grocers’ Company,” quoted in Herbert’sTwelve Great Livery Companies, 1836, i. 43). The religious observances and the common feasts were characteristic features of those institutions. They were therefore not merely trade unions in the current meaning of that phrase, butmay rather be described as forms of industrial self-government, the basis of union being the membership of a common trade, and the authority of the society extending to the general welfare, spiritual and temporal, of its members. It must be remembered that they flourished at a time when the separate interests of master and servant had not yet been created; and, indeed, when that fundamental division of interests arose, the companies gradually lost their functions in the regulation of industry. The fact that the craftsmen were a homogeneous order will account for the wide authority claimed by their societies, and the important public powers which were conceded to them. In the regulation of trade they possessed extensive powers. They required every one carrying on the trade to join the company. In 1363, in answer to a remonstrance against the mischief caused by “the merchants called grocers who engrossed all manner of merchandize vendable, and who suddenly raised the prices of such merchandize within the realm,” it was enacted “that all artificers and people of mysteries shall each choose his own mystery1before next Candlemas, and that, having so chosen it, he shall henceforth use no other.” L. Brentano (On Gilds) holds that it is wrong to represent such regulations as monopolistic, inasmuch as there was no question whatever of a monopoly in that time nor until the degeneration of the craftgilds into limited corporations of capitalists. In the regulation of trade the right of search was an important instrument. The wardens of the grocers are to “assayen weights, powders, confeccions, platers, oyntments and all other things belonging to the same crafte.” The goldsmiths had the assay of metals, the fishmongers the oversight of fish, the vintners of the tasting of wine, &c. The companies enforced their regulations on their members by force. Many of their ordinances looked to the domestic affairs and private conduct of the members. The grocers ordain “that no man of the fraternite take his neyghbor’s house ytis of the same fraternite, or enhaunce the rent against the will of the foresaid neyghbor.” Perjury is to be punished by the wardens and society with such correction as that other men of the fellowship may be warned thereby. Members reduced to poverty by adventures on the sea, increased price of goods, borrowing and pledging, or any other misfortune, are to be assisted “out of the common money, according to his situation, if he could not do without.”
Following what appears to be the natural law of their being, the companies gradually lost their industrial character. The course of decay would seem to have been the following. The capitalists gradually assumed the lead in the various societies, the richer members engrossed the power and the companies tended to become hereditary and exclusive. Persons might be members who had nothing to do with the craft, and the rise of great capitalists and the development of competition in trade made the regulation of industry by means of companies no longer possible. For an account of the “degeneration of craftgilds” a general reference may be made to Brentano,On Gilds(1870), and C. Gross,The Gild Merchant(2 vols., 1890). The usurpation of power on the part of the richer members was not always effected without opposition. Brentano refers to a pamphlet on the Clothworkers’ Company, published in 1649, which asserts that “the commonalty” in the old charters meant, not the whole gild, but only the masters, wardens and assistants. Herbert records a dispute in the Goldsmiths’ Company in 1529. The mode of electing officers, and the system of management generally, was challenged by three members who called themselves “artificers, poor men of the craft of goldsmiths.” The company, or rather, the wardens, the assistants and livery presented a petition to the lord mayor, which was answered by the discontented craftsmen. The dispute was carried into the court of chancery and the star chamber. The artificers accused the company of subverting their grants, misappropriating the funds and changing the constitution of the society, and they complain of this being done by the usurpation of persons who “were but merchant goldsmiths, and had but little knowledge in the science.” In 1531 the three complainants were expelled from the company, and then the dispute seems to have ended. In the last stage of the companies the members have ceased to have any connexion with the trades, and in most cases their regulative functions have disappeared. The one characteristic which has clung to them throughout is that of owners of property and managers of charitable trusts. The connexion between the companies and the municipality is shortly as follows. The ordinance of Edward II. required freemen of the city to be members of one or other of the companies. By the ordinance of 49 Edw. III. (1375), the trading companies were to nominate the members of common council, and the persons so nominated alone were to attend both at common councils and at elections. An ordinance in 7 Richard II. (1383) restored the elections of common councilmen to the wards, but corporate officers and representatives in parliament were elected by a convention summoned by the lord mayor from the nominees of the companies. An act of common council in 7 Edw. IV. (1467) appointed the election of mayor, sheriffs, &c., to be in the common council, together with the masters and wardens of the companies. By 15 Edw. IV. masters and wardens were ordered to associate with themselves the honest men of their mysteries, and come in their best liveries to the elections; that is to say, the franchise was restricted to the “liverymen” of the companies. At this time the corporation exercised supreme control over the companies, and the companies were still genuine associations of the traders and householders of the city. The delegation of the franchise to the liverymen was thus, in point of fact, the selection of a superior class of householders to represent the rest. When the corporation lost its control over the companies, and the members of the companies ceased to be traders and householders, the liverymen were no longer a representative class, and some change in the system became necessary. The Reform Acts of 1832 and 1867 reformed the representation in several particulars. The liverymen of the companies, being freemen of the city, have still, however, the exclusive power of electing the lord mayor, sheriffs, chamberlain and other corporate officers.
