Liverpool Zoo/ Zoological Parks

[miss st helens]

Mmmmmm, all day breakfast.

typical man!
hi everyone im back again, house move killed my comp for a bit but hello again! x

[Max]

typical man!
hi everyone im back again, house move killed my comp for a bit but hello again! x

I am never the typical man.

[kenotoole123@msn.com]

Hi,I'm pretty sure that 'Cruddy' sign on the Photograph hides....'Zoological Gardens'...I lived in Rice Lane when I was a Kid...Cinema was there too!!

[tonym1959]

I recall something about a "Liverpool Zoo", although I am not sure which publication it was in, but it was on Rice Lane, Walton, where Dunlops was later built which could place it behind the chinese resturant and not too far from Sainsbury.

[irishseashipping.com]

A brief mention of the zoo at Otterspool (Aigburth) can be found on the following local history page.

http://www.btinternet.com/~m.royden/...ool/otters.htm

John

[Kev]

A brief mention of the zoo at Otterspool (Aigburth) can be found on the following local history page.

http://www.btinternet.com/~m.royden/mrlhp/local/otterspool/otters.htm

John

Hi John and thanks for the link

[Tony Mo]

There was a zoo in Kensington on Butler Street.
Butler Street school (now New Park)

was built on that site in Victorian times.

A relative of mine remembers when the gorilla escaped and had to be shot

There was a

zoo in Elmswood Road Mossley Hill in the 1930s.
They had a chimpanzee called Mickey.
Mickey escaped many times.
On 23rd March 1938 he escaped for

the last time.
He attacked a child and was shot.

He was the most popular attraction at the zoo and within a year the zoo closed.

[Kev]

There was a zoo in

Elmswood Road Mossley Hill in the 1930s.
They had a chimpanzee called Mickey.
Mickey escaped many times.
On 23rd March 1938 he escaped for the last

time.
He attacked a child and was shot.

He was the most popular attraction at the zoo and within a year the zoo

closed.

Thanks for sharing your pic in the

gallery, fascinating and welcome to the forum Tony

[Tony Mo]

There was a zoo in Elmswood Road Mossley Hill in the 1930s.
They had a chimpanzee called Mickey.
Mickey escaped many times.
On 23rd March

1938 he escaped for the last time.
He attacked a child and was shot.

He was the most popular attraction at the zoo and within a year the zoo

closed.

I got the date of Mickey's end wrong. He escaped on 24th March 1938. It was in the Liverpool Echo that night and in the Daily Post

the following day. From the Post:

Mickey's Last Escape
Armed Men Hunt For Chimpanzee
Killed After Roof-top Chase
Mickey, beloved

chimpanzee friend of hundreds of Liverpool children, escaped from his quarters at Liverpool Zoological Park, yesterday morning for the fourth and last time.

Hunted down by a posse of armed and unarmed men after he had injured six people, he was wounded several times. Thirteen shots had been fired, before, wounded

and at bay, he was eventually killed in a corner of a backyard where he had fallen from the roof of a house.
Three adults, and three scholars at the

Sudley Road School, Aigburth, were among those injured as a result of Mickey's escape. They were Mr. J. Wardle, manager of the zoo, lacerated forearm and

thigh; Mrs. Wardle, his wiffe, claw wound on neck and sprained ankle; Mr. A. R. Gall, aged 24 of Cooper Avenue North, lacerated neck and thigh; Noel

Davenport, aged 10, of 4 Michael Road, Aigburth, bitten on arm and leg. One other boy and a little girl at the Sudley Road School, who received superficial

scratches in the rush for safety, did not necessitate hospital teatment. The little boy Davenport is in Smithdown Road Hospital, where his condition is

stated to be not serious. Mr. Wardle and Mr. Gall are in bed at their homes, but Mrs. Wardle was able to go about as usual.
Broken Bar Of

Cage
Mickey escaped by breaking an iron bar of his cage which was an inch thick. Mr H. Rogers proprietor of the park, said "Mickey signalised his

escape by smashing in a door into the house. He went into a room where my daughter-in-law, Mrs. Wardle was. She is one of the few who can generally make him

do what he wants. He meant business this time, and pushed her over."
Mrs. Wardle had followed Mickey out of the house in an endeavour to prevent him from

straying from the grounds, and she was pushed on to the lawn, sustaining a sprained ankle and a cut on the neck. Mr. Wardle, armed with a Service rifle,

followed the chimpanzee. A number of keepers, also armed with guns, revolvers and ammunition, followed him.
A shot was taken at Mickey before he had got

out of the park, but, though wounded, he made his way to Sudley Road Council School, where boys were in the playground doing exercises under the supervision

of Mr. A. R. Gall.
School Teacher's Story
"Hearing a yell, I turned round to see Mickey making for one of the boys," Mr. Gall told the Daily

Post. "I ran towards them, with the idea of shielding the boy. At the same time I shouted to all the boys to go inside. In the meantime the ape had seized

one boy by the ankle. I had more sense than to try to wrestle with him. I had had a little 'do' with him during one of his previous escapes, and I knew his

strength. Last time he did not go for me, and I did not think he would this time, but he attacked me as soon as he saw me coming.
I know very little of

what followed. I must have been just picked up and thrown about, to judge from the scratches on my shoes and my torn clothes. I lost consciousness, and when

I came to a little later I was lying on the asphalt and heard someone shouting to me to run indoors. The chimpanzee was still only a few yards away from me,

but I managed to get indoors safely."
Mickey had by this time made his way to Lugard Road, adjoining the school, and climbed on to a

roof.

