Between October 1828 and March 1829, Robertson Gladstone, the 23 year old son of the wealthy Liverpool merchant, politician and plantation owner Sir John Gladstone, paid a working visit to the then British Colony of Demerara. The journal Robertson kept and the many letters he wrote to his father give us fascinating insight into the running of sugar and cotton plantations in the days shortly before the ownership of slaves in the British colonies finally ended with the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.
Famously, Sir John Gladstone received more compensation from the UK Government for the loss of over 2500 enslaved workers from his plantations in Demerara and Jamaica than any other British claimant -£106,769 ( the equivalent of up to £10 million today).
‘Before and After’ sections of the book provide useful context for the interesting lives led by father and son.
Both Gladstones were ‘proprietors’ (members) of The Athenaeum, Liverpool, founded in 1797, as were at least 24 others who had interests in Demerara plantations; a thumbnail sketch of each is given.
The book is lavishly illustrated throughout, with over 50 illustrations across 176 pages.
This special limited edition hardback book of 250 copies is printed throughout in colour
Special Athenaeum members’ discounted price of £12.99; other purchasers £14.99. Plus £4 for postage and packing if not collected from the Athenaeum Reception.
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To order your copy of the book ‘A visit to Demerara’ please complete the form below and click on the submit button.
A member of staff will call you within 24hours or on weekends the following Monday and will take your debit or credit card number for the purchase. The transaction will be put through immediately and the sale confirmed whilst you are on the call. Your card details will not be recorded but a record of the sale will be kept in case of any queries. A receipt will be included with the book.
Please note the option of postal delivery for which there is charge of £4, or you can collect in person from the Athenaeum reception at no charge. Please note that if you collect you will need some identification (ie Driving Licence or Passport).
The Changing Face of a City
By David Brazendale, with additional material by John Tiernen
Two hundred years ago, James Brierley, a former bookkeeper, and then a drawing master, set out to record the changing face of Liverpool as it underwent a period of rapid growth. Many old buildings were being swept away to be replaced by ‘modern’ ones. Sadly, hardly any of the buildings featured in this book have survived. Indeed, entire areas of medieval and Georgian Liverpool disappeared altogether. And that is what makes Brierley’s drawings so valuable. In many cases, they are the only record of parts of historic Liverpool that have been lost forever.
Adding to the value of the illustrations is the illuminating text written by acclaimed local historian, David Brazendale, a long-time proprietor of the Athenaeum.
For anybody interested in the fascinating history of the great city of Liverpool, this book is an essential addition to your bookshelf. Published by the Athenaeum.
Paperback: £25 / Hardback: £45 (Includes FREE ‘Map-Pack’: 3 x A3 colour maps plotting the location of every building featured in the book. PLUS free, exclusive, Brierley’s Liverpool bookmark.
Order your copy now!
To order your copy of the book ‘Brierley’s Liverpool’ please complete the form below and click on the submit button.
A member of staff will call you within 24 hours, or on weekends the following Monday, and will take your debit or credit card number for the purchase. The transaction will be put through immediately and the sale confirmed whilst you are on the call. Your card details will not be recorded but a record of the sale will be kept in case of any queries. A receipt will be included with the book.
Please note the option of postal delivery for which there is charge of £4.45, or you can collect in person from the Athenaeum reception at no charge. Please note that if you collect you will need some identification (ie Driving Licence or Passport).
A stroll along the original shoreline of the River Mersey (and a wander up some of Liverpool’s ancient streets)
Written by an Athenaeum proprietor and published June 2022. The foreword to this book (by Joseph Sharples, author of the acclaimed Pevsner Architectural Guide to Liverpool) reads:-
History book? Guide book? Urban commentary? Walking on Water Street is hard to classify. Like volume two of Picton’s Memorials of Liverpool, or like Reilly’s Some Liverpool Streets and Buildings in 1921, each chapter takes a specific part of the city centre and goes on to analyse its character and development. But Graham Jones’s focus is tighter than either Picton’s or Reilly’s.
Most of his chapters are concerned with a single street, sometimes a single building, and the level of detail is forensic. The text is packed with information, all carefully researched and referenced, but what makes the book irresistible is the illustrations… ranging from historic maps to obscure pieces of maritime ephemera. Drawn from the hidden riches of the Liverpool Record Office, the Athenaeum library and the author’s own collection, they represent an extraordinary feat of picture research. I have spent half my life studying pictures of Liverpool, but on almost every page of Walking on Water Street there are images that I have never seen anywhere else.
Just as fascinating as the old photographs from the archives are the new ones taken by the author himself. They show things that usually go unrecorded – transient scenes of demolition and construction, for instance – and they vividly reflect the changing urban landscape. They will be prized by future historians of 21st-century Liverpool. Perhaps the kind of book that Walking on Water Street most resembles is a scrapbook: a personal collection of words and pictures compiled with knowledge, but also with feeling. From his flat in Tower Building at the foot of Water Street itself, Graham Jones has been able to study his subject in close-up, investigating its past while at the same time observing its present. He has produced a book as multi-layered as the city centre he describes.
With 448 pages (208mm wide by 264mm high) and 800 illustrations, the book’s 34 chapters provide a series of historical journeys through the central waterfront area during the centuries of Liverpool’s growth from a town into a city. Fully referenced and comprehensively indexed.
First published in November 2021 for complimentary distribution to libraries, universities, societies, and the author’s family and associates, its encouraging reception has prompted a second printing this year for sale as a limited edition (ISBN 978-1-915292-48-3). Click on this link to view a pdf of sample pages.
Special Athenaeum members’ discounted price of £39.95. Other purchasers £49.95 (the RRP). Plus £4.45 postage (Royal Mail 2nd Class Signed For) if not collected from the Athenaeum Reception.