Liverpool's oldest family search.

Just received this email.

wanted: Liverpool’s oldest family tree

800th birthday Reward Offered

A competition has been launched to root out Liverpool’s longest established family - with the winners becoming special VIPs on the city’s 800th birthday.

Anyone living in Merseyside who can prove their family tree goes back further in Liverpool than anyone else will be invited, with three of their relatives, to take pride of place in a once-in-a-century procession through the city on ‘Liverpool 800 Day’ on August 28th.

Those who trace the earliest Liverpool-born ancestor will also earn the title of 'Liverpool's Oldest Family', as well as a fantastic heritage weekend in the city in October, which includes:

2 nights for family of four at Hard Days Night Hotel. The world’s first Beatle’s concept hotel. (Opens October 2007)
VIP tour of the prestigious Turner Prize exhibition at Tate Liverpool. (October 19 – Jan 13 2008)
Free annual family membership - two adults and two children - to the National Trust.
VIP tour of National Trust-owned Beatles childhood homes and related attractions.
VIP tour of St George’s Hall - which re-opens on April 23 2007 after a £23m restoration.
Free, special-edition copy of 'Liverpool 800: Culture, Character and History', by University of Liverpool Press.

The next seven ‘oldest’ families will receive special Liverpool 800 commemorative gifts.

The ‘Liverpool 800 Oldest Family Competition’ was launched today (February 28), to mark the six-month countdown to the 800th anniversary of the city’s first charter, signed by King John. As well as a major procession, Liverpool will be celebrating its landmark birthday with city-wide community parties and a major fireworks display.

To mark the launch Councillor Warren Bradley, Leader of Liverpool City Council, was at the city’s Record Office in Liverpool’s Central Library to search his own family history, which includes a great-grandfather (Isaac 'Ike' Bradley) who fought for a world bantamweight title in Liverpool in 1906 and 1911.

(Photo-call: Wednesday, February 28 at 12.15pm - Liverpool Record Office, 4th floor, Central Library, William Brown Street)

Councillor Bradley said: ‘’Liverpool’s history is a fascinating tale of abject poverty and supreme wealth, of wars and revolutions - all of which have been punctuated over the centuries by remarkable people, be they entrepreneurs and innovators or thinkers and entertainers. I’m sure there are thousands of families who through this competition will find many amazing stories about their ancestors and the way they lived in Liverpool. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Liverpool’s 800th anniversary than by everyone learning about their own histories. ‘’

To assist people, a special Liverpool 800 family history pack has been produced, which can be picked up at any of the city’s libraries or downloaded for free at www.liverpool.gov.uk/archives

People can also use any one of the 250 computers in the Liverpool city council’s community libraries for free, where they can access family history websites such as www.ancestry.com which the library service has a free subscription to. All Merseyside councils also operate a similar free computer service.

Liverpool’s Record Office, the second busiest in the country, also has a vast archive to help people to delve into their past, with church records dating from the 1500s. It also hosts a Help Desk every Tuesday, from 1-5pm, run by the Liverpool Family History Society, which will handle and judge the ‘Liverpool 800 Oldest Family’ claims.

Councillor Mike Storey, Executive Member for Special Initiatives, including Liverpool’s 800th celebrations, said: ‘’This search for our oldest family is a fantastic way to put people at the heart of our 800th celebrations. Our libraries are a fantastic resource and I’m sure people will be unearthing remarkable and surprising stories about their families that they were not even aware of.’’

Other useful records that could help clinch the oldest family title include Medieval land deeds and the city's first directory of 1766. The Central Library is currently housing an exhibition containing this information, as well as the city’s 23 key royal charters granted to Liverpool. The Charters exhibition runs until June 30 in the Picton Reading Room.

