The sight of sheep and cattle being driven through the streets of Liverpool is unthinkable today but even into the early years of the twentieth century, it was the only way of transporting livestock to the abattoir. Liverpool was a major port for the import of meat – and fortunes were made supplying the needs of the exploding urban populations. Two Liverpool brothers, in particular, made their mark. The Vestey family had been local butchers for several generations but William and Edmund were to transform the business by taking advantage of Liverpool’s links with South America. Buying land and ranches in Brazil, Uraguay and Argentina, they began supplying meat in wholesale quantities. Using their wealth to start their own Blue Star shipping line, they were the first company to use refrigeration to transport meat.
Never far from controversy, they bought their peerage from the Lloyd George government and then fell out spectacularly over demands for exemption from income tax (nothing is new in politics) and moved abroad as tax exiles.
The Vestey company was better known for the Dewhurst chain of butchers – which ceased trading in 1996. An interesting fact I picked up in researching this piece is that Dewhurst’s were the first butchers to install glass windows in their shops, rather than have open displays. The Vesteys were also responsible for funding the tower of Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral (still known as the Vestey Tower).
The livestock in the photographs would have come from fairly local sources – possibly North Wales or Ireland. The top photograph (probably in the early 1890s) shows cattle being driven along the Goree, with Princes Dock in the background. The bottom image is of livestock on Prescot Road on the way to Stanley Abattoir.
I’m a member of Ashfield Allotments, behind Brookside Avenue and adjacent to the Thingwall House site. These were established in 1926. Prior to that, an old member told me that the site was originally holding pens and fields for Stanley Abattoir. Sheep and cattle would be driven from all the surrounding areas, rested and held in these fields, before commencing their final journey, as per the photo. This is purely a verbal account; I’ve not researched it.
This is very interesting as I have Manchester relatives who were cattle dealers & who traded in Liverpool. Thank you