WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



In 1846 the first of the Improvement Acts was 

 passed, vesting the government of the town in twenty- 

 three commissioners.' A town hall was built in 1852, 

 but has been enlarged and transformed, though the 

 old front remains. In 1 848 a market was opened." 

 Suggestions for incorporation were made in 1863, 

 and the charter was granted in 1 866, four wards 

 being constituted with six councillors and two alder- 

 men for each.' The new council was elected on 

 1 June, 1 867. The limits of the borough were ex- 

 tended in 1871, 1875, 1885, and 1900 ; so that 

 there are now ten wards, each with an alderman and 

 three councillors,* and the population having reached 

 50,000 Southport has been declared a county 

 borough. 



Hesketh Park was opened in 1867 ; the land had 

 been given by the Rev. Charles Hesketh, rector and 

 one of the lords of the manor ; here are the Corpo- 

 ration Observatories.' 



There is also a recreation ground. Cambridge 

 Hall, in which are the police offices and a public hall, 

 was opened in 1874, and the Free Libraries Act 

 being adopted in 1876 William Atkinson* oiFered a 

 library and art gallery, opened in 1878.' The 

 Victoria Science and Art Schools were built by the 

 Corporation in 1887. The cemetery was opened in 

 1865. In it is a public memorial of the men who 

 lost their lives by a lifeboat accident in 1886. 



The gas and electric lighting works are owned by 

 the Corporation. The water supply was in the hands 

 of a company incorporated by Act of Parliament in 

 1854, its powers having been extended by later Acts, 

 in 1856, 1866, and 1878 ;* but it is now governed 

 by the Southport, Birkdale, and West Lancashire 

 Water Board. 



The sands and bathing were the original attraction 

 offered by Southport and so remain. A breakwater 

 was first attempted in 1 8 2 1 , and in 1834a promenade 

 along the sea-front was begun by Peter Hesketh, one 

 of the lords of the manor ; this has gradually been 

 improved and extended, being now a mile and a half 

 in length.' The foreshore was purchased by the 

 Corporation in 1885. The pier was opened in i860, 

 and extended in 1864 and 1868, while a marine 



NORTH MEOLS 



park and lake have been formed more recently." Its 

 pure air, good water supply, cleanliness, wide sands, 

 and the beauty of its buildings, streets, and parks have 

 made Southport one of the chief health resorts in the 

 kingdom." The Winter Gardens were opened in 

 1874, ^"'^ ^^^ Botanic Gardens at Churchtown two 

 years later. The Opera House in Lord Street was 

 built in 1891. 



The growth of the town was aided by the improve- 

 ment of communications. Railways were projected 

 as early as 1 844, but the first was that from Southport 

 to Waterloo, afterwards continued to Liverpool. This 

 was opened in 1848.; the original terminus was in 

 Eastbank Street, the present station in Chapel Street 

 being opened in 1851." Next year passengers by 

 the Liverpool and Preston line were carried to South- 

 port by coach from Ormskirk. The Manchester and 

 Southport line by Wigan was opened in 1855," and 

 the St. Helens and Ormskirk line, giving access to 

 Southport, in 1858 ; the West Lancashire Railway 

 was projected in 187 1, and the first section — to 

 Hesketh Bank — opened in 1878 ; the whole line was 

 completed in 1883"; all .of these came to Chapel 

 Street Station. Lastly, the Cheshire Lines Extension 

 scheme was opened in 1884 ; its terminus is in Lord 

 Street. The tramways were begun in 1873 ; they 

 are now controlled by the Corporation. 



The Strangers' Charity, already mentioned, com- 

 pleted its first building in 1823, the later hospital 

 being opened in 1852 ; a new portion was built in 

 1883. The name was changed about 1862 to 

 Convalescent Hospital." In 1825 a dispensary was 

 established, which has since grown into the infirmary. 

 The first building for this purpose was begun in 1870, 

 the new buildings being opened in 1895.'' There 

 are numerous other hospitals, orphanages, homes, and 

 benevolent institutions. There are also literary, 

 artistic, and scientific associations. 



