Everton in 1800's

The above is a print of W. G. Herdman's view of Everton from Great Mersey Street in 1833, which gives an indication of the attraction of Everton for middle and upper classes in the early part of the 19th Century as a holiday destination. This attractiveness was the reason for De Quincey's family to holiday there in 1801.

Everton in the first years of the 19th century was reached by a road which was "pleasant and rural" and was a "... favourite resort of opulance... [with] an assemblage of elegant villas, many of which... connect with architectural taste, the beauty of situation and the decorations of rural scenery ... The Stranger in Liverpool, 2nd ed., 1810, pp. 185, 186.

Everton offers a very charming display of the river and sea, with the town below, which would afford a subject for the pencil of an artist... that could scarcely be exceeded in beauty, variety and extension ...
William Moss Liverpool Guide 1801, p. 80,



Perhaps a more detailed description of Everton provided by Robert Syers's in his History of Everton (1830) demonstrates the attraction of the place:

There are few places in England, or indeed in any other country, so highly favoured, by situation, as Everton; in picturesque, beautiful, and interesting scenery, it has scarcely a rival in Britain. On its western side, it rises with gentle acclivity, until its crest, or the summit of its brow, acquires a commanding eminence, which overlooks the modern Tyre.

From the western parts of Everton-hill may be plainly seen the fertile lands of Cheshire, the mountains of Wales, the river Mersey, and the expanding Irish Sea, where numberless vessels are continually moving, ingressing and egressing to and from Albion's Western Emporium : and, in favourable weather, the spectator on Everton-hill may behold the Isle of Man, and the bold promontories of the north coast of Wales. From the northern part of Everton may be seen, in the north-west, the estuary of the Mersey, the channels by which the haven of Liverpool is approached and left, and, at times, the dangerous sand-banks that extend from the estuary of the Mersey for many leagues sea-ward, the dread of pilots and poor mariners : more northwardly, also is seen, from Everton' s northern parts, the extensive and deeply-indented bay of Bootle, the marshes of Bank Hall, the wanen of Crosby, several jutting promontories on the sea-board, and the church and hamlet of Walton-on-the-hill ; whilst the distant hills of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Yorkshire fringe the horizon, and bound the spectator's view on the north and north-east.

The western parts of Everton are rapidly assimilating and connecting themselves with Liverpool; numberless dwellings are here annually erected; nay, so magical is now the builder's power, that, it might be said, many dwellings are constructed in this quarter weekly, generally but small domiciles, and chiefly intended for the occupation of the humble: but the slope of the brow, and the platform-crest, are studded over with beautiful villas and elegant mansions, where the wealthy children of the commerce of Liverpool, and the retired gentry, with their families, reside. In fine, such is Everton at this day; a delectable spot indeed, and almost entitled to the denomination of Modern Arcadia.


In later posts, I will explore the environs of Everton in more detail mapping out De Quincey's walks around the area based on his 1803 Diary.

De Quincey's First Visit to Liverpool 1801

The first visit made by De Quincey to Liverpool was in 1801. At the time, De Quincey was studying at the Manchester Grammar School residing at the home of the school's headmaster Charles Lawson at Long Millgate in Manchester. (See Robert Morrison The English Opium Eater Chapter 3 for more details)

The reason for his first visit to Liverpool was to participate in a family holiday in Everton which included amongst others his sisters Mary and Jane plus brothers William and Richard (Pink).

Before he departed for the holiday, he received the letter below from his mother Elizabeth Penson Quincey which gives us an insight into how he was to travel to Liverpool and what to expect on arrival:

Liverpool, May 20, 1801.

My dear Thomas,— I am much afraid of any mistakes being made in your getting to me, therefore send you laid down in black and white your steering chart; and this being the language of the place we are in, I beg you will think it very appropriate.

You will leave Manchester on Saturday morning in the canal-boat, first of all informing yourselves whether there is a boat sailing upon a Saturday morning, of which I have great doubts; almost a certainty, indeed, that Saturday morning is the only one in the week it does not go. You will be landed about a mile from Warrington London Bridge, where you will meet coaches, into one of which you will get and go to Warrington to dinner; and you must secure your places in the Long Coach to Liverpool, which (with all the Manchester coaches) comes to the Angel Inn, Dale Street. Should my suspicion about the boat be right, you must come directly from Manchester in the Long Coach in the morning of Saturday; — lose no time as soon as you can on Thursday to know all this, and let your place be arranged.

Whichever way you come, I beg your principal care may be given to Henry, who is so blind he cannot see a horse till it is close to his elbow, and so frightened when he does see it, that he loses the power of moving. In the variety of plans it is possible William may not happen to meet you; I shall, however, endeavour to send him to the right place and hour ; if you miss him, get a porter to call you a coach and drive to Everton, to Mrs. Best's cottage ; it is on the middle road, opposite Mr. Clarke's the banker. I must repeat, do not let Henry go from you a moment, and let Pink mind the luggage. Keep Henry from leaning against the coach-door or over the edge of the boat.

