Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request map mystery

Looking on an 1889 map on this site, to answer another question, I was looking for Carlisle Street, off Oxton Road, only to find it was then called Peel Street, the streets either side, Mornington St., and Midland St still had the same names, can anyone throw any light on this please.

Below the map in question and a snippet of the 1881 census showing Carlisle St next to Midland St. Possible mistake on the map?

1876 map showing Peel St, not carlise St.

Peel St on the 1881 census is in the Clifton Ward, Tranmere, by Union St.

The 1889 map is wrong in several respects:
1. Warwick St. and Windsor St. are reversed.
2. Clayton St. is mis-spelled and was not straight.
3. Cook St. was not straight.
4. Quarry Bank St. was not opposite either Warwick or Windsor Sts.
There may be other errors but those sprung to mind. I knew the area well as my gran lived in Windsor St.
I must admit I'd never heard of Peel St.
Attached is a copy of the 1912 O.S. map.

Peel St on the 1889 map. Tranmere.

Below the 1878 Post Office Directory for Oxton Rd, Birkenhead.
Carlise St being on the 1881 census means any name change must have taken place between 1878 and 1881. The 1889 map must either be wrongly dated or the information for that map has been taken from earlier maps with no checks being done.

Could be a name changed such as Victoria Road, Seacombe to Borough Road so as not to be confused with Victoria Road, New Brighton.
That's if they had a fire service/police response then

Seems odd, below, 1876 map with Carlisle St where Peel St, Tranmere, is/was in the following years. It appears a swop over of street names have taken place.

Interesting about the street name swap; I bet that caused a lot of confusion for a while. Also, I wonder why, in the 1878 directory, there's that huge gap between numbers 70 & 78. The first missing building would be where the offices of the Birkenhead Brewery were.

Is it one of the "deliberate mistakes" that map makers introduced to weed out copyright thieves?

I think they're known as "trap streets" but are generally fake streets added rather than changing a name.

Too many actual errors on that map I think, for that to be the case. I've heard of the "phantom street" idea, to deter copying.

Thanks for the info, must have caused confusion if they just swapped street names.

I don't know if these maps will be of any help, or will further confuse things ...

1. 1866 Philips map - No Peel Street / Carlisle Street or anything else near the Birkenhead-Chester Railway line in Rock Ferry.

2. 1866 Philips map - Peel Street is there between Westbourne Road and Oxton Road.

3. 1888 Broom's map - There is a Peel Street between Westbourne Road and Oxton Road, and another Peel Street in Rock Ferry alongside the railway line.

(The yellow line on the third map is a boundary marker on the original - it's nothing to do with the Peel Street topic)

Yes, further confusion
On the 1866 map, Wilkinson St. was called Richmond (Terrace)?