The Barracks, 1934 (courtesy Liverpool Record Office).
1881 Map
The history of West Derby is a bit outside of my comfort zone. The parish of West Derby was, I believe, once the largest in England, stretching almost as far as Preston. Its history goes back to Viking times (its name deriving from deor (deer) and by (village) – village with deer. The West was added later to distinguish it from Derby in Derbyshire). Mentioned in the Domesday Book, it had a wooden castle and royal hunting forest. An important administrative centre, its Courthouse still stands as the only freestanding post-medieval courthouse in Britain (it is the single-storey building on the left opposite the omnibus).
The photograph is interesting because it shows the village as it was making the transition from rural backwater to a commuter suburb for Liverpool merchants. Lord Sefton had set the tone by building the Church of St Mary as a grand entrance to Croxteth Park estate (just out of the photo behind the three boys). On the corner is a public house licensed to Phoebe Spencer, with a butchers run by Thomas Spencer. The pub’s name is difficult to decipher although the second word is Arms. Next door is a greengrocers, with the Tramway office and stables next to the Courthouse. The building just beyond, separated by an alley, is the Hare and Hounds Hotel.
The alley led to a small army barracks which was considered too small and eventually turned over to house a mix of local labourers and their families before being demolished soon after the photograph was taken in 1934. (The Barracks are marked on the 1881 as the two facing blocks just above the join in the map).The army moved to Deysbrook Barracks.
The village in 1887 had an interesting mix of saddlers, cowmen, gardeners and other small tradesmen and stockbrokers, cotton merchants, solicitors and surgeons. By 1910, the mix had changed again. The pub had become Walter Kerslake’s cycle manufacturers. Interestingly, the merchants, surgeons and ‘gentlemen’ (as men of independent means were called) are conspicuous by their absence – although nearby Hayman’s Green still maintained its ‘character’. Within twenty years, the urban sprawl had almost overwhelmed West Derby, although it still retains a village character at its centre. So much can change in a short time in the urban cycle.
Thanks for this post – nice to see home turf on here! West Derby is very much in my comfort zone – it was only later on when my love of local history moved towards the city centre and the other areas of the city.
From the many books, or chapters of books, i’ve read on West Detby and its environs, and own private research at the old 4th floor at Central Library, i’ve never seen a clear picture of The Barracks before. An excellent find.
Gerard said almost word for word exactly what I was going to say! My interest in local Liverpool history began the day my primary school teacher took us on a walk around West Derby village, pointing out all the historic buildings and describing the importance of the place in English history.
West Derby was a ‘hundred’, an administrative district which in this case did indeed stretch from the Mersey to the Ribble. As you mentioned it was comparable in importance to Derby in Derbyshire, and once had its own castle until Liverpool overtook it in size and influence in the 12th and 13th Centuries (you can see Castle Field marked in the map above).
After my school trip I felt very proud to have been born and brought up in this part of the city who’s hidden significance had been revealed to me. Very nice to see a photo of the Barracks which I’ve not seen many images of.
Hopefully I can do justice to the village when I update the West Derby page on my own site one day.
Thankyou for the photo of the Barracks West Derby.I have been building my family tree and discovered that my great great grandfather lived at no6 The Barracks in 1871.This was a very interesting find.Thankyou.
Hi my great Grandfather Michael best come from west derby lancashire.he come to ireland in 1865 and married my great grandmother mary smith i have been trying to find anly of his family .
Just behind the bus there is a white limewashed building which used to be a garage/taxi company
(Z Cars would you believe) over the door was a date 1661. do you have any information when the
village was founded. We lived on Almonds Green for many years and it was always busy in the village but not much recorded about it.
My great grandfather moved from the Yorkshire Dales in the 1880′s and was a Cowkeeper at 6 Russian Drive, Tuebrook.
A short time later he was shown to be a Cowkeeper at 17 and then 21 Mill Lane, West Derby.
These numbers are not the current addresses found on Mill Lane, but I understand that the addresses were either side of the little Railway Station.
I know of no map that shows these premises as Cow Houses unfortunately.
The family eventually moved to Horwich, Bolton in 1901 after the decline of Cowkeepers premises due to the introduction of refrigeration and pasteurisation, thereby reducing the need for fresh milk delivered door to door, straight from the cow.
I am looking for # 13 Sophia Street, West Derby, Lancashire. I have an ancestor, Henry Tiffin Wallace (age 10), who lived at that address on the 1881 census with his father, Richard Tiffin Wallace, his mother, Ann Wallace, Edna Packet (grandmother?) and Emma Packet (aunt?). I have been unable to find any information about Sophia Street. I am wondering whether this street would have been lived on by the poor, middle class or upper middle class. Richard Tiffin Wallace’s profession is unknown.
Any assistance you can give me would be gratefully appreciated. I live in Canada and accessing UK records is challenging at the best of times and can be quite costly.
Thank you.
I wait to hear from you.
Linda Wallace
Linda, Sophia St was a terraced street off 197 Smithdown Lane, Liverpool 7, now demolished.
West Derby is the registration district of the census not the actual district.
type 197 Smithdown Lane Liverpool into the search box of http://www.old-maps.co.uk and choose the 1890 map
cheers
I would like to get in touch with John Holmes who has put notes on this webside, my great grandmother was a cow keeper in liverpool and after doing research I may be related to John Holmes, he appears on a census in 1881 at whitfield road everton where my great grandmother resided up until march of that year.
Hi Sandra,
John’s email is: j.holmes47@sky.com
i am investigating the sefton arms pub . if i could find a picture of wat it was like and used for and maybe the residents who were involved there would be wonderful .thankyou .