BOOTLE
Boltelai, Dom. Bk.; Botle, 1212, 1237; Botull,
1306; Bothull, 1332; Bothell, 1348.
This township has a frontage to the Mersey of
nearly a mile and a half in length and extends
landward about two miles. The area is 1,207
acres. (fn. 1) The land rises from the river eastward,
until near Walton an elevation of 150 ft. is reached.
The population in 1901 was 58,556. There is
scarcely a square yard of ground left that is not
covered with crowded streets, railways, timber-yards,
canal wharfs, and, last but not least, extensive docks
and quays. A forest of masts and funnels takes
the place of green trees, and solid stone walls reflect themselves in the River Mersey instead of
grassy slopes. Huge warehouses rise up on every
side. The hum of machinery mingles with the
cries of flocks of seagulls and the rush of passing and
repassing vessels of all descriptions. The North Wall
lighthouse and the battery are conspicuous objects
along the river wall.
The soil where still exposed in the north is stiff
clay with a mixture of sand. The geological formation is triassic, comprising the upper mottled sandstones of the bunter series lying upon the pebble beds
of the series, with a small area of the basement beds
of the keuper series thrown down by a fault.
Bootle is traversed by the Lancashire and Yorkshire
Railway from Liverpool to Southport and from the
docks to Aintree, with two stations on the former, called
Bootle and Marsh Lane; by the London and North
Western Company's line from the docks to Edgehill,
with stations at Balliol Road and Alexandra Dock;
and by the Midland Company's line to the docks.
The Liverpool Overhead Railway, opened in 1893,
runs by the docks, having its terminus at Seaforth.
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal passes through the
township.
The place was thus described in 1774: 'Bootle
cum Linacre lies near the sea on a very sandy soil
and contains some well-built houses. A very copious
spring of fine, soft, pure water rises near it, which about
half a mile below turns a mill and soon after falls into
the sea at Bootle Bay . . . . Linacre, a pretty rural
village, is a distinct township, but a member of the
manor of Bootle. It lies adjacent to the sea, on the
west.' (fn. 2)
The map prepared in 1768 (fn. 3) shows the village of
Bootle situated almost in the centre of the combined
township, where Litherland Road now meets Merton
Road. On the south side was a large open space;
somewhat to the north was the famous spring, now
marked by the pumping station. The mills (fn. 4) —there
was a windmill as well as a watermill—were to the
north-east of St. Mary's Church. From the village
various roads spread out. One, now Merton Road,
led to the shore just to the north of one of the Bootle
landmarks, which were curiously-shaped signal posts
for the guidance of ships entering the Mersey. (fn. 5)
Clayfield Lane, now Breeze Hill, led to Walton
church and village. The second of the old Bootle
landmarks stood beside this road on the high ground
near the Walton boundary. Field Lane, now Hawthorne Road, led to Kirkdale. Trinity Road and
Derby Road seem more or less to represent the road
to the lord's manor-house at Bank Hall; to the side
of this road towards the river was Bootle Marsh.
Gravehouse Lane led from near the spring, first east
and then north, to join the present Linacre Lane
at the Orrell boundary.
Linacre village was situated on the present Linacre
Road, between the point at which this road is joined
by Linacre Lane and the Litherland boundary. The
shoreward portion of the township was called Linacre
Marsh; Marsh Lane led down to it. The northern
boundary was Rimrose Brook; the southern was
another brook rising in Bootle and flowing to the
river parallel to the mill stream. (fn. 6)
At the beginning of last century Bootle was a
'pleasant marine village . . . much resorted to in
the summer season as a sea bathing place.' (fn. 7) 'The
ride along the beach was, in the summer, remarkably
pleasant and much frequented. The sands were
hard and smooth, and the wind, especially if westerly,
cool and refreshing.' (fn. 8) The spring had then become
one of the chief sources of the Liverpool water
supply. (fn. 9)
Within the last fifty years the growth of Liverpool
trade has turned the seaside summer resort into a
busy town. The sandy shore has been reclaimed for
the largest of the Mersey Docks, namely the Brocklebank; Langton, opened in 1881; Alexandra, with
three branches, 1881; and Hornby. To the north
of the latter is a large open space, in the northwest corner of which is the Seaforth Battery.