David Stoker, Manager of Liverpool Record Office, had this advice: ‘’To trace a family tree, people need to prepare well and consult relatives. Family history is time-consuming and there are no quick fixes, but the results can be amazingly rewarding. As well as on-line support and our family history packs, the Family History Society have a wealth of knowledge to assist people digging into their past. With a bit of investigating the next few months should unearth some fascinating stories which will shed a great amount of light on how people lived in Liverpool over the past eight centuries.’’



ENDS

‘Liverpool 800 Oldest Family’ - Competition Rules:

To enter, people must provide copies of two proofs of address (i.e. passport, utility bill, drivers licence) that they currently live in either: Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens or Wirral
Claimants must provide a copy of their family tree, with a copy of documented proof. i.e. parish record of birth of oldest Liverpool-born ancestor
All claims to be addressed to the Liverpool Family History Society and handed in at Liverpool Record Office. Deadline for submissions is 5pm, Tuesday, July 31.
People with links to Liverpool's aristocratic families are discounted from entering. These families are: Blundell, de Hoghton, Molyneux, Norris, Sefton and Stanley.
The modern day boundaries of Liverpool – i.e. from Fazakerley in north, Speke in south to Belle Vale in east, apply to the search for the earliest Liverpool-born ancestor.


NOTES:
The ‘Liverpool 800 Oldest Family’ competition is supported by the National Trust, The Open Learning Centre at BBC Radio Merseyside and the Liverpool ECHO’s on-line People’s Archive.

The 2007 Turner Prize will run from October 19 to January 13, 2008 at Tate Liverpool. The winner will be announced live on Channel 4 on Monday, December 3. www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/turnerprize2007

The Hard Days Night Hotel is due to open in October 2007. www.harddaysnighthotel.com

In Liverpool the National Trust cares for Speke Hall, a 15th-century Tudor building, 'Mendips' and '20 Forthlin Road', childhood homes of John Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney, and former home of photographer Edward Chambré Hardman. www.nationaltrust.org.uk

For further information please call Mike Doran on 0151 233 6761 or 0780 145 3918. For the latest news from Liverpool, European Capital 2008, visit www.liverpool.gov.uk or www.liverpool08.com

That should be interesting.
Most people living in Liverpool have ancestors that came from somewhere else, so it should be interesting to find out who is the "oldest" family.
Apart from the Aristos, it is very difficult for most people to trace their ancestry before the 1500s.

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Originally Posted by Ged

Just received this email.

wanted: Liverpool’s oldest family tree

800th birthday Reward Offered

A competition has been launched to root out Liverpool’s longest established family - with the winners becoming special VIPs on the city’s 800th birthday.

Anyone living in Merseyside who can prove their family tree goes back further in Liverpool than anyone else will be invited, with three of their relatives, to take pride of place in a once-in-a-century procession through the city on ‘Liverpool 800 Day’ on August 28th.

For further information please call Mike Doran on 0151 233 6761 or 0780 145 3918. For the latest news from Liverpool, European Capital 2008, visit www.liverpool.gov.uk or www.liverpool08.com

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This should be fun. I would imagine relatively few people still living in the area would be able to go back beyond the mid 18th C. I can trace one branch of our Liverpool family tree to around 1780. Prior to that the family lived in Westmorland.

A SEARCH is on to find Liverpool’s oldest family to become VIPs at the city’s 800th birthday celebrations. more

Hi Kev, posted that earlier on the people search thread - you can delete it now if you want. :)

lol, Ged I just noticed, sorry mate. :PDT_Aliboronz_24:

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Originally Posted by PhilipG

That should be interesting.
Most people living in Liverpool have ancestors that came from somewhere else, so it should be interesting to find out who is the "oldest" family.
Apart from the Aristos, it is very difficult for most people to trace their ancestry before the 1500s.

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Yes I bet it will be very hard to find someone who still lives on Merseyside who can trace their ancestry in Liverpool back 800 years or even into the middle ages except perhaps someone like Lord Derby. Therefore the rule seems a bit unjust excluding people who can trace "to Liverpool's aristocratic families are discounted from entering. These families are: Blundell, de Hoghton, Molyneux, Norris, Sefton and Stanley." Are the organizers shooting themselves in the foot?

