4 edition ofnewsletter #43by ourover-worked quality publications. Following anemergency all that hehasdoneto produce suchhigh the widerSociety –ishugely grateful for immense and the committee – and hopefully voluntary work over recent years hasbeen very considerable holeinitsskillbase.Ron’s publishing businessleftthecommittee witha editor inorder to concentrate uponhisown our Journal andnewsletter designerand Ron Jones’ departure earlierthisyear asboth Thanks totwo for enthusiastic Merseyside-based members Heritage Programme, withanencouragement a sister project to themore famousWorld programme, launched over 20 years ago and brought to ourattention thisambitious France andworking withUNESCO, has Martin Porter, anLHSmemberliving in UNESCO’s MemoryoftheWorld programme the wide range of photographic, digital printing, exhibition, display andsignageservicesit offers. display exhibition, printing, widerangeofphotographic,digital the C3imaging,,forgenerously tothank LHS wouldlike issueatareduced this printing Society. costtothe company’s the Visit detailsof websiteforfull Postal Correspondence: Secretary, LHSAdministration 32RugbyDrive,Aintree LiverpoolL108JU Village, Duddington •JournalEditor:MarieMcQuade Newsletter Editor:Matthew Williams Librarian: Allan Treasurer: Richard MacDonald([email protected]) • Programme Secretary: Stonall Cynthia LIVERPOOL HISTORY SOCIETY–2016MEETINGSPROGRAM This is the former StFrancisXavierCollegebuilding.Alltalksstartat2pm(doorsopen1.30pm). This istheformer All meetingswilltakeplaceintheGraceRoom,1stFloor, HopeatEverton,ShawStreet, L38QB. Membership Secretary: GrahamJones([email protected]) 15 May 17 April 20 March 21 February NOTE: TheMaymeetingispreceded bytheAGMat1.30pm(doorsopen1pm). Chairman &AdministrationSecretary: Fred Forrest ([email protected]) The Liverpool History Societyisaregistered charity -Number1093746 their subscriptions by that date. The prize for the first correct entry drawn from a hat will be two be will hat a complimentary copies ofthenext Journal from (available drawn inmid-2016) forgiving to friendsorrelatives. entry correct first the for prize The date. that by subscriptions their or e-mail.Closingdate 31stMarch 2016. Entry islimited to lifemembers andthose whohave paid The answers canbefoundinthe2015 Journal. Sendyour entry to themembership secretary by post 6. WhichNew Zealandbanknote bears theportrait ofLiverpool-born Kate Sheppard? 5. Inwhichcemetery istheLiverpool sculptor EdwinLyon buried? 4. Whofirst occupied the two housesshown inthephotograph? 3. Inwhichstreet canyou findthe remains ofadruidcircle? 2. What street liesburiedbeneath Holt’s Arcade inIndiaBuildings? 1. What was thenameofcommander ofsubmarineU-20 whichsanktheLusitania? Christmas competition www.liverpoolhistorysociety.org.uk The HistoryofAbercromby Square The JapaneseConsul Liverpool BotanicGardens 1802–2016 Bootle Through Time LHS email:[email protected] Graham Jones the continuing series. of first the thus is #44 Newsletter standard. producing anewsletter to Ron’s high in order that theSociety canrevert to of theSociety’s ‘Inthe Footsteps ofPeter Ellis’) services ofMatthew Duddington (thedesigner have beenextremely fortunate to obtainthe chair andadminsecretary, Fred Forrest, we Graham Jones membership secretary e-mailaddress. obtainable uponrequest to meviamy A pdfcopy ofMartin’s detailedletter is of Liverpool sectionto that programme. to become involved indeveloping aMemory Dr ChrisWilliams Steve Smith Stephen Lyus Hugh Hollinghurst ( loan for30days. Sendmeanemail the in find will ‘Return Books’box. Allbooksare on you which form loan Liverpool Central Library, andcomplete Office, a Record Liverpool the If you wishto borrow LHSbooks,visit LHS libraryloans Allan Williams queries, donothesitate to contact me. when you visittheLibrary. Ifyou have any to take your Programme card foridentity recently added to thelibrary. Remember There is also a section on ‘new books’ its location andLibrary hours ofopening. Library heading,together withdetailson information ontheLHSwebsite underthe book’ borrow a to ‘How Youfind title. will it, unlesssomeoneelsehasreserved the days, emailmeagain andIwillauthorise wish to extend theloanforafurther30 you have book(s)out onloanand,ifyou [email protected] www.c3imaging.com ) when Before LiverBirds the attached to theLHS). officially not remains it gave(although Rob it group membership, retaining thenamethat Since thenthey have steadily increased the the site anddedicated itto Rob’s memory. and Keith Lloyd subsequently developed (LHS newsletter #34),andKevin Aspinall History