On the river wall at the Hornby dock gate is a
lighthouse.
There was a sandstone quarry in Breeze Hill.
There are large dye works, corn mills, and jute works,
but the occupations of the inhabitants are principally
connected with docks and railways, the timber-yards
and grain stores.
An outbreak of plague occurred in 1652.
MANOR
There were in BOOTLE before the
Conquest four manors which four thegns
held, the assessment being two ploughlands and the value 64d.; the priest of Walton had
the third plough-land in right of
his church. (fn. 10) The first known
lord after the Conquest was
Roger son of Ravenkil, who in
1129–30 was one of the men
of the count of Mortain between Ribble and Mersey. (fn. 11) His
son Richard, lord of Woodplumpton in Amounderness, the
founder of Lytham Priory, was
succeeded by one of his daughters
and coheirs, Amuria, the wife of
Thomas de Beetham. (fn. 12) This
Thomas in 1212 held two
plough-lands in Bootle in thegnage for 8s. 8d. yearly service; (fn. 13) and as another daughter,
Quenilda, was in 1252 found to have held a ploughland of Walton church by the yearly service of
3s. 4d., (fn. 14) it seems clear that the father had held the
whole vill.
Beetham of Beetham. Or, a chief indented azure, over all a bendlet gules.
Upon Quenilda's death without issue a fresh partition appears to have been made, for Sir Ralph de
Beetham, who died in 1254, held the two ploughlands in which he succeeded his father, and half the
plough-land belonging to Walton church. (fn. 15) The Stockport
family held the other half, and
appear to have secured a share
of the thegnage plough-lands. (fn. 16)
Stockport of Stock port. Azure three lozenges or.
The Beetham share descended
in that family till the beginning
of Henry VII's reign, when it
was forfeited after the battle of
Bosworth and granted to the
earl of Derby. (fn. 17) A successful
claim was, however, made by
the Middletons, (fn. 18) and Gervase
Middleton died in 1548, seised
of land in Bootle held of the king by fealty and
the service of 8s. yearly. (fn. 19) His son and heir, George
Middleton, in 1566 sold the manor and lordship of
Bootle to John Moore of Bank House for £570. (fn. 20)
The manor continued to descend in this family until
1724–5, when Sir Cleave Moore sold it to James,
tenth earl of Derby, (fn. 21) from whom it has descended
with the family estate of Knowsley to the present earl.
The Stockport share was transferred before 1292
to Robert de Byron. (fn. 22) In 1357, Robert de Byron,
lord of the sixth part of the manor and vill of
Bootle, granted it to Adam de Ainsargh of Liverpool, (fn. 23)
Robert's daughter Maud joining in the transfer by
granting her lands in Bootle to Richard son of
Adam de Ainsargh. (fn. 24) In 1395 it had descended to
Alice and Margery, the daughters and heirs of
Richard de Ainsargh, of whom the former was the
wife of Roger de Ditton. (fn. 25) Eventually it appears to
have been acquired by the
Moores and reunited with the
rest of the manor. (fn. 26)
Middleton of Leighton. Argent, a saltire engrailed sable, in fess point a mullet for difference of the last.