The fishery is an important one, shrimps, plaice, 

 cod, &c., being taken ; but there are no manu- 

 factures. 



The land in the town is, with scarcely any excep- 

 tion, leasehold of the lords of the manor, and to the 

 restrictions enforced by them is due the absence of 



^ There are plans, etc. at the County 

 Council Offices, Preston. 



' A new market in Chapel Street was 

 opened in 1857 ; ^ ^^^ market being 

 added in 1863. The present building in 

 Eastbank Street was opened in 1881 ; it 

 contains market hall, fish and wholesale 

 market. The special market days are 

 Wednesday and Saturday. 



* The area under the jurisdiction of the 

 first council extended from the Birkdale 

 boundary to the north-west boundary of 

 Park Ward ; inland it was bounded by 

 Fine Jane's Brook and a line drawn north- 

 ward from the crossing of the railways at 

 Bio wick. 



^ In 1871 a small area including the 

 gasworks was added ; in 1875 the limits 

 were extended east and north to include 

 Churchtown, Crossens, and Marshside ; a 

 piece of the foreshore was added in 1885, 

 and in 1900 two small portions at the 

 extreme south and north ends of the 

 borough, the latter of these including the 

 sewage works. The wards are named : 

 Central (including the town hall and 

 other municipal buildings), West, South, 

 Craven, Marine, Talbot, Sussex, Park (in- 

 cluding Hesketh Park and the district 

 called Little Ireland), Scarisbrick, and 



Hesketh (including Churchtown, Marsh- 

 side, and Crossens). In I 894 Southport 

 civil parish was created out of the part of 

 North Meols parish within the municipal 

 boundary. 



* The Meteorological Observatory was 

 founded by John Fernley in 1871 ; the 

 Astronomical Observatory was opened in 

 1901. John Fernley, founder of the 

 Fernley Lecture, died 16 Jan. 1873 ; 

 Bland, p. 174. 



" This benefactor of the town died 

 20 Jan. 1883, having resided in Southport 

 for about twenty years ; Bland, p. 207. 



7 There are two branch libraries. 



8 Under this latest Act * the limits of 

 supply were extended, at the request of 

 the inhabitants of several districts around, 

 so as to include those localities — Birkdale 

 among them — the majority of which had 

 hitherto been supplied from shallow holes 

 dug in the sand, the water in many cases 

 being ladled out with wooden scoops, and 

 in other cases obtained by a pump going a 

 few feet into the sand, thus affording the 

 same source of supply as Southport had 

 prior to 1854* ; Southpori, Descripti'ue and 

 Illustratme (1897), p. 36. 



* The promenade was extended to 

 Duke Street in 1873, and northwards in 



1 88 1. It was much damaged by a storm 

 in 1852. 



1** The portion at the south side of the 

 pier was opened in 1887; the northern 

 portion in 1892. The two were after- 

 wards joined, and the Marine Drive was 

 formed in 1895. 



^^ The meteorological averages for the 

 thirty-one years 1872 to 1902 given in the 

 Corporation's Tear Book, show the mean 

 temperature of the air to have been 48*4, 

 ranging from 38*6 for Feb. to 59*5 for 

 July; and the average rainfall, 33*14. in. 

 in the year on 1 87 days, Oct. with 

 3*8 1 in., having the heaviest fall. 



^2 In 1904 the electrification of the 

 Liverpool and Southport line was com- 

 pleted, 



^^ It has a second station at Blowick. 



^■* On the Preston section are stations at 

 St. Luke's, Hesketh Park, Churchtown, 

 Crossens, and Banks ; on the Altcar sec- 

 tion, at Meols Cop and Kew Gardens. 



^* The buildings now consist of the 

 Strangers' Home, and the hospital erected 

 out of the surplus of the Cotton Famine 

 Fund. 



1^ An eye hospital, established in 1877, 

 has now been incorporated with the 

 infirmary. 



