WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



commencement of the erection of a cathedral, and 

 the foundation of a university, have added the dignities 

 of a cathedral, episcopal, and university city to those 

 of a great port. The advance thus made was re- 

 cognized by the first charter of Queen Victoria in 

 1880,"" whereby the title of 'City' became the 

 official designation of Liverpool, and by the queen's 

 second charter in 1893,"' whereby the chief magis- 

 trate of the city was empowered to assume the style 

 of Lord Mayor of Liverpool. 



Under the first Dock Act, 1708,"' the 

 DOCKS mayor, aldermen, bailiffs, and Common 

 Council became the trustees of the proposed 

 dock, and were empowered to construct the dock and to 

 levy dues. They were not incorporated, but used the 

 corporation seal ; managing the first and successive 

 docks through committees, which were as completely 

 under their control as any other council committees. 

 By an Act of 1 8 1 1 ,'" however, they were separately in- 

 corporated and given a seal of their own ; the finances 

 of the docks were separately administered from those 

 of the corporation, by a statutory committee of 

 twenty-one members appointed by the trustees (i.e. the 

 Town Council), but the Town Council still claimed 

 and exercised the right of voting sums from the dock 

 funds, and of overriding the actions of the com- 

 mittee. The control of the docks by a close corpora- 

 tion, which was In no way representative of the rate- 

 payers or of those who used the docks, led to much 

 discontent and discussion, and in the end produced 

 a new Act, that of 1 8 25,"' whereby, though the 

 trust remained unaltered, the committee was changed 

 by the inclusion of eight members elected by dock 

 ratepayers. The council still retained a majority, 

 thirteen of the committee being councillors, while 

 the chairman was also selected from among the 

 members of the committee by the council. The 

 Act also provided that the proceedings of the dock 

 committee could only be overridden by a majority 

 of two-thirds of the council, and only at the meeting 

 of the council immediately following that of the 

 committee. By an Act of 1 851''* the number ot 

 the committee was raised to twenty-four, half of 

 whom were to be dock ratepayers, while the chair- 

 man was to be elected by the committee itself. But 

 the power of revision still remained with the Town 

 Council. Outside of both council and committee 

 there had been from the first an independent body 

 of auditors, numbering nine under the Act of 1 708,"' 

 and appointed in equal groups by the corporation, 

 the justices of the county of Lancaster, and the jus- 

 tices of the county of Chester. An Act of 1734"'* 

 raised the number to twelve, four nominated by the 

 council, eight by the dock ratepayers. By an Act 

 of 1 841"' the mayor, the chairman of the dock 

 committee, and the senior borough magistrate, were 

 appointed revisers of rates. 



Even with these safeguards, however, and even 

 though the council was now a representative elected 

 body, dissatisfaction was felt with this system of ad- 

 ministration, which identified the interests of the 



LIVERPOOL 



dock estate with those of the municipality. This ex- 

 pressed itself in controversies on the rating of the 

 dock estate, and in the agitation for the Act of 1 851, 

 which was originally an attempt to alter the consti- 

 tution of the dock committee so as to leave the 

 council only the mere shadow of control, but which 

 was amended to the effect already described. It also 

 lowered the voting franchise for dock ratepayers. 

 But the strongest opposition came from the merchants 

 of Manchester and the railway companies, which re- 

 sented the traditional charges for town dues ; this 

 went so far that a society was founded in Manchester 

 called 'The Society to secure the right appropriation 

 of the Liverpool Town Dues.' In 1857 they pro- 

 moted a Bill, based upon the recommendations of the 

 Commissioners of the Board of Trade, who had in 

 1853 reported in favour of the appointment of in- 

 dependent bodies of conservators for the regulation 

 of public harbours, and of the transference to them 

 of all dues levied by municipal corporations. The 

 Town Council fought the Bill with all its power, 

 especially objecting to the confiscation of its tradi- 

 tional town dues ; but eventually withdrew its opposi- 

 tion in consideration of a payment of ^^l, 500,000 

 for the loss of the town dues, and of certain other 

 modifications. By the Act thus passed '^'^ the Mersey 

 Docks and Harbour Board was constituted, and took 

 over the control both of the Liverpool and of the 

 Birkenhead Docks, and the right of collecting not 

 only dock dues but also the ancient traditional town 

 dues. The board has continued to collect the town 

 dues, despite the fact that opposition to these dues 

 was one of the principal causes of its establishment. 

 The board consists of twenty-eight members, four of 

 whom are nominated by the Mersey Conservancy Com- 

 missioners (the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Presi- 

 dent of the Board of Trade, and the Chancellor of the 

 Duchy of Lancaster) ; while the other twenty-four 

 are elected by all persons paying rates on ships or 

 goods to the amount of not less than j^io per 

 annum. Members of the board must be resident 

 within 10 miles of the boundary of the borough or 

 port of Liverpool, and must have paid rates on ships 

 or goods to the amount of not less than £z^ per 

 annum. The office of Chairman of the Dock Board 

 is commonly regarded as the most honourable at the 

 disposal of Liverpool citizens. 



The history of the actual dock estate may be 

 conveniently divided into three periods,""" corre- 

 sponding to the periods in the history of its governing 

 body : — 



I. Between 1709 and 1825, when the docks were 

 under the direct control of the corporation, the fol- 

 lowing wet docks were opened : — 



1 . Old Dock, opened 3 1 August 1 7 1 5 ; closed 



31 August 1826. 



2. Salthouse Dock, opened 1753 ; altered 1842 ; en- 



larged 1855. 



3. George's Dock, opened 1771 ; enlarged 1825 ; 



closed 1900. 



780 Printed in Htst, Munic, Govt, in Liv. 

 290. '" Ibid. 292. 



'S2 8 Anne, cap. 12. On the whole 

 history of the administration of the docks, 

 see the Town Clerk's Report on the Pos- 

 sibility and Expediency of obtaining re- 

 presentation of the Corporation on the 

 Dock Board (1907). 



!■»' 51 Geo. Ill, cap. 43. 



7'* 26 Geo. IV, cap. 43. For the de- 

 fects of this system, see Munic* Corp. 

 Com. Rep. of Li-v, Inquiry^ passim, 



78" 14 & 15 Vict. cap. 64. 



7*8 8 Anne, cap. 12. 



736a y Geo. II, cap. 29. 



7W 4 & 5 Vict. cap. 30. 



41 



787a 20 & 21 Vict. cap. 162. 



787b Figures taken from Memorandum 

 Bk. of the Mersey Docks and Harbour 

 Board, 1908. Smithers, Li'u. 169 fF. and 

 452, describes the condition of the docks 

 in 1824; Baines, Liv. App. describes 

 them in 1852. 



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