The record of the Bootle
court-baron of 1612 has been
printed; the two free tenants
recorded were John Burton and
Anne Harvey, widow. (fn. 27)
Roger son of Ravenkil gave
one plough-land in LINACRE
to the Hospital of Jerusalem in
alms. (fn. 28) It was attached to the
Hospitallers' manor or camera
of Woolton, under whom it
was held by a number of
different tenants. (fn. 29)
A family bearing the local name long flourished
here. Before 1290 Hugh de Linacre granted half
an oxgang of land to Robert de Kirkdale, (fn. 30) and
other members of the family occur in this and
neighbouring townships. The Molyneux family of
Sefton (fn. 31) and Moores of Bank Hall were also tenants. (fn. 32)
Deeds relating to other holdings have been preserved. (fn. 33)
In 1667 Isaac Legay of London, merchant, sold
the manor or reputed manor of Linacre to Edward
Moore of Bankhall, (fn. 34) and with Bootle it was afterwards
sold to the earl of Derby, and has since descended.
BOROUGH
Bootle-cum-Linacre (fn. 35) was incorporated by charter dated 30 December,
1868, and became a county borough
under the Local Government Act, 1888. (fn. 36) There
are three wards—Derby, Stanley, and Knowsley—in the
north-east, south-west and northwest respectively. Derby Ward
includes the ancient village.
Each ward has two aldermen
and six councillors. A separate
commission of the peace was
granted in 1876, and a borough
police force established in 1887.
Water is supplied by the Liverpool Corporation, and gas by
the Liverpool company, which
has works near Linacre. The
electric tramways are worked
in connexion with the Liverpool
system.
Borough of Bootle. Argent, on a chevron between three fleurs de lis azure as many stag's heads cabossed or; on a chief sable three mural crowns of the first.
The town hall and public offices, built in 1882,
are situated in Balliol Road. Baths and a public library
are provided. There are two hospitals. (fn. 37) A school
board was formed in 1870. Derby Park is situated
in the eastern portion of the borough; two open
spaces, called North Park and South Park, are in Linacre and in Hawthorne Road.
The earliest church in Bootle was St. Mary's, in
connexion with the Establishment, consecrated in
1827. The advowson, like that of Walton, was
afterwards acquired by the Leigh family. Christ
Church was built in 1866, (fn. 38) and St. John's Church,
Balliol Road, about the same time; (fn. 39) St. Leonard's,
Linacre, was built in 1889; and St. Matthew's, also
in Linacre, in 1887. The patronage of these
churches is vested in different bodies of trustees.
The Wesleyan Methodists have several places of
worship. The church in Balliol Road was built in
1864, that in Linacre Road in 1900, and that in
Marsh Lane in 1903; they have also Wesley Hall,
in Sheridan Place. For Welsh-speaking members
there are churches in Trinity Road, built in 1877,
and in Knowsley Road. The Primitive Methodists
have a church in Queen's Road.
The Baptist church in Stanley Road was built in
1846. The Welsh church in Brasenose Road was
built in 1871, the work having begun in 1863,
that in Rhyl Street dates from 1884; and that in
Knowsley Road is the result of an effort made in
Seaforth in 1882.
Emmanuel Congregational church, Balliol Road,
opened in 1876, represents a missionary work begun
in 1871 in the Assembly Room. (fn. 40) For Welsh-speaking
Congregationalists there are two churches; one represents a movement by members of the Kirkdale
church in 1878–83, and the other is the result
of dissension in the congregation in 1884–5. (fn. 41)
The Welsh Calvinistic Methodists have two places
of worship.
Trinity Presbyterian church, built in 1887, is a
migration from Derby Road, Kirkdale, where a start
was made in 1855. Another church in Linacre was
erected in 1896, work having begun in 1883.
There are a Church of Christ, near Bootle waterworks, and some other meeting-places.
For Roman Catholics there are two churches. The
foundation of the mission at St. James's, Marsh Lane,
was made in 1845, when a room on the canal bank
was hired for worship. In the following year a
school chapel was built in Marsh Lane and enlarged
in 1868. In 1884 the whole of the buildings and
site were purchased by the Lancashire and Yorkshire
Railway Company, but a new church, on an adjacent
site, was opened early in 1886. (fn. 42) St. Winefride's,
Derby Road, was opened in 1895. (fn. 43)