My great grandparents lived at number two Moseley avenue Liscard. Small rows of terraced houses there now but can anyone say if number two was the same or was it a bigger house?

Seem to have been a fair sized family around the time of the first war and relatively wealthy although I suppose at the time it wasn't unusual for big families to live in small terraced houses.

Is there a map available showing number two around the time of the first war?

my dad lives in moseley avenue now, they are only small 2 up 2 downs

On the 1911 census numbers 1 and 2 Moseley Avenue (presumably the houses at the Wallasey Road end) are shown as having 5 rooms while all the others have 4.

Were the McKeown's there then? Also what was the name of the licensee of the pub virtually opposite Moseley Ave? The Castle I think it was, known locally as the garden?

No...Edwin GREGG, his wife and 6 children. The licensee of The Castle was William BRIDDEN

Cheers for that. Must have moved in not long after because they were there (Moseley Ave) in the court of enquiry papers regarding the death of one of the sons in France in 1919.

If it's James and Mary McKeown, parents of Edward (and 8 other children), then in 1911 they were living in 13 Merton Road, Liscard which I think is just round the corner from Moseley Avenue

Certainly is. News to me that and yes it is at the end of Moseley ave. Not sure if the cut through is still there but there used to be when the school clinic was in Merton road. Thanks again.

Map of Moseley Avenue and surrounding area from the 1911/1912 Edition OS. To the best of my knowledge the houses in Moseley Avenue have always been the same as they are today; maps show there was nothing on the site before the terraced properties were built.

The extra room has me baffled if they were all the same build. The two bigger buildings on the end I assume are classed as Wallasey road and not Moseley Ave? If it was just a terrace then they must have been packed in like sardines. I know they had cash because the great grandfather helped out with donations to build St Hilda's school or so I am told. His son's family i.e. my grandfather got no help because he married a protestant. As he died quite young and left a big family, they could have done with some help.

Couple of points on the map, no sign of the Castle pub on it although the Wellington is marked as a PH and St Albans Terrace instead of road. Have I missed something because some of the family had a shop in St Albans road we always understood.

1910 Kelly's Directory: Mrs Mary McKeown, beer retailer, 17 St. Albans Road.

That's her. We were always told she was the first woman in Britain to hold a licence for an off licence or whatever they were called then. Had a photo but can't find it amongst the thousands on my PC. Will post it if it crops up. Scratch that, found it. Very battered photo but you can get the gist of it. My grandfather with little cart and his brother who was drowned in France.

I've posted another copy of the map showing St Albans Road better - as you can see, in 1911 it hadn't yet been extended to meet Wallasey Road. I've also added maps of the same area from the 1899 Edition OS and the mid-1920s Edition, courtesy of old-maps.co.uk (though oddly on their webside the 1920s map is labelled as being from 1911 - it clearly can't be, as it shows the new Boot Inn which wasn't built until the mid-20s).

As for the Castle not being labelled as a PH, that was often down to the whim of whoever draughted the map, and also whether there was room to fit the letters in anywhere! Plenty of other pubs and beerhouses were never marked as such on OS maps.

Makes more sense now. Interesting to see a flour mill in the middle of Liscard. Thanks for that.

I have a fascination for WW1 so I had a look at Edward McKeown's service records to see why he died in 1919 - I hope you don't mind. A very sad story. What I did notice was that when he enlisted in 1917 he gave his address as 60 Wallasey Road, which is also the address he gave for his father on the pay allocation form. This was also the address on the initial Army forms sent to his father following his death, though these were subsequently duplicated and sent to Moseley Avenue. It seems, therefore, that the family had at least 3 homes between 1911 and 1919, all in the same area of Liscard.

I have copies of the court of enquiry documents. He was found drowned in a canal but no one knows how he got there. Family gossip said he was mugged and thrown in by French men but the court stated that he had significant amounts of cash on his body when it was recovered so I doubt that very much. Possibly drunk and fell in or was just unlucky. We'll never know!

I know he lived in Wallasey road and what I found quite fascinating was that in the documents it listed all his siblings as well as the parents. I can look them up and email if you want providing you pm and give your email address.

Thanks for the offer, Helles, but the court of enquiry documents are included in his service record. What I find sad is that it seems he was desperate to join up as there is a note that he first tried in 1915 but was found to be medically unfit.

Same as his brother, i.e. my grandad. Also unfit for active service overseas so joined the medical corps and served at .......... wait for it............. Wallasey town hall when it was a hospital.

Please help me somebody ! I have an Apple Mac and maybe that is why i cannot
get off any attachments from this site ! have lots of info to share and loads of old photos but just do not know how to go about it .Would like especially to speak to
Nightwalker but tried to send him a P.M. - system would not accept it from me .
My father served in the Cheshire right thro the Ist War mostly in Ireland and
India . Can i put my home phone no on here to ask Nightwalker to ring me
maybe ? This is a marvellous site with great local history info . However it does seem to assume an awful lot of Computer skills on the part of participants .
Birkenhead History Society this Thurs night 21st April, 7.15 pm, at the
Williamson Art Gall The topic is Festival of Britain 1951 plus History of
Shaftesbury Boys Club .

TOPIC is Festival of Britain 1951
Williamson Art Gallery. Topic is Festival of Britain 1951

Have sent you a pm with my email address

Sounds interesting Stan but I would never put my home phone number on the interweb. If you do get stuck with computer stuff there are lots on here who will help out although personally I know nowt about Apple Macs.

Phone number not a good idea, that's why I sent you my email address. As far as your computer problems are concerned, they'll be picked up quicker if you post them on the Feedback and Help Forum.

Amazing!! Sounds like you've got a very interesting branch of the family there.

Wallasey Town hall medical staff. My grandfather extreme right second row from back.