Society name.SadlyRob diedin2012 created itin2011by adaptingtheLiverpool from strength to strength since Rob Ainsworth is anonlinehistory forumthat hasgone The Liverpool (Facebook) History Society An onlinecompaniontotheLiverpoolHistorySociety Digging the tunnel Digging the HISTORY SOCIETY www.liverpoolhistorysociety.org.uk bring backfond memoriesofyears gone by. or even justwithadvice intheirquestto help fellow members withthese aspects of research tools suchasoldmapsandeditions different to access have group the in Many to themhasbeencovered by othermembers. easily to discover whetheranitem ofinterest has asearch barwhichenablesmembers with thehistory ofMerseyside, andthesite view and comment on for everyone concerned historians, there issomethinginteresting to memory lane.From amateur to professional area orperhapsmerely lookingforatripdown globe who are doing some research on the ex-pats living in just about every corner of the a diverse mix of local people to homesick archives, its nearly 6000 members range from Liverpool and surrounding areas in its With currently over 8000images ofold leading onlineLiverpool localhistory groups. Keith and Kevin, it has grown into one of the death, andwiththegroup administered by hundred members. However, since Rob’s was itselfasmallgroup withjustafew area they cover. Intheearlydays theL(F)HS smaller dueto the more restricted catchment which, althoughsuccessful, have remained Group History Fairfield and and theKensington existence such as the other Merseyside Facebook groups came into Together withtheL(F)HSsite created by Rob, Gore’s Directory andthey are willingto Tuebrook History Group Keith Lloyd History Society’. the facebook search bar‘Liverpool (Facebook) ‘Join Group’. Alternatively, simply type into groups/123226627759769 Then follow thelink: need to have anactive facebook account. and comments. To access this group you will monitored to prevent any inappropriate posts if problems occur andthesite isconstantly The administrators canbecontacted online King George V. the openedin1934 by Carl Bernard Bartels, andconstruction of before arrival oftheLiver Birds designedby by QueenVictoria, theRoyal Liver Building Exhibition inEdge Lanein1886attended and hisBalmofGileadcordial, theLiverpool fortune inKensington, Liverpool inthe1790s) Dr Solomon(thequackdoctor whomadehis Hartley and hisAlbertDockVictoria Tower, Jesse movement, suffrage the and her association with the family allowance on subjectssuchasEleanorRathbone and with photographs ontheirdiscussionwall The group hasrecently includedstorylines video clipsandstories related to thearea. as well ascomments, posts,photographs, help andwelcomes questionsfrom members It isafriendlygroup that always endeavours to WINTER 2015 andclickonthetab www.facebook.com/ #44 1 Newsletter 13 September 2014 – Lee Ruddin 8 November 2015 – Julie Robson Meeting report: Meeting report: AMERICANS IN WARTIME LIVERPOOL Fred Forrest GEORGE STUBBS: LIVERPOOL MASTER Graham Jones

Beginning his talk, Lee noted that it was split into 3 sections, “the Good, THE BAR. Segregation was common amongst US forces, reflecting the Whilst paintings by George Stubbs – Liverpool’s greatest artist – are He then moved to Lincolnshire with Mary Spencer, the woman who the Bar and the Ugly”, and largely covered the American presence in situation back home, but Churchill found that he could not remind well represented in the 18th century room at the , became his lifelong companion (not the Mary – of uncertain surname Liverpool from 1942 onwards. President Roosevelt that racism was fascism. Some Liverpudlians and examples of his experiments in painting with enamels on but thought to be Mary Townley – who had given birth to his four did protest but it was significant that black troops were not cheered earthenware can be seen in the Walker and Lady Lever Art Galleries, children) and it was there that he made the detailed studies of horses THE GOOD. American uniforms had been seen in Liverpool from when marching along the streets of Liverpool. Some 5000 black troops his life in the North West is curiously less well documented. Julie’s talk through which he secured many commissions and became famous early 1941, these being servicemen sent to teach the British how to use were stationed in Aintree, Maghull and Huyton in 1943 but were brought this much-needed history to our attention in a fascinating and as a painter of animals. A frequent theme was the horse and lion in American machinery. Convoys of up to 12 ships from the USA often outnumbered locally by white troops. One source tells of white