You need bring no books, for Mr. Clarke, our neighbour, will lend you any Greek or Latin author. Of Italian, French, and English books he seems to have store also; and in the town there is really a noble library, to which Mr. Cragg will introduce you. It is a new institution, comprising a great collection. The room is a fine one, and occupies the upper floor of a handsome building. The lower floor is a public news-room. I am persuaded you will like this place, and our sweet cottage, which has a delightful view of the water; the bathing is not so near as might be wished, but within the compass of a walk.

Mary has had a letter from Lady Carbery with a bad account of her health ; she is going to London for advice. Mrs. Brotherton is alive, and for the
present somewhat better.

Last night, as we were returning from Liverpool about nine o'clock, a gentleman on the road, who was observing the heavens through a glass, invited us to look at the planet Saturn, which we saw with his belt very finely. You know this planet is very seldom seen, sometimes not for many years, but at this time it is visible, and, it is said, Mars also. You may see Saturn to the left of the moon with the naked eye, I suppose, to-morrow night; but whether at the same hour in the same position I don't know ; I should think farther to the left. You cannot see the belt of Saturn without a glass.

I am reading Dr. Currie's ' Life of Burns,' not without a sharply jealous eye to the Doctor's Jacobinism. "Alas, my dear Thomas, for the fate of that brave man, General Abercrombie!

Mary's love. Jane has gone to see the bathing-house with William. — Yours ever most affectionately,

E. DE QUINCEY.

P.S.—I see nine sail of ships where I sit, and have never before counted so small a number. You must expect to see us in an Irish cabin, or very little better; when you approach the cottage, you may reach the chimneys with your hat. I have had three applications for Green Park Buildings, We have a piano lent us; books as many as we want; and all the vegetables we use are given by Mr. Clarke, and have half our furniture from Mr. Cragg's house. I now find there are coaches to other houses besides the Angel, so the hazard of meeting you is greatly increased.



Notes

Manchester to Warrington

What can be gleaned from his mother's letter is that he would have to make his way from Long Millgate ( Seen above in late 19th Century) in Northern Manchester to the start of the Bridgewater Canal south of the city as can be seen on the 1801 map below (click on image to enlarge):



De Quincey would have travelled by barge/boat to Stockton Quay as seen below. The wharf which overhung the canal and the sizable warehouse were an important location for the transhipment of goods to and from the canal.



The London Bridge pub was also part of Stockton Quay and served as a passenger transfer location for the Duke of Bridgewater packet boats.





From the London Bridge pub, he would have travelled to Warrington to catch the coach onto Liverpool. The main coach house in Warrington in the late 18th and early 19th Century was the Red Lion.



In future posts, I will be looking in detail at Mrs Best, Lady Carbery, Mr Clarke, Mr Cragg, Dr Currie, the Angel Inn Liverpool, "the noble library" and the bathing house plus the environs of Everton.

A Visit to Dove Cottage September 2010

In September 2010, I visited the Lakes for a short break. During the trip, I took the opportunity to explore some of the places Malcolm Lowry visited on his last holiday before his death in 1957. I intended to eventually write up my visit on my Malcolm Lowry blog.



During the break, I went to Dove Cottage in Grasmere now a museum dedicated to William Wordsworth. Lowry had visited the cottage as part of his holiday. During our tour of the cottage, I discovered that Thomas De Quincey had visited Wordsworth there and subsequently lived there and kept the property for 25 years. This fascinated me and I thought it ironic that so much emphasis is put on Wordsworth short tenure! This also struck Lowry as I discovered when I read one of his letters when I got home:

..on top of which it's called Wordsworth's, albeit de Quincey lived in it for 20 years to W's 5 - Malcolm Lowry The Collected Letters Volume Two 1946-57 P. 905



This re-awakened my interest in De Quincey and on my return home I dived into the biographies to find out more. I started with Grevel Lindop's The Opium Eater: A Life of Thomas De Quincey (1981) and Robert Morrison's The English Opium Eater: A Biography of Thomas De Quincey (2009. I discovered that De Quincey had kept a diary during his 1803 stay in Everton, which had only been published in 1927.

I managed to obtain a 1927 copy of the Diary with an introduction and notes by Horace A. Eaton. What is fascinating about this edition is that it contains both a facsimile copy of De Quincey’s handwritten diary and a transcription of the diary.

The diary's entries gave me greater stimulus to research De Quincey's time in Everton. My reading of the diary coincided with Cathy Butterworth's Sketches From Britain project which I mentioned in a previous post. The visit to Dove Cottage was also the catalyst I needed to explore De Quincey's time in Liverpool sparked by David Jacques's Por Convención Ferrer.

Welcome to De Quincey in Everton

This blog has been set up to compliment a recent talk I gave on ‘De Quincey In Everton’ as part of Cathy Butterworth’s project Sketches In Britain.

The purpose of the blog is three fold:

Firstly, the blog will act as a vehicle for my on-going research into De Quincey’s time in Everton. My aim is to supplement the existing biographical information by placing his visits in time and space especially to explore the topography of his 1803 Diary, which he wrote during one of his visits to Everton.

Secondly, I will be documenting my psychogeographical wanderings around Liverpool in search of De Quincey’s spirit.