The contributions made by the companies to the public purposes of the state and the city are interesting points in their early history. Their wealth and their representative character made them a most appropriate instrument for the enforcement of irregular taxation. The loan of £21,263, 6s. 8d. to Henry VIII. for his wars in Scotland, in 1544, is believed by Herbert to be the first instance of a pecuniary grant to the crown, but the practice rapidly gained ground. The confiscation of ecclesiastical property at the time of the Reformation affected many of the trusts of the companies; and they were compelled to make returns of their property devoted to religious uses, and to pay over the rents to the crown. In course of time the taxation of the companies became “a regular source of supply to government.” The historians of the city have for the most part described these as unjust and tyrannical exactions, but, looking at the representative and municipal character of the companies, and the purposes to which their contributions were applied, we may regard them as a rough but not unfair mode of taxation. The government, when money was wanted for public works, informed the lord mayor, who apportioned the sums required among the various societies, and issued precepts for its payment. Contributions towards setting the poor to work, erecting the Royal Exchange, cleansing the city ditch, discovering new countries, furnishing military and naval armaments, for men, arms and ammunition for the defence of the city, are among what Herbert calls the sponging expedients of the government. The crown occasionally interfered in a more unjustifiable manner with the companies in the exercise of their patronage. The Stuarts made strenuous efforts to get the control of the companies. Terrified by the proceedings in thequo warrantocase, most of the companies surrendered their charters to the crown, but such surrenders were annulled by the act of 2 William and Mary(1690) reserving the judgment inquo warrantoagainst the city. The livery companies now in existence are the following:
The following are the twelve great companies in order of civic precedence: Mercers, Grocers, Drapers, Fishmongers, Goldsmiths, Skinners, Merchant Taylors, Haberdashers, Salters, Ironmongers, Vintners, Cloth-workers. The “Irish Society” was incorporated in the 11 James I. as “the governor and assistants of the new plantation in Ulster, within the realm of Ireland.” The twelve companies contributed in equal portions the sum of £60,000 for the new scheme, by which it was intended to settle a Protestant colony in the lands forfeited by the Irish rebels. The companies divided the settlement into twelve nearly equal parts, assigning one to each, but the separate estates are still held to be under the paramount jurisdiction of the Irish Society. The charter of the society was revoked by the court of star chamber in the reign of Charles I., but a new one was granted by Charles II., under which the society still acts.
