Great George Place 1905

Great George Place today.


Great George Place looking towards the Cathedral.

Detail from 1898 map of Liverpool.
Where the David Lewis building was, stood St James’ Market (next door to Dr Duncan’s Dispensary, which was needlessly pulled down for the inner ring road in the early 1980s). Also of interest is the site of the short-lived St James’ Station, which campaigners are hoping to see reopen.
I regularly get requests for photographs of specific locations (and dates). Most I cannot help with, particularly early photographs of streets away from the city centre. The City Engineer’s Archive in Liverpool Record Office is the most likely source of early twentieth century images, otherwise it is largely a matter of chance. Chance intervened when Margaret Scotland asked: ‘My grandmother and her family ran a family business at 24 Great George’s Place opposite the David Lewis Centre. Do you have any photos from 1911 era?’
Well, it happened that I did have a print of a City Engineer’s photograph taken in 1905. (Credit to Liverpool Record Office). I have avoided using LRO images – my aim is to publish photographs from my archive – but this was a very appealing subject. I pass Great George Place everyday and have seen it change in the last 30 years. (Great George Place is not Great George Square – which is nearby). First the David Lewis building was demolished in 1980, along with the row of early nineteenth century buildings fronting Great George Street. Then the Nelson pub, attached to what is now The Wedding House, was pulled down only a few years ago, and the area around grassed over.
The main photograph is full of interest. The building in the centre is a public weighbridge with, on the left, a public urinal. The Wedding House building was then The London City and Midland Bank (numbers 3/4 Great George Place). The street numbers cross over to the other side of the street (the David Lewis side) and work their way round to the pub on the left (the White Lion) at 33. (Sadly number 24 the Cocoa Rooms run by Lewis Mark is out of shot). The building behind the weighbridge is also a Cocoa Rooms (Berminghams) but its address is on St James Street rather that Great George Place. Next door belonged to Meux Brewery – but is clearly just a retail outlet. Tudor Laundry is not mentioned but appears to be boarded up.
The area seems to be constantly changing. At the time of the photograph, it was the playground of Pat O’Mara (of Liverpool Slummy fame) who was born in Brick Street (the tall chimney sticking up behind Bermingham’s was just behind his house). Were he around today, I imagine he would feel completely lost, with only the bank building as a point of reference. Everything else has gone and the street is degraded as a result. The Baltic Creative is changing the landscape but this is yet another corner of the city that has been stripped of its history and character.



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