Timeline
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Events / Historic Developments
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More material page or extra link
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Area
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1901
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The Street Railway
becomes electrified when it was taken over by
the Liverpool Corporation and became the 1st
railway system to employ an automatic signalling
system and using the all electric signals with
coloured lights. |
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1901
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 Decision
made to build a Cathedral for the recently
formed Diocese of Liverpool. This would become
Liverpool Anglican Cathedral |
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1901
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Queen Victoria Dies. |
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1902
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Edwardians finish
the square in Croxteth Hall, this is the
Croxteth Hall. |
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1902
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Tram
Network in Liverpool was electrified.
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1902
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Garston votes to
join Liverpool. |
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1902
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The Formby Land and
Building Company folded due to lack of
development in Formby, everyone was going to
Southport and by-passing Formby. |
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1902
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The replacement for
the Pier Pavilion is opened in this year in
Southport. |
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1903
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Water chute built
for sea-bathers in Southport, mainly attended by
fishermen. The subway was also filled in at this
time. |
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1904
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Anglican Cathedral
started and will take over 70 years to
complete. |
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1904
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Fort Crosby opened.
It had 6" navel guns to protect the approaches
to the Mersey, but were never fired. |
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1904
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The newspaper
Liverpool Mercury shuts down. |
|
1904
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Foundation
stone of Liverpool Cathedral laid by King Edward
VIII |
|
1904
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The Southport
Liverpool line was electrified in this year. |
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1904
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Southport's
Framptons statue to commemorate Queen Victoria
unveiled on the 15 July, by Mayor Councillor
Brown. |
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1904
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The newspaper
Southport Journal founded. |
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1904
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Mr Weld-Blundell
starts his oyster project on the Southport
beach. |
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1905
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Fazakerley joins
Liverpool. |
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1905
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The
Runcorn / Widnes Transporter was opened on 29
May to replace a ferry crossing. |
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1905
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Southport becomes a
County Borough. Birkdale and Ainsdale join
together. |
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1907
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The Mersey Harbour
and Docks Company Building completed, the design
was by Arnold Thornley. |
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1907
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The new Sewer works
opens in Crossens. Southport and Ainsdale Golf
Club opens. |
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1908
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Construction started
on W Aubrey Thomas building the Royal Liver
Building. |
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1908
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The Liverpool
Banking and Insurance Golf Club leases land
between Freshfield and Ainsdale, inland of the
railway, this later becomes Freshfield Golf
Course. |
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1909
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Old age pensions
introduced in Britain. |
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1910
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Pioneer aviator
Claude Grahame-White arrived unexpectedly at
Southport. |
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1911
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An airfield is built
near Blowick which host various Aviation
exhibitions during the months of June, July and
August. |
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1911
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The aerial ride that
transported people across the Marine lake in
Southport was demolished in this year, due to
residents saying it was an eyesore. |
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1911
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The Blundell Club
establish a golf course on cultivated land just
South of Ainsdale. |
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1911
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The Royal Liver
Building Finished. |
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1911
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National Insurance
introduced in the UK. |
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1912
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Southport absorbs
Birkdale and Ainsdale into it's borough.
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1912
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Hillside Golf Club
Opens. |
1912
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The Society for the
Promotion of Nature reserves is formed and
includes both Ainsdale and Freshfield dunes in
their list of worthy sites for protection. |
1913
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Wallasey Borough
Police formed on the 1 April. |
1913
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The newspapers
Formby Newspaper / West Lancs Coast Chronicle
are shut down. |
1913
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The 1st Police Dogs,
2 Airedale Terriers were introduced to the
Southport Police Force. |
1913
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In a speech, Mayor
Harold Broderick said that Southport was unique
in England as the only town in the country to
have more chapels and churches than public
houses. |
1913
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Allerton, Childwall,
Little Woolton and much Woolton all join
Liverpool as well. |
1914
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Open-air baths
opened in this year. |
1914
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The King's Gardens
is opened by King George the V, the gardens
replaced the old fairgrounds on the south side
of the South Lake. |
1914
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First World War
starts on 4 July when
Britain declares war on Germany. |
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1914
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The famous appeal for 100,000
volunteers is made by Lord Kitchener on 27 July.
