The Middle Ages - The city of Liverpool started its life as a tidal pool next to the Mersey. It was probably called the lifer pol which meant muddy pool. Although there may have been a hamlet at Liverpool before the town was founded in the 13th century. Liverpool is not mentioned in the Doomsday Book (1086) but it may have been to small to merit a mention of its own.

It was King John who founded the port of Liverpool in 1207. The English had recently conquered Ireland and King John needed another port to send men and supplies across the Irish Sea. King John started a weekly market by the pool, at that time there were very few if any shops so if you wanted to buy or sell goods you had to go to a market. Once the market had been established craftsmen and tradesmen would come to live in the area.  As well as a weekly market king John gave the people of Liverpool the right to hold an annual fair, although in many ways this was just like a market it would only be held once a year for a few days at a time.  The fair was intended to  attract buyers and sellers from all over northwest England.

In 1229 the king granted the people of Liverpool another charter, this time he gave the merchants of Liverpool the right to form themselves into an organisation called a guild to protect their interests. In many medieval towns the Merchant's Guild was formed by influentail members of the community, and it would be the guild that had the responsibility of running the town.  In Liverpool the guildsmen elected an official called the Reeve to run the town on a day-to-day basis, as far as is known a Mayor wasn't installed until 1351.

Medieval Liverpool would seem tiny to us, even by the standards of the time it was a very small town. By the 14th century Liverpool probably had a population of between 1,000 and 1200 people.  Many of the people of Liverpool made their living by farming and fishing in the River Mersey. There would also be some craftsmen and tradesmen such as brewers, butchers, blacksmiths and carpenters.  There was a watermill on the small stream that ran down into the pool and this was used by the locals to ground wheat into flour so that they could make bread.  Many goods began to be traded through the port including wine from France, although the main trading partner was Ireland who imported skins and hides in exchange for Iron and wool.

In 1642 the civil war between king and parliament began. At first Liverpool was in royalist hands but in May 1643 Parliamentarian soldiers took the town. They dug ditches and erected earth ramparts around Liverpool to defend it from royalist attack. In June 1644 Prince Rupert led a royalist army to try and re-capture Liverpool. He described the town as a 'mere crows nest which a parcel of boys could take'.

At first attacks were repulsed but then the Parliamentary troops left by sea leaving the people of Liverpool to defend their town themselves. The royalists attacked Liverpool one night. The townspeople resisted fiercely but were overcome. Many of them were killed. The royalist troops then sacked the town.

However Liverpool only remained in royalist hands for a matter of weeks. In the summer of 1644 the royalists lost the battle of Marston Moor. Following the battle they lost the whole of the North of England, including Liverpool.

Liverpool began to grow rapidly in the late 17th century with the growth of English colonies in North America and the West Indies. Liverpool was, obviously, well placed to trade with colonies across the Atlantic. The town boomed. In 1673 a New Town Hall was built on pillars. Underneath them was an exchange where merchants could buy and sell goods.

At the end of the 17th century a writer named Celia Fiennes visited Liverpool and gave it a glowing report. She said: 'Liverpool is built on the river Mersey. It is mostly newly built, of brick and stone after the London fashion. The original (town) was a few fishermen's houses. It has now grown into a large, fine town. It is but one parish with one church though there be 24 streets in it, there is indeed a little chapel and there are a great many dissenters in the town (Protestants who did not belong to the Church of England). It's a very rich trading town, the houses are of brick and stone, built high and even so that a street looks very handsome. The streets are well paved. There is an abundance of persons who are well dressed and fashionable. The streets are fair and long. Its London in miniature as much as I ever saw anything. There is a very pretty exchange. It stands on 8 pillars, over which is a very handsome Town Hall.'

18th Century - In the early 18th century the writer Daniel Defoe also commented on Liverpool's booming trade. He said: 'Liverpool has an opulent, flourishing and increasing trade to Virginia and English colonies in America. They trade round the whole island (of Great Britain), send ships to Norway, to Hamburg and to the Baltic as also to Holland and Flanders (roughly modern Belgium).'

In 1708 the Bluecoat School for 50 poor boys was built. (It was called that because of their school uniforms). The Royal Infirmary was founded in 1749. In 1754 a New Town Hall was built.

Liverpool continued to grow rapidly. By the early 18th century it had probably reached a population of 5,000. By 1750 the population of Liverpool had reached 20,000 and by 1801 77,000.

Many of the inhabitants were immigrants. In 1795 a writer spoke about 'the great influx of Irish and Welsh of whom the majority of the inhabitants at present consists'.

From about 1730 the merchants of Liverpool made huge profits from the slave trade. The trade formed a triangle. Goods from Manchester were given to the Africans in return for slaves. The slaves were transported across the Atlantic to the West Indies and sugar was brought back from there to Liverpool. At the end of the century a famous actor visited Liverpool. When he was booed he told the audience that every brick of their town was 'cemented with the blood of an African'.

In the 18th century sugar refining became an important industry in Liverpool. Shipbuilding also became a flourishing industry. Rope making also prospered. (Rope was, obviously, needed in large amounts by ships). In Liverpool there was also some manufacturing industry such as iron working, watch making and pottery.

