Liverpool cathedral, intended when completed to be the largest in the country, from designs by G. F. Bodley and G. Gilbert Scott, was begun in 1904, when the foundation stone was laid by King Edward VII. The foundations were completed in 1906 and the superstructure begun. The foundation of the chapter-house was laid in that year by the duke of Connaught, and work was then begun on the Lady chapel, the vestries and the choir.
Railways.—There are three terminal passenger stations in Liverpool, the London & North Western at Lime Street, the Lancashire & Yorkshire at Exchange and the combined station of the Midland, Great Northern & Great Central at Central. By the Mersey tunnel (opened in 1886) connexion is made with the Wirral railway, the Great Central, the Great Western and the London & North Western, on the Cheshire side of the river. The Liverpool electric overhead railway running along the line of docks from Seaforth to Dingle was opened in 1893, and in 1905 a junction was made with the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway by which through passenger traffic between Southport and the Dingle has been established. In 1895 the Riverside station at the Prince’s dock was completed, giving direct access from the landing stage to the London and North Western system.
Water Supply.—The original supply of water was from wells in the sandstone rock, but in 1847 an act was passed, under which extensive works were constructed at Rivington, about 25 m. distant, and a much larger supply was obtained. The vast increase of population led to further requirements, and in 1880 another act gave power to impound the waters of the Vyrnwy, one of the affluents of the Severn. These works were completed in 1892, a temporary supply having been obtained a year earlier. The corporation had also, however, obtained power to impound the waters of the Conwy and Marchnant rivers, and to bring them into Lake Vyrnwy, the main reservoir, by means of tunnels. This work was completed and opened by the prince of Wales (George V.) in March 1910.
Tramways.—The corporation in 1896 purchased the property, rights, powers and privileges of the Liverpool Electric Supply Company, and in the following year the undertaking of the Liverpool Tramway Company, which they formally took over in the autumn of the same year. Since that date a large and extended system of electric tramways has been laid down, which has led to a very remarkable increase in the receipts and the number of passengers carried.
Administration of Justice.—The city has quarter-sessions for criminal cases, presided over by the recorder, and held eight times in the year. At least two police courts sit daily, and more if required. One is presided over by the stipendiary magistrate and the others by the lay magistrates and the coroner. The court of passage is a very ancient institution, possibly dating from the foundation of the borough by King John, and intended for cases arising out of the imports and exports passing through the town. Its jurisdiction has been confirmed and settled by parliament and it is competent to try civil cases arising within the city to any amount. The mayor is ex-officio the judge, but the presiding judge is an assessor appointed by the crown and paid by the corporation. The court sits about five times a year. There is a Liverpool district registry of the chancery of the County Palatine of Lancaster which has concurrent jurisdiction with the high court (chancery division) within the hundred of West Derby. The vice-chancellor holds sittings in Liverpool. There is a Liverpool district registry of the high court of justice with common law, chancery, probate and admiralty jurisdiction, under two district registrars. The Liverpool county court has the usual limited jurisdiction over a wide local area, together with bankruptcy jurisdiction over the county court districts of St Helens, Widnes, Ormskirk and Southport, and admiralty jurisdiction over the same districts with the addition of Birkenhead, Chester, Runcorn and Warrington. There are two judges attached to the court.
Ecclesiastical.—The see of Liverpool was created in 1880 under the act of 1879, by the authority of the ecclesiastical commissioners, an endowment fund of about £100,000 having been subscribed for the purpose. The parish, which was separated from Walton-on-the-Hill in 1699, contained two churches, St Nicholas, the ancient chapel, and St Peter’s, then built. There were two rectors, the living being held in medieties. Of recent years changes have been sanctioned by parliament. The living is now held by a single incumbent, and a large number of the churches which have since been built have been formed into parishes by the ecclesiastical commissioners. St Peter’s has been constituted the pro-cathedral, pending the erection of the cathedral. Besides the two original parish churches, there are 103 others belonging to the establishment. The Roman Catholics form a very numerous and powerful body in the city, and it is estimated that from a third to a fourth of the entire population are Roman Catholics. A large part of these are Irish settlers or their descendants, but this district of Lancashire has always been a stronghold of Roman Catholicism, many of the landed gentry belonging to old Roman Catholic families.