troops well illustrated talk. Although the account was inevitably qualified combat (at least 17 variations are known to exist), and he published came into the Mersey and about 1.2 million Americans passed through booing a black one. White troops used the Grafton dance hall and with a number of ‘possibilities’ – such is the uncertainty surrounding ‘The Anatomy of a Horse’ in 1766. An interesting aspect of Julie’s talk the docks. Many, stationed locally for a time, spent leisure hours in blacks the Rialto (which eventually became whites only) and colour several of the aspects of Stubbs’ Liverpool career – it was clear that was the demonstration that Stubbs often painted scenes which he Liverpool, and the local women were captivated by their white teeth bars were set in the Aintree Institute and Reeces. Blacks were gradually her careful research had also enabled Julie to question the reliability later copied as backdrops for the main focus of his commissions and the money in their pockets, leading to many GI brides and babies! being excluded, and former West Indian cricketer Leary Constantine of some of the details in a number of biographies, particularly the – the horses and their proud owners. Some Americans carried local guidebooks and some with British was appointed as welfare officer but his protests proved to be in vain. anecdotal account by Stubbs’ friend and fellow artist Ozias Humphry. ancestors even sought out distant British relatives. Not surprisingly The refusal of Nat Bookbinder, a Warrington Jew, to impose a bar in his An illustrious career followed in London and, although exhibiting perhaps, the British Government’s Mass Observation Unit believed club cause a riot. Women were criticised for consorting with black men Stubbs (1724-1806) came from a family of curriers, living and working regularly in the Liverpool Academy, whether he ever returned to that the American presence brightened up a drab Liverpool. but some locals did protest against the bar in letters to newspapers. in the old business area around Dale Street and Old Hall Street, Liverpool is unknown. However, it was certainly a Liverpool connection One negro put it down to fear of the unknown. and biographers have speculated where he might have been taught. that provided Stubbs with the introduction to Josiah Wedgwood Several influential Americans visited Liverpool in the early years. Julie’s research suggests that it is likely that he was sent by his father to and which resulted in his work involving painting in enamels on Wendell Wilkie, a failed Presidential candidate, visited the Town THE UGLY. There were thought to be as many as 40 reported rape be educated at William Smith’s Independent School on Redcross Street earthenware. Whilst most national galleries are proud to have a single Hall and the docks and returned home to report to the Lend Lease cases by GIs in the Liverpool area, with many more unreported. where not only accountancy and bookkeeping were taught (important item, the Lady Lever has four, and such is their importance that they Committee. John Gilbert Winant, the US Ambassador to Britain for Giving examples of two convictions of US troops (20 years hard labour if he was being prepared to take over his father’s business) but also the are currently on a world tour. most of the war, toured the docks and received an honorary DL from for one, a life sentence for the other), Lee summed up this as “the dark geometry and science which would later prove to have been essential the University of Liverpool. Most significantly perhaps, the President’s side of the US presence in Europe”. to the young man in his preference to become an artist. This possibility wife Eleanor visited in 1942, toured the docks, especially the fortress- is reinforced by the fact that a surgeon, Dr Ralph Holt, living but a few like Stanley Dock tobacco warehouse, which was well used by US doors from the school, is reported in biographies to have given the forces, and also inspected US troops stationed in Deyes Lane, Maghull. young Stubbs anatomy lessons and lent him bones to draw. In November of that year she also broadcast on BBC radio. As the young Stubbs matured, and following initial experience in Much hospitality was shown by the US troops to locals, especially oil painting gained during a short period at Knowsley Hall under children, and some GIs went to great lengths to keep the relationships the guidance of Hamlet Winstanley, he travelled to Yorkshire and going after the war. At Christmas, local children were entertained by continued to study anatomy at a hospital in York whilst earning a the GIs at Nazareth House in Crosby and parcels were distributed living as a portrait painter and where he also taught himself to engrave. there and in hospitals. 