In the 18th century rivers were deepened to make it easier for ships to sail on them. The Mersey and Irwell were deepened in 1720 and the Sankey Brook in 1755.

The American War of Independence began in 1775. At first it disrupted Liverpool's trade. Obviously it ended trade with the colonies themselves but it also meant American ships attacked English merchant shipping trading with the West Indies. They captured the ships and tool their cargoes. This was called privateering. In 1778 France, Spain and Holland declared war on Britain. That meant ships from Liverpool could attack French, Spanish and Dutch ships and take their cargoes.

From 1748 night watchmen patrolled the streets of Liverpool at night. In 1778 a dispensary was opened in John Street were the poor could obtain free medicines.

19th Century - In 1801 the population of Liverpool was about 77,000. By 1821 the population had reached 118,000. In 1835 the boundaries of Liverpool were extended to include Kirkdale and parts of Toxteth and West Derby. By 1851 the population of Liverpool had reached 376,000. There were many Irish immigrants in the early 19th century. Their numbers reached a peak during the potato famine in the 1840s.

In 1802 Harthill Botanic Gardens were laid out.

At the end of the 18th century, sea bathing became fashionable among the upper and middle classes. They believed it was good for your health. In the early 19th century many people went sea bathing on the beach Northwest of Liverpool but in time newly built docks encroached on the beach.

The port boomed and many new docks were built. By the middle of the century Liverpool was second only to London. The Manchester ship canal was completed in 1894. Although the docks dominated Liverpool there were other industries such as shipbuilding, iron foundries, glass manufacture and soap making.

In 1799 and 1802 private companies began to supply piped water to the town. But it was expensive and poor people could not afford it. They relied on barrels or wells. A municipal water supply was begun in 1857.

The Philharmonic hall was built in 1849. It burned in 1933 and was rebuilt. The Central Library was built in 1852. St George's Hall was built in 1854. William Brown library was built in 1860. Picton Reading Room was built in 1879.

The Royal Southern Hospital opened in 1814. An eye hospital opened in 1820. The Northern Hospital followed in 1834. Stanley Hospital opened in 1867. The Walker Art Gallery opened in 1877. Stanley park was laid out in 1870 Sefton Park was opened in 1872. The Palm House was built in 1896.

From 1830 horse drawn buses ran in Liverpool and from 1865 horse drawn trams. The trams were converted to electricity in 1898-1901.

Liverpool officially became a city in 1880. By 1881 its population had reached 611,00. In 1895 the boundaries of the city were extended to include Wavertree, Walton and parts of Toxteth and West Derby.

20th Century - By 1901 the population of Liverpool had reached 685,000. In 1904 the boundaries of the city were extended again to include Fazakerly.

The Tower Building was built in 1908. In the 1910s three of Liverpool's most famous buildings were erected on the site of St George's dock, which had been filled in. The Liver Building was built in 1911. The Cunard Building was built in 1916. The Port of Liverpool building was also built at that time. The Lady Lever art gallery opened in 1922.

More than 13,000 Liverpudlians died in World War I. In 1921 a memorial was erected outside the Cunard building to all the Cunard employees who died in the war.

In 1928 a survey showed 14% of the city's population were living in poverty. This was, of course, much worse than what we would call poverty today. In those days poor people were living at bare survival level.

In 1934 the Queensway road tunnel was built. The Kingsway Road Tunnel followed in 1971.

In the early 20th century the city suffered a shortage of houses. Overcrowding was common, as was slum housing. The council built some council houses but nothing like enough to solve the problem. Furthermore Liverpool suffered severely in the depression of the 1930s and up to a third of men of working age were unemployed.

In 1974 the boundaries of the city were changed so it became part of an administrative area called Merseyside.  The Roman Catholic Cathedral was consecrated in 1967. The Anglican Cathedral was not completed until 1978.

In the later 20th century industries in Liverpool included engineering, cement manufacture, sugar refining and flour milling. For a time, in the 1950s and 1960s the local economy boomed but it turned sour in the late 1970s and 1980s as Liverpool, like the rest of the country suffered from recession. Liverpool became an unemployment black spot. One consequence of Liverpool's social problems were the Toxteth riots of 1981.

In the last years of the 20th century there were some hopeful signs. Liverpool remains a very important port. Because of its position in the Northwest it is the main port for trading with North America. In the 1980s Albert Dock was redeveloped and turned into an area of bars, shops and restaurants.

Liverpool is now trying to promote tourism using its heritage as an attraction. Merseyside Maritime Museum opened in 1980. The Tate Gallery of Modern Art opened in 1988.

The Museum of Liverpool Life opened in 1993. A Custom and Excise Museum opened in 1994. A Conservation Centre opened in Queens Square in 1996. Also in 1996 the Institute For Performing Arts opened.

21st Century

The National Wild Flower Centre opened in 2001.

Today the population of Liverpool is 439,000.

In 2003 Liverpool won the race to be European Capital of Culture in 2008.

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