Neighbourhood Alarmed
As soon as Mickey

appeared on the roof tops, for the moment out of harm's way, knots of people rushed to the school to make anxious enquiries. Meanwhile, Mickey, showing

amazing dexterity in spite of his wound, ambled along the roof tops to a convenient chimney at 29 Lugard Road. There he paused to look at the pursuers, led

by Mr. Wardle limping badly and with a bleeding hand, who were stalking him along the back entry. It was thought he might decide suddenly to descend, but

Mickey appeared content to remain where he was.
It was decided that the best course was to disable the "runaway" before attempting a recapture on the

roof, and one of the zoo attendants, armed with a six-chambered revolver, fired a shot. Mickey was "winged." He uttered a brief yelp of pain and took cover

behind the chimney. Policemen poured into the alley, some of them armed, and after a hurried conference it was agreed to kill the chimpanzee in order to

prevent further injury.
The Final Scenes
The revolver rang out again, twice. But Mickey was still active. He lunged at all and sundry who

attempted to enter through the half-open back door, and twice made as if to leap the wall. Finally, after the use of a shotgun had been declined, Major C. J.

Bailey, of the 38th (Anti-Aircraft) Battalion, who had arrived from Aigburth with a Service rifle, was asked to administer the coup de grace. He took aim

from a neighbouring garden, and after two shots were fired the end came. In a few minutes the body was removed and workmen were busy removing all traces of

the exciting happening in the backyard.
After Mickey had been shot Mr. Rogers said: "I am only thankful that he was killed before he killed someone else.

He was not naturally ferocious, but was easily excited by crowds."
Mr. Rogers, asked about Mickey's value, told the Daily Post that Mickey was priceless.

"You cannot replace an animal like he was," he said.
When asked what was to be done with Mickey's body, Mr. Rogers said he had decided to have him

mounted and stuffed. "Mickey still belongs to the public, and I am sure thousands of them will still want to see him," he said.

[Tony Mo]

Liverpool Records Office has a number of items under Liverpool Zoo (or was it just zoo) all referring to Mossley Hill zoo.

There is a scrapbook that was kept by the proprietor of the zoo, Mr. H. E. Rogers. It includes lost of interesting detail right from the moment he bought a

large house and grounds in Mossley Hill called Rosemount (sometimes spelled Rosemont). This was 1928 although the zoo didn't open until 1932. The scrapbook

ends with some catalogues from the auction of the house Rosemount. This auction did not have the stuffed Mickey the Monkey and I haven't been able to find

what happened to it. Mr. Rogers retired in 1938 and wanted the zoo to continue but there was no interest. The local residents were opposed to the zoo and

campaigned for the land to be used for mass housing. This was considered surprising at the time, as most of Mossley Hill was large houses, but they were very

unhappy with the escapes. The house and grounds are remembered in the name of Rosemont Road that went through middle of the

estate.


On 14th October 1938 Liverpool Daily Post

had an article explaining Mr. Rodgers reasons for retiring. The article ends with the following history of Liverpool zoos.

Liverpool has had various

zoos in its history. It is recorded that about 1833 the thirteenth Earl of Derby, founder of the London Zoo and first president of the London Zoological

Society, had the world's finest wild animal collection at Knowsley Park. In the same year one, Thomas Atkins, opened a Liverpool Zoological Gardens on a

nine-acres plot between Farnworth Street and Butler Street, near West Derby Road, and closed down in 1863. There was also Hilton's Menagerie in Lime Street,

opened in 1851. Shortly after the opening of the menagerie two Polar bears escaped and were finally caught in St. James's Cemetery.
In more recent years

there were the Zoological Gardens of Mr. Cross at Otterspool, followed in 1932 by the founding of the present Zoo by Mr. H. E. Rogers at Rosemount, Mossley