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1914
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 In
Liverpool responding to Lord Kitchener call for
volunteers, Lord Derby has the idea to form a
"Battalions of Pals". The idea is
then put forward to the Liverpool Press in a
meeting on 28 July. The
meeting is packed out and he addresses those
attending with the now world famous speech:-
"This should be a battalion of Pals, a battalion
in which friends from the same office will fight
shoulder to shoulder for the honour of Britain
and the credit of Liverpool. I don't ask you to uphold
Liverpool's honour it would be an insult to
think that you could do anything but that, but I
do thank you from the bottom of my heart for
coming here tonight and showing what is the spirit of
Liverpool, a spirit that should spread through
every City and Town in the Kingdom." By
10.00 am 1,050 men have
been recruited at St George's Hall, in Liverpool
City Center. So many had turned up that Lord
Derby has to tell the thousands more who had
been waiting to return on 2 August. On he steps
and within St George's
Hall over 1,000 more men
then signed up on 2 August, to form the 18th
Battalion, later to become known as the
Liverpool Pals. |
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|
1914
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 By
14 August so many men had signed up, Lord Derby
has to call a temporary halt to the recruiting
campaign. Now with over
3,000 men enlisted, another battalion is formed,
known as the 19th. |
1914
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As the 'Pals'
battalion where regiments of the Kings
Liverpool, it was expected that the men would
wear the Kings badge
the White Horse of Hanover, but in recognition
of Lord Derby's role in their formation, King
George V approves the Eagle and Child cap badge
for the Pals Battalions. So in August of this
year, the new badge is produced, The Eagle and
Child, being the Derby family crest and the
family motto. But unlike many badges it also
included the Latin words 'Sans Changer',
which translates simply as without change. |
1914
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So successful was Lord Derby, a
further 2 reserve battalions the 21st and 22nd
where formed by November, 1914! |
1915
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The
Pals become the 89th Brigade, but better known
as 'The Pals Battalions'. The
new battalion then leaves Liverpool, mostly via
Lime Street Station, for training at Grantham,
on 30 April. |
1915
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The entire 'Liverpool Pals'
Battalions, now the 89th Brigade
complete the final training on Salisbury Plain
and embark for France over 6 November and 7
November. |
1915
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The newspaper
Liverpool Weekly Mercury shuts down. |
|
1915
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The 1st death of a
'Liverpool Pal' to be killed in action
was Reginald Rezin on 20 December. |
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1916
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The
war is a blood bath, with the heaviest losses
ever suffered by the British Army happening at:-
'The Battle of the Somme'. On 1
July, 19,240 men are killed and over 40,000 more
are wounded. Over the battle the village of
Montauban from the Germans by The Liverpool
Pals, making it one of the few successes of the
day. Sadly over 200 men from the The Pals
battalions are killed. |
1916
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On 30 July, in what was to become
known as:- "Liverpool's blackest day",
nearly 500 men are killed in a failed attack on
the village of Guillemont. |
1916
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On 12 October the Liverpool Pals
are at start of:- 'The Battle of the
Transloy Ridges'. By the end, 22
October, it has claimed the lives of a further
226 Pals. |
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|
1916
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On 9 April the Liverpool Pals are
heavily involved in the:- 'Battle of
Arras', and the tragic loss of even more
men. |
1916
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The 'Battle of the Somme'
took place over 1 July to 13 November,
to this day it remaining remains one of the most
controversial battles of the First World War. It
was intended to be a decisive breakthrough, but
it quickly became a byword for futile and
indiscriminate slaughter. General Haig's tactics
are still questioned even today. |
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1916
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By 2 September, the Liverpool
Pals Battalions have now move from France
entering Belgium. They end up in the Ypres
Salient, a location which was the scene of some
of the biggest battles in World War I. |
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1917
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The Police Dog
experiment appears to fail, so the force sells
of the 2 dogs. |
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1917
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After a Senate vote of 82 to 6,
the U.S. to declare war against Germany. The
vote was also backed by the U.S. House of
Representatives endorses the decision by a vote
of 373 to 50, so on 6 April the United States
formally enters the First World War. |
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1917
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'Battle of
Passchendaele' begins on 31 July.
