Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Hello
Are there any historians out there? I would like to read about Liverpool in the 1920s but can't find anything on the web. Can anyone suggest any reading material or sites please?
thanks
Diane

I don't really think these are what you are looking for, but we have started a book review board so you could glance over them. http://www.forum.liverpool-genealogy.or ... m.php?f=32

Hi Diane, not looked properly but there is a book section on the main board index. There is a book about the slums but not sure when. Ian

Hello Dianne
You did not mention which part of Liverpool you are interested in, there is a book called The Lost Tribe of Everton, by Ken Rogers. It deals with the slum clearance of the 50's and 60's. re Scotland Rd. and Gt. Homer St. Inside also, is the 1960 Electoral Roll for the streets in that area. Its packed with pictures and drawings of 1920's. I would recomend this book. The author has a column in Sat's Liverpool Echo with the same title.
Happy reading!
seeker 8041

Not quite what you are looking for in terms of the period but excellent portrayal of Liverpool life a decade later....

Twopence to Cross the Mersey by Helen Forrester;
http://www.amazon.com/Twopence-Cross-Me ... 0006361684
also see: http://www.spearhead.com/0107-ib.html

Couldn't agree more about the Helen Forrester books, many of them are fiction but Twopence Cross the Mersey is about her own life as a child.

I found them all very enjoyable reads.

Thanks to everyone who has replied. I have the Lost Tribe of Everton, great book. I am writing about my late father's life in Liverpool and would like to include a section on the 1920s as this is when he left school and was working for 5 years before he left for America. I want to know what was going on in the city that may have influenced him, or more generally, what was happening in the country at that time that would have had an influence on the wider community.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
thanks
Diane

One of the most famous events of the 1920s was the general strike of 1926:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1926_Unite ... ral_strike

http://www.catalystmedia.org.uk/issues/ ... strike.php


Blue

What was your father's occupation? That could be relevant to suggestions.
D

Lest we forget... the stock market crash of 1929 caused serious problems in the UK.
http://voices.yahoo.com/how-did-stock-m ... html?cat=3

My father was working in West Africa for Lever Bros as a palm oil buyer when it happened. The business out there collapsed and he had to literally 'thumb a lift home' to Liverpool with a ship's captain he knew. He was married and took any job he could get including a meat porter in the Stanley Abbatoir humping frozen Argentine beef on his shoulders when he had to have a police escort to get him into work through the strikers outside, laying tarmacadam in winter during the construction of the East Lancs Road, and working in the mud up to his oxters during the construction of the Iron Shore. Hard times he never forgot and he made sure I knew about his experience before I was in my teens.

The General Strike is interesting and something I can definitely use, thanks.
My Dad was a flour packer for Bibbys. He didn't like it and I think this must be why he left for the States.
Diane

Some Bibby links. You might have seen these before:-

Bibby 1

Bibby 2

Bibby 3


Blue

dickiesam wrote:Not quite what you are looking for in terms of the period but excellent portrayal of Liverpool life a decade later....

Twopence to Cross the Mersey by Helen Forrester;
http://www.amazon.com/Twopence-Cross-Me ... 0006361684
also see: http://www.spearhead.com/0107-ib.html

When I was doing FH study with the University of Central Lancashire a few years ago, Helen Forrester and a few other novel writers with stories based in Liverpool were on the recommended reading list as the majority of the information on the areas was very factual. Surprisingly, I must admit I recognised many of the places and situations contained in the books.

Felinheli99 wrote:Surprisingly, I must admit I recognised many of the places and situations contained in the books.

Not so surprising really as authors know that when something rings a bell in your memory there is a bigger attraction than for a made up location and event. If Diane is interested in reading novels based in the Liverpool area Helen Forrester is a good starting point but probably will lead to other authors in a similar genre, and I bet some of our crew would be able to recommend other names too.

Not novels, there are a number of books on Amazon covering a range of subjects, many with good photographs.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=dp_srsubj ... x=books-uk

Thanks again to everyone that have taken the trouble to reply, its great to know there is a support network out there with similar interests.
I haven't read any Helen Forrester novels, but will definitely give them a go. I was born and brought up in Liverpool from 1950s to 1970s and just love reading about it and looking at the old photographs.
thanks
Diane

Hi Diane,
You may find this site useful. Lots of photos of old Liverpool.
http://www.20thcenturyimages.co.uk/