1885: Bacon’s Map of Liverpool

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This map of Liverpool by G. W. Bacon (called “The Environs of Liverpool”) was published in around 1885. It shows street-level detail, although only the names of the major roads are marked. The map covers the Wirral and the Mersey in the west, stretching across Liverpool to St. Helens in the east. The most distinctive man-made features on the map (and the only features on the key) are the railways, which are marked sleepers and all.

Also standing out are the parks, including Knowsley in the north east and the city centre parks, and are marked in green.

The map is useful or exploring the shape of Liverpool’s docklands in the middle of the 19th century.

George Washington Bacon (1830 – 1922) was a London based book and map publisher active in the mid to late 19th century. Bacon’s firm G.W. Bacon and Co. purchased the plates created by Edward Weller for the Weekly Dispatch Atlas then modified and updated them for several of their own important atlases, including The New Ordnance Atlas of the British Isles (Geographicus).

25 Comments on “1885: Bacon’s Map of Liverpool”

  • fran street

    says:

    i have been trying to get this map and later versions i have some bodies story which was let to me but i have to make sure it was true. i searched all broswers for 18hrs a day for three months its not enough but a least it is a start but i do thank you for your maps.
    it would be nice to know if you have later maps but again thanks.

    Reply

    • Hi Fran,

      What exactly are you trying to find out? There are later maps on this site on the Old Maps of Liverpool page – perhaps they can help? If there’s something specific that people on here might be able to help you with then do let us know!

      Regards,
      Martin

      Reply

  • fran street

    says:

    i will send you a donation but need you to send me your address address

    Reply

    • That’s a very kind offer. If you send me an email via the Contact page (my email address is on there) then I can send you a postal address, which I’d rather not put out in public on this site.

      Reply

  • tracey

    says:

    Do you have any information on the parade ground, that is shown on the map at the beginning of kensington? It seems to cover a large area, which is now approx 10-12 streets. This is the first time i have ever seen it on any old map. Any information on kensington would be greatly appreciated!

    Reply

    • Hi Tracey,

      This is a very important feature in Liverpool’s landscape, and its history, as it was the site of the “first” Olympic Games (more accurately, the First Grand Olympic Festival), which took place in June 1862, running annually until 1867. It was one of many precursors to the ‘official’ international Olympic Games which began with an Athens event in 1896.

      Unfortunately, this famous event makes it very hard to find out any ‘ordinary’ information on the parade ground, though I think it may have been a place for police to practice, and of course, parade! There’s a video on the British Pathe website showing Liverpool police officers on parade. This might be at Mount Vernon, though I’d welcome any comments from readers who may be able to use the buildings in the background to confirm or deny this.

      Regards,
      Martin

      Reply

  • Nikki Vivian

    says:

    Hello,

    I’m trying to locate a street in Liverpool with Bennett in the name. My Grandad was an orphan and was named after the street he was found but his doucments were destroyed in the war after the orphanage was bombed. I want to find the area he was found. There is a bennett street in Guston but I want to find out whether there was a bennett street or similar that was destroyed in the war to be sure I can pinpoint the location. Any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply

    • Hi Nikki,

      I’ve been having a look around and I can’t find any other roads with the name Bennett in them, so I should think that you’re safe assuming you’ve found the right one. Though, as always, I’m happy to be proven wrong!

      Martin

      Reply

      • Chris

        says:

        Hi, Iam having the same issue. There was a Bennett Street in the North of the City, possibly Everton area. I have ancestors who lived there and baptised their children in St Annes Church. I have ruled out the Garston Bennett Street as its just too far away to be plausible. I just can’t find the location of the other Bennett Street!

        Reply

  • Kevin

    says:

    Hi there, i am looking for any evidence of a river running under Victoria Street in Liverpool and entering the Mersey by the old floating road.

    Any information welcome.

    Reply

    • iain T

      says:

      Sounds like a misunderstanding about the Pool of Liverpool – originally a tidal creek which ran along Whitechapel, Paradise Street and was later occupied by the Old Dock and Liverpool One Shopping centre to the Mersey.
      . iain T.

      Reply

  • Derek

    says:

    hi Matin
    oh can you help me at all , my great grandfather was born in Baptist street in 1851 , i have tried everything to try and get a map of this location it was in Islington , can anyone help i am really struggling to find a map with this street name on .
    i know there was Baptist place and Baptist court , whether they where in the same area i don’t know .
    thank you

    Reply

  • Diane Howells

    says:

    I’m looking for Cornwall Street, Everton, West Derby, Lancashire as my 2x great grandfather was living there during the 1871 census and I’d like to see where it was in case it has been redeveloped. Can you give me any help please?

    Reply

  • Hello I am trying to locate my Grandmothers street in Liverpool. She was born in 1887 on Harold Street, Toxteth Park area. Do you know what street this is today? Thank you.

    Reply

  • sheila gibbons

    says:

    Can anyone tell me when Toft street was made into a street that ran between Needham Road and Holt road, i was always told that there had been a wall running between what is now 31 and 32 the old maps it is shown but in the 1881 census houses ran from number 1-27 odd side, 2-24,can this be what became 31-55 and 32-58 there has been mention number 25 west and 25 east can this be explained.

    Reply

    • Martin

      says:

      Hi Sheila,
      I can’t find an exact reason, or the wall itself, but I spotted something interesting on the old maps. It seems there’s a change in the layout of all the houses that border onto the line you mentioned. I’ve attached a map with the line scribbled on top, below. Check the rear extensions on the terraces, which alternate except at that point. I suspect means that this was the border of an old parcel of land, and was developed at slightly different times or by different people. So a wall might have exited at one point. Perhaps a field boundary.

      PS looking at Street View it seems the surviving houses either side of that line are different in architecture too!

      Reply

  • Chris

    says:

    Would love any further info on Stand Park in Netherton near Aintree, I’m sure it was nothing but ordinary farmland by the time this map was made, but I’ can find very little online, only a few comments from N Blundells Diary referring to it.

    Looks a grand country estate but never knew anyone who has heard of it.

    Reply

  • S.Taylor

    says:

    Hi
    Can anybody help with any photos and info on a few places please?
    Wood Street Liverpool John Walmsley a marble mason lived here (1780ish-1811), he later built his own house Berry St, which is at the top of the street, (will this building be there now or bombed in WW2?, It was said to be Georgian style, I’m not big on my building styles) He also did some work in the Unitarian chapel on Paradise st, now part of Liverpool one. It was turned into the Royal Colosseum Theatre, (any pics of inside surviving to see what his work was like would be great please). He was buried at St Andrews Renshaw st,
    His dad in the mid 1700s lived in Tithebarn st, which I’ve been told was much narrower than now, so was this on the style of the Shambles in York would anybody know, as I don’t think anything would survive now, unless anybody did a painting? He later moved to Toxteth park area, as he was a stone mason and it was near the Quarry I believe, but now the Cathedral?
    Sorry for the heavy load, any help would be lovely. Many Thanks

    Reply

  • A.R

    says:

    Hello,
    I was wondering if you knew anything about the Magdalen Asylum/Laundry on 8 Mount Vernon Green, opened in 1860? Many thanks.

    Reply

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