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Liverpool's History

Way back in the 12th century, Liverpool was a small fishing village. Some say all that changed with King John’s Charter of 1207, but the truth is that, four centuries later, the population was still somewhere around 500, living a quiet, peaceful existence. Liverpool had a growth spurt in the 17th and 18th centuries that was, sadly, due in some part to the slave trade; during that time, the city’s population boomed and many of its new citizens were wealthy. But then immigrants from all over Europe descended upon Liverpool in the early part of the 20th century and the city fell into economic decline in the 1950s. Even the youth culture boom, a decade later, with its straight-to-famous band, The Beatles, couldn’t help and, by the 1980s, Liverpool’s unemployment rates were among the highest in the United Kingdom. But this is a culturally-rich place with an eye on constant improvement. In 2004, “Paradise Development” introduced significant changes to the city’s center; additionally, Liverpool will be the “European Capital of Culture” in 2008. During that year, Liverpool will be given a chance by the European Union to showcase its culture.

Liverpool's Slave Trade 

Liverpool was a major slaving port and it's ships and merchants dominated the slave trade during the second half of the 18th century. The city and it's inhabitants derived great civic and personal wealth from the trade, which laid the foundation stones for the ports future growth. The growth of the slave trade was slow but solid. By the 1730's about 15 ships were leaving Africa and this grew to about 5 per year in the 1750's, which then rose to about 100 per year in the early 1770's. Numbers declined during the American War of Independence (1775-1783) but rose again to a new peak of 130 ships annually in the two decades proceeding the abolition of the slave trade in 1807. Overall three quarters of all European slave ships left from Liverpool during this period, meaning Liverpool ships transported over 1.5 million African slaves across the Atlantic however there was never any slaves delivered to Liverpool via this method.

Liverpool’s China Town

Liverpool has one of the oldest established Chinese communities in Europe. The trade links between China and Britain via the ports of Shanghai and Liverpool were instrumental in the establishment of a Chinese community within the city. The main trading goods were silk and cotton wool. The first vessel arrived in Liverpool direct from China in 1834.

With the revision of the East India Company's charter, the China trade was for the first time thrown open to private enterprise. The first wave of Chinese immigrants arrived in 1866 with the establishment of the Blue Funnel Shipping Line a branch of the Holt Ocean Steamship Company, which ran a line of steamers directly from Liverpool to China. Chinese sailors who decided to stay in Liverpool and work from here settled in an area of the city that was close to the docks in Cleveland Square. Boarding houses were first opened by the Holt Shipping Company to accommodate their workers. According to Mr. So of the Wah Sing Chinese Community Centre by 1871 there were 202 Chinese settled in Liverpool. It was here and in the surrounding streets that the first Chinese settlers started their own businesses supplying services to their countrymen who found themselves in a strange city, where the language and customs were alien. For example, they opened boarding-houses where the men could talk in their own language and be understood, cafes so that they could buy cooked food and shops where they could buy the necessary groceries to prepare their own meals. One of the first Chinese shops to open was in Pitt Street. Marriages between Chinese men and local women were quite common in this period. The seamen were seen as being more responsible than their British counterparts in that they did not drink alcohol often or beat up their wives and they would support their families. The women were willing to help in their husbands' businesses in the shops and the laundries.

Liverpool Chinese Gospel Mission

When the film "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" was being made in North Wales, a lot of the children used in the film Were from Liverpool.  Gladys Aylward, whose life the film was about, set up a Chinese Gospel Mission at 20 Nelson Street Liverpool.

Click here to find out more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_west/3657343.stm

Hudson Taylor

Another famous missionary embarked on his first trip to China from Liverpool, on a boat called the Dumfries. He was working for the Chinese Evangelization Society. He set sail for Shanghai on September 18th, 1853 obeyed God and took Christianity throughout China. Instead of staying on the coast with the other missionary groups, he went to where the people were. Christianity was proclaimed throughout the provinces of China. The fruit of Hudson's obedience can be seen in China now. Although Christianity is savagely suppressed by the evil regime who believe that they currently run China, this is the country with the fastest growing Christian church. This is not a building or a denomination but the Church of Jesus Christ.
              
          
Liverpool Participates  in international town twinning schemes to foster good international relations.

	Cologne (German: Koln), Germany
	Corinto, Nicaragua
	Dublin, Ireland
	Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia
	Odessa, Ukraine
	Rotterdam, Netherlands
	Shanghai, Peope’s Republic of China