Passchendaele became infamous not only for the
scale of casualties, but also for the mud. The
battle was to claim the lives of 325,000 Allied
and 260,000 German casualties! with in those
deaths, 11 officers and 223 other ranks from
Liverpool are killed. The Battle ended on 6
November. |
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1917
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On 25 September 'The
Lancashire Hussars' had been formally
drafted into the 18th Battalion, to form the
18th (Lancashire Hussars) Battalion The Kings
(Liverpool Regiment). The Hussars at that stage
had 16 officers and 290 men. |
1917
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By 31 December, the 18th
(Lancashire Hussars) Battalion The Kings
(Liverpool Regiment) had lost 22 officers and
518 other ranks killed in just 7 months of being
located in the Ypres Salient. |
1918
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Over 7 April to 29 April 1918,
'The Battle of the Lys' takes place. It
is to become better known as This is later known
as Flanders Fields. During that time The Army
decideds to reduce the number of battalions, in
doing so the drop the 20th Battalion and move
all its men move to the 3 remaining Pals
Battalions on 9 April. |
1918
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On 13 May The Pals from the
Liverpool Battalions are sent to train the new
American troops. |
1918
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By the 31 July The 19th is
absorbed into the 14th Battalion of the Kings
(Liverpool Regiment), after the 19th is
effectively disbanded leaving 2 surviving
Liverpool Pals Battalions. This new battalion
are then amalgamated to form the 18th
(Lancashire Hussars Yeomanry) - The Kings
(Liverpool Regiment). |
1918
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The 17th Battalion leaves France
and embarks for Russia on 10 October. |
1918
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On 8 November, with just days to
the end of the War, The 18th Battalion looses 13
men in what was to be the Pals last engagement
of the war, an attack against the German Army
near Marbaux. |
1918
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The First World War, known at the
time as the "Great War" comes to
an end at 11 o'clock in the morning of the 11th
day (Monday) of the 11th month (November). By
the end of the War, the total number of military
and civilian casualties was over 37 million. It
clamed over 16 million lives and left over 20
million wounded, thus making it one of the
deadliest conflicts in human history. |
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1918
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The last of the 17th Battalion
leave Russia for Liverpool. During the Great War
and the campaign in Russia sadly 2,800 men from
the Plas had died by the end of hostilities and
many joined the millions who had been wounded. |
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1919
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Air Ministry approve
of a landing site near the old Birkdale Palace
hotel, only the 3rd licensed airfield in the
Country. |
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1919
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The Hesketh's move
back to Meols Hall after an absence of 200
years. |
1920
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The newspaper
Liverpool Weekly Courier and the Garston &
Woolton Reporter both shut down. |
1920
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Giro Aviation
company sets up, offering flights and flying
lessons to anyone who can pay for them. Also
that year, the newspaper Southport Guardian
shuts down. |
1921
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Prince's Park opened
by the Prince of Wales. |
1921
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After waning
interest in the oyster project Mr Weld-Blundell
tries again by bringing in another French oyster
expert who soon closes the project down, for the
waters of Ainsdale beach were just too cold for
natural oyster cultivation. |
1921
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Southport builds its
1st council houses on Haig Avenue. |
1922
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The buffoonery and
fairgrounds were finally allowed to stay in what
is now Pleasureland during this year, although
the founding fathers of the Town said they would
never sully the fine beaches of Southport with
the vulgarity that marred the Blackpool
beaches. |
1922
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Jack Holland opens
his Chocolate Factory on Segars Lane. |
1922
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Development of the Links Course
starts at Royal Birkdale. The Royal Birkdale
Golf Club sought to buy the course from Mr. Weld
Blundell, but the asking price of £19,000 was
considered to be too high. The then local
Council, Southport Corporation, eventually
became the new owners. The Club feared that
they would take over the course, but a 7 year
plan was put into operation to prepare the
course for Championship standard. |
1922
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Sprint races started
on Ainsdale beach by the younger members of the
Southport Motor Racing Club. |
1923
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Southport War
Memorial consecrated, comments at the time said
that it was:- "quite large for a
provincial Town." |
1923
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The last steamer
sails from the Pier in Southport, this is due to
the silting up of the channels into the Pier
area. |
1924
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Southport Flower
Show starts in this year, and for many years
claimed to be the largest summer flower show in
the world. |
1924
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Consecraton of High
Altar, Chancel and Eastern Transepts of
Liverpool Cathedral. |
1925
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The Mersey Tunnel,
Queensway Entrance, started |
1925
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Southport's Lifeboat
Station closed due to lack of use. |
1928
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The 2 halves of the
Mersey Tunnel meet, and in a unique ceremony to
mark the occasion, the then Lord Mayor of
Liverpool Miss Margaret Beavan shook hands with
the, then Mayor of Birkenhead, Alderman Alec
Naylor through a hole in the excavations. |
1928
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West Derby Rural and
Croxteth Park join Liverpool. |
1928
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The new Open-Aired
baths are opened in Southport. |
1928
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Southport
Corporation buys all of the Ainsdale and
Birkdale foreshore, along with most of the dune
land. |
1929
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The Winter Gardens
Opera House in Southport is destroyed by fire.
|
1929
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The Ainsdale public
library is finally built, after some opposition
from the Town Councillors. |
1929
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The newspaper
Southport Journal shuts down. |