Charities.—The earliest charitable foundation is the Blue Coat hospital, established in 1708, for orphans and fatherless children born within the borough. The original building, opened in 1718, is a quaint and characteristic specimen of the architecture of the period. It now maintains two hundred and fifty boys and one hundred girls. In 1906 the school was removed to new buildings at Wavertree. There is an orphan asylum, established in 1840, for boys, girls and infants, and a seamen’s orphan asylum, begun in 1869, for boys and girls. The Roman Catholics have similar establishments. The Liverpool dispensaries founded in 1778 were among the pioneers of medical charity. The Royal Infirmary (opened in 1749) had a school of medicine attached, which has been very successful, and is now merged in the university. The sailors’ home, opened in 1852, designed to provide board, lodging and medical attendance at a moderate charge for the seamen frequenting the port, is one of Liverpool’s best-known charities. The David Lewis Workmen’s Hostel is an effort to solve the difficulty of providing accommodation for unmarried men of the artizan class.
Literature, Art and Science.—The free library, museum and gallery of arts, established and managed by the city council, was originated in 1850. The first library building was erected by Sir William Brown. The Derby museum, containing the collections of Edward, the 13th earl, was presented by his son. The Mayer museum of historical antiquities and art was contributed by Mr Joseph Mayer, F.S.A. Sir Andrew Walker (d. 1893) erected in 1877 the art gallery which bears his name. Large additions were made in 1884, the cost being again defrayed by Sir Andrew Walker. An annual exhibition of painting is held in the autumn and a permanent collection has been formed, which was augmented in 1894 when the examples of early Italian art numbering altogether about 180 pictures, collected at the beginning of the 19th century by William Roscoe, were deposited in the gallery. The Picton circular reading-room, and the rotunda lecture-room were built by the corporation and opened in 1879. Alterations in the museum were completed in 1902 by which its size was practically doubled. The literary and philosophical society was established in 1812. The Royal Institution, established mainly through the efforts of Roscoe in 1817, possessed a fine gallery of early art in the Walker Art Gallery, and is the centre of the literary institutions of the town.
Education.—Sunday schools were founded for poor children in 1784, as the result of a town’s meeting. These were soon followed by day-schools supplied by the various denominations. The first were the Old Church schools in Moorfields (1789), the Unitarian schools in Mount Pleasant (1790) and Manesty Lane (1792) and the Wesleyan Brunswick school (1790). In 1826 the corporation founded two elementary schools, one of which, the North Corporation school, was erected in part substitution for the grammar school founded by John Crosse, rector of St Nicholas Fleshshambles, London, a native of Liverpool, in 1515, and carried on by the Corporation until 1815. From this date onward the number rapidly increased until the beginning of the School Board in 1870, and afterwards. Mention should be made of the training ship “Indefatigable” moored in the Mersey for the sons and orphans of sailors, and the reformatory institution at Heswall, Co. Chester, which has recently replaced the training ship “Akbar” formerly moored in the Mersey. Semi-private schools were founded by public subscription—the Royal Institution school (1819), the Liverpool Institute (1825) and the Liverpool College (1840). The first has ceased to exist. The Institute was a development of the Mechanics’ Institute and was managed by a council of subscribers. It was divided into a high school and a commercial school. Under a scheme of the Board of Education under the Charitable Trusts Act this school, together with the Blackburne House high school for girls, became a public secondary school and was handed over to the corporation in 1905. Liverpool College was formerly divided into three schools, upper, middle and lower, for different classes of the community. The middle and lower schools passed into the control of the corporation in 1907. The Sefton Park elementary school and the Pupil Teachers’ College in Clarence Street were transformed into municipal secondary schools for boys and girls in 1907; the corporation has also a secondary school for girls at Aigburth. There are several schools maintained by the Roman Catholics, two schools of the Girls’ Public Day School Company and a large number of private schools. A cadet ship, the “Conway,” for the training of boys intending to become officers in the mercantile marine, is moored in the Mersey. There are two training colleges for women, one undenominational, and the other conducted by the sisters of Notre Dame for Roman Catholic women. The central municipal technical school is in the Museum Buildings, and there are three branch technical schools. There are also a nautical college, a school of cookery and a school of art controlled by the Education Committee.
Liverpool University, as University College, received its charter of incorporation in 1881, and in 1884 was admitted as a college of the Victoria University. In the same year the medical school of the Royal Infirmary became part of the University College. In 1900 a supplemental charter extended the powers of self-government and brought the college into closer relations with the authorities of the city and with local institutions by providing for their fuller representation on the court of governors. In 1903 the charter of incorporation of the university of Liverpool was received, thus constituting it an independent university. The university is governed by the king as visitor, by a chancellor, two pro-chancellors, a vice-chancellor and a treasurer, by a court of over 300 members representing donors and public bodies, a council, senate, faculties and convocation. The fine group of buildings is situated on Brownlow Hill.