1500 children were entertained at the A portrait of George Fothergill of York in 1846 is the earliest known to Paramount Cinema (subsequently the Odeon) and some GIs became be by Stubbs. After a visit to Rome, he returned to Liverpool in 1754 for ‘uncles’, especially to disabled children. US mobile canteens were also The plaque at the commemorating the American presence the birth of his fourth child and to look after his mother until her death regularly sent to badly blitzed areas. in Liverpool during WW2 two years later. From the Walker Art Gallery’s collection, room 5

11 October 2015 – Kerry Massheder-Rigby Meeting report: ‘In courts where the sun never penetrates, in alleys where pure air is unknown.’ MEMORIES OF LIVERPOOL’S COURT HOUSING Graham Jones (Hugh Shimmin)

We were most grateful to Kerry for standing The development of court housing had begun Illustrated with early photos from the moralising agenda – tended to label the the ‘mythical Charles Dickens-like existence’ in at extremely short notice to replace in the early 18th century as a result of the lack Corporation archive and modern photos poverty stricken residents as filthy and which Kerry felt had perhaps grown up in Liz Stewart who was unable to attend due to a of available building land within Liverpool’s of the sole remnant of court housing in blameworthy ‘slum-dwellers’. the Liverpool consciousness and may have bereavement. The talk was taken from Kerry’s old town boundaries, a need for cheap Pembroke Place, Kerry provided details of limited a fuller understanding. In the midst wider PhD project to investigate how oral housing for the growing workforce, and typical dwellings: houses of varying height, A review of Liverpool’s various Sanitary, of adversity there had clearly been a valued history might contribute to an understanding the willingness of builders and landlords frequently back-to-back with the next court, Sewerage, Public Health and Housing Acts sense of community with ‘some lovely fond of the ‘housing experience’ in Liverpool’s to construct for that market. As early as facing each other across a shared courtyard, indicated how attempts were made to improve memories’ and ‘laughter as well as the tears.’ courts, since slum clearance programmes 1789, housing in Liverpool was already entered through a narrow passageway from conditions, and how replacement housing between the 1870s and the 1960s have left being assessed and in 1802 Dr Currie made the street, a shared toilet and ashpit at the far was intended to provide for the ‘poorest poor’ Kerry concluded her talk – the full title the city with almost no archaeological recommendations about minimum court end and a centrally located water standpipe. who had been faced with forced eviction. of which was You Can’t Replant Old Trees: records. Interviews conducted by Kerry and standards, but the 1803 Bill to regulate But it was Kerry’s account of the responses of Memories of Liverpool’s Court Housing – Liz, and which are now part of the Museum and enforce those standards was met with Typically overcrowded and insanitary, court houses with their... small squalid rooms’ ten Liverpool people who had provided oral by quoting from one of the Our Humble of Liverpool’s Our Humble Abodes project, opposition from the owners (surprise, such court housing was home to half of as being ‘destitute of drainage and defiant memories of life in some of the last courts to Abodes interviewees who summed up his enabled first-hand recollections of the surprise). The construction of low-cost Liverpool’s 19th century working class of ventilation’. With health concerns be cleared which offered a moving insight. thoughts on the loss of Liverpool’s courts: structural layouts of a number of courts to be courts was particularly prolific between 1820 and in 1864 Hugh Shimmin, a journalist remaining a priority into the mid-20th Although some unhappy memories were “Things now are done in a different way. enlivened by accounts of residents’ memories and 1840, by which time they had become with the satirical Liverpool weekly The century, contemporary accounts – frequently revealed, a number of positive testimonies You can’t replant old trees.” of life there. seriously hazardous to health. Porcupine, characterised the ‘old, dilapidated produced by commentators with a provided us with a heartening balance to

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