Most of the companies administer charities of large value. Many of them are governors of important schools,e.g. the Skinners have the Tonbridge Grammar School; the Mercers, St Paul’s School; the Merchant Taylors, the school bearing their name, &c. The constitution of the livery companies usually embraces (a) the court, which includes the master and wardens, and is the executive and administrative body; (2) the livery or middle class, being the body from which the court is recruited; and (3) the general body of freemen, from which the livery is recruited. Some companies admit women as freemen. The freedom is obtained either by patrimony (by any person over twenty-one years of age born in lawful wedlock after the admission of his father to the freedom), by servitude (by being bound as an apprentice to a freeman of the company) or by redemption. Admission to many of the companies is subject to the payment of considerable fees. For example, in the Merchant Taylors the fees are—upon taking up the freedom, by patrimony or servitude, £1, 3s. 4d.; by redemption, £84; on admission to the livery, £80, 8s.; on election to the court of assistants, £115, 10s. At one time the position of the livery companies was a subject of much political discussion. Two parties threatened to attack them—on one side those who were anxious for extensive reforms in the municipal organization of London; on the other, those who wished to carry forward the process of inspection and revision of endowments, which had already overtaken the universities, schools and other charities. A Royal Commission was appointed in 1880 to inquire into all the livery companies, into the circumstances and dates of their foundation, the objects for which they were founded, and how far those objects were being carried into effect. A very valuableReport and Appendix(4 vols., 1884) was published, containing,inter alia, information on the constitution and powers of the governing bodies, the mode of admission of members of the companies, the mode of appointment, duties and salaries and other emoluments of the servants of the companies, the property of, or held in trust for, the companies, its value, situation and description. The companies very freely made returns to the commission, the only ones not doing so being the Broderers, Bowyers, Distillers, Glovers, Tin-Plate Workers and Weavers. The Commission estimated the annual income of the companies to be from £750,000 to £800,000, about £200,000 of that amount being trust income, the balance corporate income.Authorities.—In addition to theReportreferred to above the following works may be consulted: H. T. Riley,Memorials of London and London Life(1868);Chronicle of London from 1089 to 1483(ed. by Sir N. H. Nicolas and E. Tyrrel, 1827);Munimenta Gildhallae Londiniensis, in Rolls Series, ed. by H. T. Riley (4 vols., 1859-1862); J. Toulmin Smith,English Gilds(published by Early English Text Society), with essay by L. Brentano (1870); W. Herbert,History of the Twelve Great Livery Companies(1837); C. Gross,The Gild Merchant(2 vols., 1890); W. C. Hazlitt,The Livery Companies of the City of London(1892), contains a précis of the Royal Commission; P. H. Ditchfield,The City Companies of London(1904); G. Unwin,The Gilds and Companies of London(1908).
Most of the companies administer charities of large value. Many of them are governors of important schools,e.g. the Skinners have the Tonbridge Grammar School; the Mercers, St Paul’s School; the Merchant Taylors, the school bearing their name, &c. The constitution of the livery companies usually embraces (a) the court, which includes the master and wardens, and is the executive and administrative body; (2) the livery or middle class, being the body from which the court is recruited; and (3) the general body of freemen, from which the livery is recruited. Some companies admit women as freemen. The freedom is obtained either by patrimony (by any person over twenty-one years of age born in lawful wedlock after the admission of his father to the freedom), by servitude (by being bound as an apprentice to a freeman of the company) or by redemption. Admission to many of the companies is subject to the payment of considerable fees. For example, in the Merchant Taylors the fees are—upon taking up the freedom, by patrimony or servitude, £1, 3s. 4d.; by redemption, £84; on admission to the livery, £80, 8s.; on election to the court of assistants, £115, 10s. At one time the position of the livery companies was a subject of much political discussion. Two parties threatened to attack them—on one side those who were anxious for extensive reforms in the municipal organization of London; on the other, those who wished to carry forward the process of inspection and revision of endowments, which had already overtaken the universities, schools and other charities. A Royal Commission was appointed in 1880 to inquire into all the livery companies, into the circumstances and dates of their foundation, the objects for which they were founded, and how far those objects were being carried into effect. A very valuableReport and Appendix(4 vols., 1884) was published, containing,inter alia, information on the constitution and powers of the governing bodies, the mode of admission of members of the companies, the mode of appointment, duties and salaries and other emoluments of the servants of the companies, the property of, or held in trust for, the companies, its value, situation and description. The companies very freely made returns to the commission, the only ones not doing so being the Broderers, Bowyers, Distillers, Glovers, Tin-Plate Workers and Weavers. The Commission estimated the annual income of the companies to be from £750,000 to £800,000, about £200,000 of that amount being trust income, the balance corporate income.
Authorities.—In addition to theReportreferred to above the following works may be consulted: H. T. Riley,Memorials of London and London Life(1868);Chronicle of London from 1089 to 1483(ed. by Sir N. H. Nicolas and E. Tyrrel, 1827);Munimenta Gildhallae Londiniensis, in Rolls Series, ed. by H. T. Riley (4 vols., 1859-1862); J. Toulmin Smith,English Gilds(published by Early English Text Society), with essay by L. Brentano (1870); W. Herbert,History of the Twelve Great Livery Companies(1837); C. Gross,The Gild Merchant(2 vols., 1890); W. C. Hazlitt,The Livery Companies of the City of London(1892), contains a précis of the Royal Commission; P. H. Ditchfield,The City Companies of London(1904); G. Unwin,The Gilds and Companies of London(1908).