WELCOME TO THE RESEARCHERS SITE

Our aim is to tell the story of various Liverpool families in the 18^th and 19^th centuries who contributed - whether substantially or in small part – to making Liverpool a great city. All the families were of humble origins, mostly settling in Liverpool before 1800 having migrated from other parts of Lancashire. Some individuals achieved considerable fame and wealth but all the families experienced their share – or more – of grief and hardship.

We start with the most successful – the Walmsley family. From a labourer arriving in Liverpool in the early 1700s were descended, amongst others, the marble mason and builder John Walmsley, the mayor and reforming MP Sir Joshua Walmsley, the shipowner John Bankes Walmsley, the publisher Gilbert Gough Walmsley, the Robin Hood’s Bay artist James Ulric Walmsley and, most recently, the novelist Leo Walmsley.

In the near future we shall start adding pages for the Croston family. In the 18^th century this old Lancashire family from Melling established a dynasty of blockmakers supporting Liverpool's burgeoning maritime trade.

In the course of researching these families, other material of general interest has been accumulated. We have now included the story of Richard Aislabie's Eden Hall Academy in Westmorland, which educated many sons of the Liverpool gentry, and will soon commence a series of articles on Liverpool court cases, such as the Liverpool Bank Frauds, that were celebrated in their time but are less well known today.

For most individuals featured on this site, information other than bare dates of christenings, marriages and deaths is hard to come by. Even so, we have tried to provide rounded accounts that provide some idea of how they lived and of social conditions in Liverpool. There are many gaps in our data and we would welcome any snippets or other contributions that will help to complete the picture. Please email us at feedback@researchers.plus.com

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