Guest blog: Thomas Blackburne and Newton Hall

Following our research into the Blackburne family, we are delighted to publish this guest post by Mark Adams. Mark is a professional archaeologist who excavated the site of the Blackburne family’s residence before they moved to Orford Hall, and then Liverpool and Hale. When we researched the Blackburne family, we could find little information about

Download our book: Liverpool’s ‘Slave Gate’

Did an 18th century stone gateway in suburban Liverpool originate from a building where enslaved Africans were sold? Bygone Liverpool have discovered the original building this structure came from, and tell its amazing history. According to local legend, this old stone gateway in Gateacre originally belonged to an 18th century building in central Liverpool. Enslaved

The Blackburne family of Orford Hall, Liverpool and Hale: Salt and Slaves

John Blackburne (1693–1786) was the head of a wealthy merchant family from Orford, Warrington. Their business of salt refining would lead them to Liverpool at the end of the 17th century. This move would see the family diversifying into the slave trade. Streets, buildings and a dock still bear names that link them to the

Biography of Gomer Williams, Liverpool author and historian

By Glen Huntley In 1897, Gomer Williams’ ground-breaking book History of the Liverpool privateers and letters of Marque with an account of the Liverpool slave trade was published. Ever since it has become one of the most referenced works in any book on the subjects. But what is known of the man who wrote it?

The legend of the Lottie Sleigh and the Allerton Oak

By Glen Huntley. Cover montage: Bygone Liverpool In 1864, a ship called the Lottie Sleigh, carrying 11.5 tonnes of gunpowder, blew up in the Mersey. The blast was so strong that over 5 miles away, the trunk of the famous 1,000 year old ‘Allerton Oak’ was split in two. Did it really happen, or is

Mystery of the Ladykirk Oak Chest, dated 1651 Liverpool

By Glen Huntley, November 2022 In Ladykirk church, just over the border into Scotland, is an oak chest that originated from St Nicholas’ church in Liverpool in 1651. The mystery of how this ended up in a Scottish church made national news in 1892. When the church of St. Nicholas was devastated in the Blitz

John Newton in Liverpool, Part 2. Locations and connections.

Shortly after posting our research on John Newton in Liverpool, we were approached by the Cowper & Newton Museum in Olney. We were commissioned to further research Newton’s time here, with a view of producing a digital exhibition in the museum to mark the museums commemoration of the 250th anniversary of Newton’s famous hymn, Amazing

Depictions of enslaved African children on Martins Bank, and chained figures on the Nelson Monument

The Martins Bank building on Water Street (1932) and the Nelson Monument on Exchange Flags (1813) are two of Liverpool’s architectural treasures. Both have been said to depict, or allude to, enslaved Africans. Reliefs on the entrance to the bank is said to include two enslaved African children with wrist and ankle restraints. The two

The Guinea Gap, buried treasure in Wallasey

Local legend tells of a hoard of up to fifty gold guineas, discovered on Wallasey’s shore circa 1850. The coins were said to be from the late 17th century and featured the heads of King William and Queen Mary. Next to the treasure was a skeleton with a pigtail. To commemorate this event, the location

Goree, Liverpool. Part Two: The Goree Piazza

This is the concluding part of our history of an area in Liverpool named after the 18th century slave-trading post of Gorée in Senegal. This deals with a famous range of warehouses known as Goree Piazza that were destroyed by fire in 1802, and rebuilt soon after. Also, as generations of Liverpudlians were once convinced