A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



John Bibb)- of AUerton near Liverpool. Mr. Charles 

 Hesketh Bibby, born in 1 871, therefore became lord 

 of this moiety of the manor. In February 1899 he 



Hl£KCTB. Argent, on 

 a bend sable three garbi 

 or i a chief azure, there- 

 on an eagle •with tvjo 

 heads displayed proper, 

 all •tvithin a bordure er- 



B I B B Y . Azure, a 



saltire parted and frctty 

 argent surmounted in the 

 Jesse point by a lion ram- 

 pant pean ; two escallops 

 in pale and as many mul- 

 lets of six points in fesse 

 of the second. 



assumed the surname of Hesketh by royal licence, and 

 served as high sheriff of the county in 1901. 



A court-lect and view of frank-pledge is held twice 

 a year, in July and November. In 1805 a number 

 of by-laws were drawn up for the regulation of rights 

 of turbary and common of pasture and for the main- 

 tenance of the drains and sea-banks in an efficient 

 state.' An Act of Parliament was obtained in 1825 to 

 enable the joint lords of the manor to apportion the 

 undivided portions of their estates and to make ex- 

 changes for their mutual advantage. 



The modern town of SOUTH- 

 BOROUGH PORT- is bounded by the sea on its 

 north - western edge. The country 

 is very level and the coast flat and sandy, immense 

 sandbanks stretching out into the estuary of the 

 Ribble. Where a broad band of sand-hills once 

 existed as a natural protection to the low-lying land, 

 the pleasant town, with its long promenade, winter 

 gardens and other places of amusement, now stands, at 

 any rate along one-third of the entire sea-frontage. 

 There are marine parks where concerts are given in 

 the summer, on each side of the pier, between the pro- 

 menade and the lake. There are a fine park and 

 botanic gardens, the mildness of the climate being 



conducive to the growth in the open air of many 

 sub-tropical plants. 



The fishing village of Crossens stands upon a slight 

 knoll of clay, otherwise all the country inland is very 

 flat and extensively cultivated, occupied by market 

 gardens, arable fields, and pasture. A deep drain or 

 ditch, called the New Pool, serves to drain the manhy 

 district east of the township, also forming the boundary 

 between Southport and the present North Meols 

 township. 



Towards the end of the eighteenth century visitors 

 began to frequent the North Meols district for bathing 

 in the summer, finding what accommodation they could 

 in the cottages near the shore. In 1 792 William 

 Sutton, known as ' the Duke ' or ' the old Duke,' son 

 of a Churchtown innkeeper, erected from odds and 

 ends a rude lodging-house in South Hawes, where a 

 little brook ran down to the sea. This was used during 

 the summer only ; but in 1798 having constructed a 

 better house — the Original Hotel, afterwards the ' Royal ' 

 -^he came to reside permanently, and at a house-warm- 

 ing banquet the place was named South Port by an 

 eccentric physician, Dr. Barton of Hoole.' Though 

 the house was called ' Duke's Folly ' and the builder 

 soon found himself in a debtor's prison,* a little town 

 sprang up around the spot he had chosen. A start 

 had already been made in 1 797 by the erection of 

 Belle Vue Cottage.' In 1805 another hotel was 

 built, and two years later, a row of ' company houses ' 

 was erected in Lord Street. A Liverpool paper in 

 I 809 printed a list of ' fashionable arrivals ' ; and the 

 first guide-book to the district was published.' Inde- 

 pendents, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics had op- 

 portunities of worship ; and the Strangers' Charity 

 had been established for the relief of the sick poor 

 who might be benefited by sea air and bathing. 



From 1820 the town increased rapidly — the Direc- 

 tory of 1825 describing the 'village' as consisting of 

 one main street, 88 yards wide, with three large hotels 

 and many boarding-houses.' The amusements of the 

 place were ' those afforded by the theatre, the news- 

 rooms and libraries, the billiard rooms, the repositories, 

 and the assemblies." A plan was published in 1824.' 

 In 1836 the first newspaper was attempted, and in 

 1844 the y'niter commenced to appear.'" 



' Printed in North Mcils, 57. 



' Acknowledgemeat must be made in the 

 first place to E. Bland's Annals of South- 

 port, reaching to 1886 ; where no other 

 reference is given it may be assumed that 

 the information in the text is derived from 

 this work. Further, to Mr. Frederick W. 

 Brown, mayor of the borough 1903- +, for 

 assistance and criticism liberally afforded, 

 more particularly as to present conditions ; 

 and to the Brit. Assoc. Handbook, 1903, 

 permission to use which was obtained 

 through Mr. Brown. 



® This story appears in the second 

 edition of Glazebrook's Guide, published 

 in 1826, p. 58. There is a sketch of the 

 building in Bland, 56. The complimen- 

 tary description of Southport as * the 

 Montpelier of England ' is attributed to 

 Dr. Brandreth, a popular Liverpool physi- 

 cian of a centurv' ago, 



* He had to leave the hotel in 1802. 

 He was buried at Churchtown, 29 May, 

 1840, aged 88. He was * the best monu- 

 mental mason in the parish ' ; Bland, 99. 



The hotel itself was pulled down in 

 1854. in order to allow the continuation of 

 Lord Street, a new Royal Hotel having 

 been erected; ibid. 119. A lamp with 



bronze relief marks the spot, near the 

 crossing of Lord Street and Duke Street, 

 where Sutton built his house. 



* Mrs. Sarah Walmesley was the owner ; 

 it has developed into a large mansion, and 

 is now the residence of Sir George Piiking- 

 ton (formerly Coombes). 



• It is a pamphlet of eighty pages by 

 Thomas Kiricland Glazebrook of Warring- 

 ton, of which about twelve pages are de- 

 voted to Southport proper ; the name is 

 always spelt South-Port. The book con- 

 tains an interesting account of the peculiar 

 plants then observable on the shore. A 

 second and greatly enlarged edition was 

 printed in 1826. The author died in 

 1855 ; Bland, 120. 



The earliest printed account, however, 

 was that of G. A. Cooke in his Topographi- 

 cal Description of the county, published in 

 1805 (p. 313). It was copied into a 

 Liverpool p^F^^j ^^^ ^^^7 ^^ read in 

 Bland, op. cit. 63. 



Another history or guide was issued in 

 1830 by P. Whittle, of Preston, in a 

 volume entitled Marina ; it gives a plan 

 of the town. In 1832 a brief account of 

 the place was issued by William Alsop, of 

 Southport ; and in 1849 a similar account 



was compiled by J. S., containing a plaa 

 and directory. The Gent. Mag. for 1840, 

 pt. i, has a notice of Southport. 



' During the season coaches ran daily 

 from Liverpool and Manchester, and three 

 times a week from Bolton, and other 

 towns ; other visitors travelled by the 

 Leeds and Liverpool Canal to Scarisbrick 

 Bridge, five miles away. 



8 Baines, Lanes. Directory, 1825, ii, 

 552-4. An Act of Parliament obtained 

 by the lords of the manor provided that 

 Lords Street, now Lord Street, should be 

 88 yards wide. Thus one of the distinctive 

 beauties of the town was early decided ; 

 Bland, p. 86. In 1864 a committee was 

 appointed to consider the question of 

 planting trees and forming gardens in the 

 street. 



' This and another of ten years later 

 are reproduced in Farrer's North Meols. 



^ These papers were at first published 

 in the season only. The yititer now 

 appears thrice a week. Another paper, 

 called the Independent, was started in 1861, 

 re-named the News in 1865, and thea 

 made a daily paper ; it ceased to appear ia 

 1881. In the following year the Guardian 

 was begun ; it ii issued twice a week. 



