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Upper Frederick Street, Toxteth,
Liverpool
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Upper Frederick Street Today
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We visited Upper Frederick Street on the evening of 2nd August 2003,
the setting sun was giving the buildings and the trees an enhanced red
glow.
Most of Upper Frederick Street has changed completely since 1832, the
City end of the street is a very pleasant estate of houses and bungalows,
all overlooked by the towering Anglican Cathedral - which can just be seen top
centre of the picture of The Queens. The first picture shows a modern house with the
street name 'Upper Frederick Street' affixed to its wall.
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The modern Upper Frederick Street in Toxteth
is a very pleasant place to live but in 1832 it was very different; the
western end of the street (nearest the city centre) seems to have been
dark tenements and courts with the buildings packed together so tightly
that some rooms had no daylight at all, whilst the eastern end seems to
have been slightly better with rows of tall terraced housing. |
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Toxteth is regarded as the oldest part of Liverpool as
it is home to the oldest docks, such as Canning Dock and Salthouse
Dock. Although the waterfront has changed recently, there are still a
number of old warehouses is this area. This church is now on the edge of a
modern, pleasant |
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Alexander Ralston lived in Upper
Frederick Street in 1832, he was a Block Maker, a trade associated with
shipbuilding, his neighbours were mostly tradesmen - from grocers to sail
makers - in this street which is only a short walk from the (then) busy
and thriving Salthouse Dock. |
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The Queens
was at the other end of the street, nearby are blocks of
flats (probably 1960's) which replaced older housing and which are now
boarded up and the area appears to be ready for more modernisation. It is
easy to imagine how The Queens was once a busy, thriving establishment
with a large local population and daytime working population with a need
to slake a thirst and socialise. |
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St Vincent De Paul
- this
large, early Victorian Church stands on a corner of Upper Frederick
Street. Whilst there is no connection with the Church and our families,
The Church of St Vincent De Paul
was very important to the large Irish population that migrated to
Liverpool in the 19th century and who settled in Toxteth because of its
closeness to the docks and to employment.
Toxteth was really a very
cosmopolitan area with seafarers and their families from all over
the world lodging in the tenements in Upper Frederick Street and the
neighbouring streets. The city end of the street is very close to the
Chinese quarter, the oldest Chinese settlement in the country
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The Presbytery of St Vincent De Paul, which is on the corner of Upper
Frederick Street and Hardy Street, is built of a red brick, contrasting
with the paler brick of the church itself. This picture shows the
effect of the evening's sunset on the brick walls. |
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Life in 1832
Upper Frederick Street is in the Toxteth Area
of Liverpool and is close to the Southern Docks. The northern end of the
street is close to Paradise Street and the city centre and the housing was
mainly tenements and courts - or slums.
The southern end of Upper Frederick Street (furthest
from the city centre) seems to have been slightly more prosperous. The Liverpool Poll Book of 1832 records approximately 30 of the
families living there because the gentleman of each household was eligible
to vote in the Parliamentary elections. The occupations of these gentlemen
include shipwrights, sail makers, block makers, tailors, butchers, grocers
and a wealth of other professions.
Upper Frederick Street has another claim to fame as the birthplace of
the Public Wash House. Initiated by Kitty Wilson, who understood that
cleanliness was the key to improving the health of the people; Upper
Frederick Street was the home of the first Public Wash House in Great
Britain.
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Liverpool Street Names
Taken from
http://www.lmu.livjm.ac.uk/etms/printItem.asp?itemID=368
Hardy Street
Named after Thomas Masterman Hardy captain of Nelsons flagship at
Trafalgar
St James Street
Said to be derived from St James Church Toxteth
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