Liverpool

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Liverpool

Liverpool was established as a port in 1207 when King John (1167–1216) granted it a royal charter so as to provide an alternative to Chester for his military operations in Ireland. Subsequent growth was based on exports of coal, textiles, salt, and cheese and imports of agricultural products, later supplemented by Virginian tobacco and West Indian sugar.

By 1660 Liverpool had become independent of Chester. This ended many legal problems, but the physical ones remained, including a 7-meter tidal range and 7-knot currents. A creek known as "the pool" initially provided cargo facilities, but expansion led to building of the "old dock" in 1715 and the Salthouse Dock in 1753. Like later additions, these were "wet enclosures, kept permanently full of water by being fitted with gates which were only opened at high tide. Although expensive to construct these were essential to cope with the difficult conditions experienced on the Mersey. They catered for exports of salt to Newfoundland and imports of rum and sugar from the Caribbean and fruit from the Mediterranean.

Georges Dock (opened 1771) was mainly used for the triangular trade with West Africa—trade goods outward, slaves from Africa to the West Indies, and rum and sugar back to Liverpool. This business ended in 1807, but it was more than offset by the exports of manufactured goods being produced in its extended hinterland and the rising imports of raw materials and food. Expansion in the period 1700 to 1790 included sugar, which rose five-fold, rum and tobacco, threefold, and cotton imports, fiftyfold, and led to the building of Kings Dock (1788) and Queens Dock (1796).

Continuing growth was encouraged by strengthening links with the interior. River improvements were extended by the canal network beginning in 1760 and transformed by the Liverpool-Manchester Railway in 1830. Additional impetus was given after 1840 by the evolution of the steamship, which helped to increase the scale of imports, including North American wheat, and made Liverpool the premier port for emigrants and passengers to the United States, Canada, and Australia.

The establishment of the Mersey Dock and Harbour Board in 1858 saw 4.4 metric gross tons of shipping paying dues—a century later it was 27 metric gross tons. Over the same period, six firms operating 70,000 gross tons of steam shipping rose to sixty-seven firms with 4.6 metric gross tons. More capacity was required to cope with this expansion, and this continued until Gladstone Dock was opened in 1927.

Many secondary activities were spawned in the Port Conurbation, such as shipbuilding and repairing, and although most imports passed through to other regions, there was some local processing of raw materials. These included edible oils and tallow from East Asia, West Africa, and South America, which were utilized to make soap and margarine; and from North America, wheat, which was milled into flour, and tobacco leaf, which was made into cigarettes. Many manufactures, particularly from the United States, were also landed and distributed, and as many were exported. Liverpool had a comparative advantage for shipping the textiles of Lancashire and Yorkshire, the porcelain of the Potteries (an industrial area of Staffordshire where firms such as Wedgewood and Royal Doulton were located) and the metal goods of the Midlands. As a consequence, for several long periods the port was best placed to handle these cargoes of both capital and consumer items. Substantial quantities of locally produced coal, salt, and chemicals were also exported from time to time—the main markets for all shipments were in Britain's dominions and colonies. Banking, insurance, brokerage, and agency work, together with the administration of shipping and merchant companies, provided many commercial opportunities, and much employment was generated by the need for seagoing and dock labor.

Increases in European trade saw some of Liverpool's previous advantages lost to Dover and Felixstowe. Poor industrial relations at Liverpool while a scheduled port reduced its efficiency as many strikes and trade union disputes led to numerous stoppages in the traditional docks. Nevertheless, in 1971 a large new facility was constructed to cater for containers and bark cargoes at Sea-forth near the estuary's mouth. The reorganization of the labor force by the now privatised Mersey Docks and Harbour Company has seen this new development cope with growing quantities of containers and bulk cargoes of grain, timber, and scrap metal. Together with oil from Stanlow Refinery and the expanding Irish trade, throughput at over 30 metric tons in 2003 was greater than at any previous time.

SEE ALSO Agriculture; Bristol; Canada; Cargoes, Freight; Cargoes, Passenger; Chambers of Commerce; Containerization; Cotton; Cunard, Samuel; Empire, British; Ethnic Groups, Irish; Free Ports; Glasgow; Harbors;London;Packet Boats;Petroleum;Port Cities;Shipbuilding;Shipping, Merchant;Slavery and the African Slave Trade;United Kingdom;United States.