Chris

My surnames Molyneux but I couldn't prove I have any links to the aristocratic family.:PDT10

My Dad seems to think I have Normandy ancestry, never tells me where he looked It up just says I looked It up.:Smiliz_Kingz_PDT_13

How many people lived in Liverpool around 1800? There can't be many common people who can be traced much earlier than around this date.

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Originally Posted by marky

How many people lived in Liverpool around 1800? There can't be many common people who can be traced much earlier than around this date.

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Hi Marky

That's partly my point that most people probably trace their origins from elsewhere and there are probably few that can trace their family's history in the same place, i..e., Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens or Wirral, for a long number of centuries. And those whose ancestors did reside in Liverpool pre-1700 or pre-1800 may by now be living somewhere else entirely, overseas or elsewhere in the UK. So it will be interesting to see what the results of this family search will be.

Chris

At least the use of Liverpools' modern day boundaries should help convince people from Wirral, Kirkby etc. that they are NOT in Liverpool.
I avoid anything organised by the Council like the plague, but I'll be interested in who gets chosen as the oldest family.

Prompted by the city boundaries mentioned. There are people around called Fazakerley (and variants) who must be in with a chance.

I can only get back to 1838 with my Minton line born Liverpool , his father was born 1795 but in Bishop Castle . Someone out there must be able to go back to at least 1750's ,
The outcome should be interesting
Good luck

I can get back to the early 1700's with my Kayll family line. I will see if I can get further back.

Does anyone know who 'won' this, and what the dates were...?

Also, what did "Liverpool" consist of in this context? Did it go out as far as Walton on the Hill and suchlikes...?

Its quite unlikely that anyone will get past the early 1700s. It has been calculated that in the year 1717, 96% of all marriages in Liverpool happened between people who were not baptised there.

A statistic like that really shows you how much influence the Old Dock had on the prosperity of the town.

Here is the answer with thanks to my source.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liver...0252-19665243/


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Had to laugh at this. Most Liverpool people were wiped out straight away with their Irish Ancestors Ha ha :rolleyes:

"A total of 44 families from across Merseyside entered the competition run by Liverpool Culture Company to mark the city’s 800th anniversary.

Four of the families could trace their trees back to the 17th century, 23 to the 18th, 15 to the 19th and one to the 20th century."

Why on Earth would someone enter if they could only trace their tree back to the 1900s...?

I've not been able to get my Scousers back beyond 1728...

If I'd known about this, I would've entered. Through the complex web that is medieval gentry (the Fazackerley, Walton manorial families etc.) I can get back to the mid 1100s.

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Originally Posted by NNR

Does anyone know who 'won' this, and what the dates were...?

Also, what did "Liverpool" consist of in this context? Did it go out as far as Walton on the Hill and suchlikes...?

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I think this is relevant.

Look at the size of Liverpool in the early Old Dock era [1715-1750]. The 'town' boundaries were a lot closer to the city centre than today's spawling 'city'. Having an ancestor born in say Everton should be disqualified form the running [I would have thought] as it was then, a villiage, and part of countryside.

D.

Ah, but many families from pre-1699 who were born in Liverpool would have had their baptisms, marriages and even burials in Walton-On-The-Hill - as that was the parish church.

Yes, it may be impossible to prove through Walton parish records. I would be greatly impressed if anyone could reach back to early 1700's Liverpool though? Are there any contenders so far?

My girlfriend has traced her family back to Bidston in the late 1600s.

On her other line she has gone back to 1492 - in Shewsbury!

The best bet would be locational surnames - Fazakerley, Walton of course Norris's and Blundells' would also be in the running.

Before 1843 no trace of the Spike rellies was in Liverpool or England.