Liverpool in the “Long” 18th Century
Several of my ancestors lived and worked in old Liverpool but although I went to University in Liverpool (commuting from Ormskirk), I was only aware of one as a child - William Hutchinson, sometime Privateer and latterly Dock Master and an excellent example of the self-made man. My Grand Aunt “Dai” never failed to remind me of his accomplishments, and that once he was nearly “eaten” by ship-mates facing starvation, after choosing the short straw in the aftermath of some maritime disaster. It may, however, be an apocryphal story.
Determined digging has not so far revealed any original records on the matter, although there were many similar accounts circulating in the eighteenth century, not least the Luxborough Galley in 1727, but the crew names don’t match and William was still working in the Newcastle coal trade as a cabin boy - and only aged 11.
Some north of England bankrupts ~ 18th century
Enfield’s subscription list is in progress
Engraved view of Liverpool, Old Dock, a windmill (!) and a count of shipping in the Old Dock, September 27 1764, from the Gentleman’s Magazine.
Tall ship (JR Tolkien) from the west coast of the Isle of Man, June 2007
As near as I could get to what it might have looked like over 200 years ago
