I'm not so sure, the population of Birkenhead in 1821 was only 200, it was Laird who developed Birkenhead 1824 and onwards.
The Great Float didn't come about until 1850 partly because of Liverpool buying up land to ensure it wouldn't compete with Liverpool docks.
Thats what I thought at first but then the book states he had to move from Vittoria St so they could build the docks. Maybe there was moorings in Wallasey pool. Off Wikipedia "Founding of the business The Laird company was founded by William Laird, who had established the Birkenhead Iron Works in 1824."
In 1824 the Laird family moved to Birkenhead, where William Laird and Daniel Horton established the Birkenhead Iron Works. This manufactured boilers near Wallasey Pool. This partnership was dissolved in 1828 and William Laird was joined in his business by John Laird, who had been a solicitor's articled clerk. The company was renamed William Laird & Son.
I don't think Laird has ever owned any docks, they either rented the docks (like they still do now) or contracted work out to other ship builders/ironworks.
Liverpool owned the land from Tower Road round to Argyle Street, then another section from Woodside to Monk's Ferry. There may be more down the Pool but I can't find that information
A bit of guesswork but Birkenhead might have played clever, although Liverpool owned the land, they might not have owned Wallasey Pool and land was recovered to build some of the docks etc within the pool, specifically there was "The Birkenhead Dock Trustees" (Morpeth Dock) and "Birkenhead Dock Company" (Victoria Wharf). But of course these are goods docks, not shipbuilding docks.
The Rollson/Clover docks (or whatever they were at the time) were a Liverpool Company that were built on Liverpool land.
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Here is a snippet from 'Steel, Ships and Men: Cammell Laird, 1824-1993' that also confirms the sale of land to Liverpool. By the looks of those Bennison maps, Corporation Rd must have been moved to Bridge St when the docks where built.
By the looks of those Bennison maps, Corporation Rd must have been moved to Bridge St when the docks where built.
Corporation Road stayed where it was, as did Bridge Street, the docks were built by reclaiming land from Wallasey Pool.
There's a real danger that the left will drag Britain back to the 1970s, with secure well-paid jobs, ample housing, properly-funded NHS and social care, free tuition, student grants, final salary pensions, affordable rail fares and fabulous films and music. David Osland 2025
We don't do charity in Germany, we pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments' responsibilities - Henning Wehn
Had another look and I would say that Corporation Rd is now Canning St.
No, Corporation Rd now ends at Rendel St if you turn left to the roundabout that takes to you towards the docks, Canning St (A554) starts and goes towards Woodside.
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Had another look and I would say that Corporation Rd is now Canning St.
No, Corporation Rd now ends at Rendel St if you turn left to the roundabout that takes to you towards the docks, Canning St (A554) starts and goes towards Woodside.
I should have said, off the map from Derek, in the link you posted above Bert. Canning St is Corporation Rd on that map, so it would have incorporated some of Tower Rd as well.
I tend to think of Corporation Road as the parts with the 10/12 foot wall running along it ( any ideas when this wall was built? ) re roads, streets, lanes. On the 1831 Bryant map there are quite a few lanes marked and named ( some of which may have changed to a street or road eg Church lane to church Road ) Main Roads don't seem to be named - Old Chester Road Not sure on the map what New Road is ? (Claughton Road into Oxton Road into Woodchurch Road ( was Slush Lane?)
I can only give evidence from 1841 census that Canning Street existed, 6 years after the map. I can only add, why would they change the name for that portion from Corporation Rd to Canning Street. I would question how reliable the map is when all road names are not mentioned on it.
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
The 1824 Lawton map of Birkenhead is probably the earliest detailed map of the the town – or hamlet, as it then was. It was drawn up for prospective purchasers when the Lord of the Manor, Francis Price, put the Birkenhead estate up for sale to encourage its development as a resort.
Between 1819 and 1821, Price had built St Mary’s Church next to the priory ruins and a nearby waterfront hotel, as well as establishing a new ferry to Liverpool – the Birkenhead Ferry –on the edge of Tranmere Pool.
On the 1824 map, only four streets are named – Church Street, Priory Street, Abbey Street and Chester Street.
Grange Road (also known as Grange Street/Grange Lane) is also clearly marked. Strangely though, it is not given a name.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Grange Road must have been established soon after the priory was built circa 1150, because it was the route to the monks’ grange, or granary, in Oxton.
A contender for the oldest street must be Chester Street, leading down to Woodside. There was probably a ferry crossing at Woodside going back a long time before the priory was given the ferrying rights by Edward III in 1330.
Church Street, leading to the priory, is also probably a very old name. Although St Mary’s church was opened in 1821, the priory had been a house of worship since its founding in 1150 and its chapter house was still used for services following the Dissolution of the Monsteries in 1536.
Also on the 1824 map is marked a tract of land on the south bank of Wallasey Pool bought by the Scottish-born businessman William Laird. This was where he established his boilermaking works, which later developed into the famous shipbuilding yard. The Lairds’ first house in Birkenhead was at the north end of what later become Cathcart Street, before the family moved to Hamilton Square.
The Laird yard, between the northern ends of what later became Vittoria Street and Livingstone Street, can clearly be seen on the 1844 map of Birkenhead, marked as Boiler Yard.
Not far to the east of the Boiler Yard is a ‘Patent Slip’. This was a second shipyard opened in 1826 on Wallasey Pool by a group of journeymen shipwrights from Liverpool. A patent slip, also known as a marine railway, allows vessels to be hauled in and out of the water along an inclined plane on a cradle attached to pulleys.
It’s also interesting that by 1844, just 20 years after the Lawton map, Birkenhead was laid out with numerous streets as the town continued to develop and expand.
In 1853, with Wallasey Pool becoming enclosed to build the docks, Laird’s shipyard (the Birkenhead Ironworks) moved temporarily to Liverpool. Then the yard was transferred to the riverfront below Birkenhead Priory, between Tranmere Pool and Monks Ferry. The foreshore here was owned by Liverpool Corporation, which leased it to Laird’s.
Construction of four graving docks, slipways, machinery shops, boiler shops joiners’ shops and smiths’ shops began, continuing the destruction of the once-pristine shoreline.
North of the new Laird’s yard, development was extended along the riverfront, with graving docks built between Monks Ferry and Woodside, later to be used by the ship repair firm Grayson, Rollo and Clover.
Some very interesting info there yoller, cheers. That confirms the date of what I read in 'Outline Plan For The County Borough Of Birkenhead 1945' of Lairds on Vittoria St 1924. Regarding the oldest road, from what you say, I would suspect Grange Rd will be the oldest, just because the monks would only need the one road to and from the granary if they were self sufficient.
Derek, regarding the wall on Corpo, it is certainly pre 1933 because you can see it on a Britain from above picture.
That confirms the date of what I read in 'Outline Plan For The County Borough Of Birkenhead 1945' of Lairds on Vittoria St 1924.
