Aigburth Police Force The Plan To Establish One In 1842

[taffy]

Aigburth Police Force The Plan To Establish One In 1842 - If you can read it

Courtesy Liverpool Records Office

Thanks for posting this Kev. I had seen the document some years ago but had forgotten about it. Clearly the wealthy of the Aigburth area were suffering from burglaries etc and needed to set up their own private police force in the 1840s. A similar organisation seems to have been set up around the Dingle area of Toxteth. People are confusing the correct Aigburth, a district of Garston Township, as mentioned in the archive document with the modern " perceived" part of Aigburth around the Lark lane area which of course never has been in Aigburth, despite numerous modern claims to the contrary, not least from those delightful souls called estate agents. The area around Lark lane was administered by the Township of Toxteth Park, until absorbed into Liverpool in 1895. So the old Police Station on Lark lane, built in 1885 was built by the Lancashire Police force and not the Liverpool Police Force. It is indeed similar in design to the police station Heald Street Garston which was built in 1890 replacing an earlier one in St Mary's Rd built in 1874 and that replacing an even earlier one of 1862 also in St Mary's Rd.

So discounting the private Aigburth Police force of the 1840s, when was the first official police station operating in Aigburth. Well firstly we need to define Aigburth's boundaries. In the Aigburth Vale area, the boundary of the township of Garston and hence also Aigburth was the west side of the street called Aigburth Vale. You can still see a Toxteth/ Garston Boundary stone at the bottom of Ashfield Rd. With boundary clarified, the first police station in Aigburth was opened in 1894 in No. 5 St Anne's Terrace, Aigburth Vale. This was manned by a Lancashire County Police Sergeant and was a sub station to the main Police Station in Garston. St Anne's Terrace no longer exists being on the site of modern municipal housing between Aigburth vale and Victoria Street. This was replaced in 1906 by a Fire Police Station at 3/5 Kildonan Rd, Aigburth. This was run by Liverpool City Council as Garston had been incorporated into Liverpool in 1902. The site closed in 1930 to be replaced by the new Police/Fire Station on Mather Avenue, Allerton.

[ChrisGeorge]

Excellent information, Taffy. Many thanks for your informed contribution to the thread. I knew we could rely on you.

Chris

[dazza]

Excellent information, Taffy. Many thanks for your informed contribution to the thread. I knew we could rely on you.

Chris

Seconded.

[marky]

Aigburth Vale Police Station building still stands (as a garage). The site below also has a picture of the house to the left of the garage, which I photographed a while ago, thinking that was the Police Station ( I thought I saw a picture showing a 'police lamp' hanging from the building, but maybe it was on the other building.)
This is of course the Aigburth part of Garston. In the 1840s, 'Aigburth' would start here and head South.

Narpo includes both Aigburth Vale buildings, so maybe both were used by Police:
http://www.narpo-merseyside.org.uk/photo_gallery.php

Streetview:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&so...12,113.45,,0,5