Hill. The transference of the Zoo to Mossley Hill met with strong opposition by the local residents, and, in fact, the project was vetoed under a Corporation

town-planning scheme. Mr. Rogers, however, appealed to the Ministry of Health, and his appeal was allowed subject to certain restrictions for the

safeguarding of the residential amenities of the district.
One or two unsuccessful attempts have been made to develop on more ambitious lines the idea of

a Liverpool zoological gardens. The Liverpool Zoological Society was launched in 1926 with the object of forming a civic zoological and botanical garden, and

later fell into abeyance after the refusal of the Corporation to agree to its schemes. Later, within recent years a limited company incorporating the name of

the society was formed with a plan to establish an open air Whipsnade type of zoo on Merseyside. It was hoped to take over the Mossley Hill Zoo as a going

concern, but negotiations fell through and the company, although not would up, has remained virtually defunct.
A number of dramatic, and even tragic

incidents have marked the Zoo's career at Mossley Hill. In June last an attendant was fatally mauled by a leopard, and in March last Mickey, the famous

chimpanzee attraction at the zoo, was shot after a chase in which several people were injured. The escapes of a monkey and a snake caused more amusement than

damage. Many rare and valuable animals have been on view from time to time.

[Kev]

Brilliant information, an excellent read, thanks for sharing . I find out new things every day

about Liverpool, great stuff!!!

[PhilipG]

The first Liverpool Zoo to be opened to the public was The Liverpool Zoological Gardens in West Derby Road. The proprietor was Thomas Atkins and they were opened on 27 May 1833.
They were closed in 1863, and Boaler, Goldsmith, Bourne and Empire Streets were built on the site.

On an 1836 map, Zoological Gardens are shown at Pembroke Place and Boundary Place, but nothing else is known about this zoo.

Cross's Menagerie was at Old Hall Street by January 1878, and this zoo moved close by to Earle Street in November 1879.
On 24 August 1898 there was a fire in which many wild animals were destroyed.
The closing date hasn't been established, but it was still open in 1911.

Edmonds' (late Wombwell's) Menagerie was sold by auction at Kensington Fields on July 29 & 30, 1884; and the stud of 50 draught horses sold by auction at Aintree Race Course, 31 July 1884.
Nothing else is known about this place, and it may not have been a public zoo.

The Rice Lane Zoo was called the Liverpool Zoological Gardens, and opened about 1884. It was never a success and it was last mentioned in Gore’s Directory for 1892, although a more recent source says it closed in 1897. Part of the site was later occupied by the Dunlop Rubber Company, and the entrance gates are still there.

Bostock & Wombwell's Gigantic Menagerie (aka The Liverpool Zoo), adjoining the Olympia, West Derby Road. (Liverpool Echo, 29 December 1905).
This was almost certainly a temporary structure, taking advantage of the fact that the Olympia had opened at Easter 1905.
The Grafton Rooms were built on this site.

Cross's Menagerie (Open-air Zoo). By 11 July 1921 Cross's Menagerie was in Otterspool Grounds, and was still there on 29 July 1927.
The closing date has yet to be verified, but wouldn't have been any later than the 1920s.

The most recent zoo was run by Captain Rogers on the Rosemont Estate in Mossley Hill. It was open from 1932 to 1938 and Rosemont Road has been built on the site.

[marky]

This article about Underlea school, Aigburth, gives a brief mention to the Mossley Hill zoo
http://www.eighthundredlives.org.uk/...lton.aspx?JS=1

[Ged]

Here is what Freddy O'Connor writes about the Parrot Pub which was on Hygeia Street off West Derby Road - a pub that John Zappa was asking about and I posted it up on the pub thread.

''Its origins go back to the 1830s when a large house existed at the junction of Hygeia Street and Rake Lane (later West Derby Road). A zoological gardens had opened opposite in 1832, with the entrance facing Hygeia Street. A Mr. William Mayman who resided in the house in question acquired a job as a keeper in the zoo. He became something of a local hero when he was injured rescuing a young boy who was being mauled by an escaped bear. As a reward for his brave deed, a subscription was raised which resulted in him opening part of his house as a pub.

He comissioned a sign which read 'Mayman in the jaws of the bear' which apparently attracted quite a clientele and by 1843, the premises was licenced as the man and bear. By the 1850s when the licensee was a Mr Mitchell, the name had been changed to the Parrot, then at No.181. The premises were then added to or rebuilt in the 1860s as from then on it was listed as 127 West Derby Road.

It was a decorative pub boasting two statues on its facade. William Ryder was the manager in 1903 when it also had adjoining cocoa rooms which were listed as the British workman public House Co. Ltd.

This 1960s view when the manager was Joseph Ainsworth shows the former cocoa rooms then listed to Low & Co Builders Merchants and at 131, Crown Fireplace specialists. Adjoining the pub in Hygeia street was TKS Motor Engineering. Part of Ogdens Tobacco works can be seen in the background. Listed 1964.''

[scousejoan]

Is it true that liverpool had a zoo? apparently its the sainsburys site by walton hospital.

The old entrance to the Zoo is just past the
Plough Pub, on the old Dunlops site, if you look above the gate you will see the different animals carved into the arch.