26 replies to this topic

[stephen nulty]

Those with any kind of interest in local history will be aware that Prescot has a long and varied history and that the township of Prescot predates many of the other local areas. We’ll all at some point have looked at the likes of Ancestry and found our St Helens forefathers recorded as being born, married or dying in the Prescot registration district. This was the case until the creation of the St Helens RD in (I think) 1937.

There was a famous quote (well, not so famous that I can remember who said it!) to the effect that “Prescot was a town when Liverpool was a village”. But in some ways, its location contributed to its demise. The arrival of the railway removed lots of the old coaching traffic that found its way through the town en route in and out of Liverpool, and the monies raised by the Toll Barrs declined at the same time.

Most people think of watch making and the BICC when they think of the history of the town. Watch making took place in the town for centuries but there seems to have been a prevalent school of thought that the industry should concentrate on the watch components rather than the finished product. This has now been shown to be a bad call, and so it came to pass that the watch industry in the town declined in the 1880’s. The advent of the Prescot Watch Factory in the 1890’s brought about a resurgence in the industry, but by then it had lost too much ground to the cheaper production coming out of the United States and Switzerland, and so by 1911 the Watch Factory itself had gone out of business.

Fortunately for the town, this coincided quite neatly with the advent of the BI. Founded by the Atherton brothers in the 1880’s, the business soon became the very heart of the town, and this was helped by considerable expansion of the company as it took over other (usually smaller) businesses, including the cable works at Helsby, Leigh, Erith (Kent), etc.

But more of “the BI” at some other time.

As part of my work on the Prescot War Memorial (www.prescot-rollofhonour.info) I transcribed the complete 1901 census for the town (and am now in the process of transcribing the 1891 census). I recorded that there were 7797 people in the town at that time (1901). Of those, 3314 had a recorded occupation of whom 842 (25.4%) were in the Watch industry and 438 (13.2%) were working as Colliers of some sort. 162 can be deduced (by their job names/titles) to be working at the Wire Works, so clearly the factory was still in its infancy.

I also found, as part of the transcription, that a significant number of those people working in the watch industry were natives of Warwickshire, specifically from Coventry. I wondered about this and did a bit of Googling, and I also spoke to the staff at Prescot Museum. It turns out that Coventry was also a bit of a hot spot for watch making, but was also in decline at the same time as Prescot. The resurgence of interest and associated jobs in the 1890’s caused a significant migration of people from Coventry, seeking work and a decent life in Prescot.

Sadly, I also found that some of the men on my Roll of Honour recorded as being the sons of people who (by the time of the Great War) were back living in Coventry, clearly moving back there as the watch industry collapsed.

So it’s a town with an interesting history, and I’m sure we’ll discuss much more of it over the coming weeks.

[Dave]

Great.

It was always a bit awkward with the main site trying to keep within the St Helens boundary and this might be the solution.

I'll alter the Name Interests list to include Prescot (and maybe rename it...).

[Steve]

Prescot was my old town where I was born I have fond memories of the place even though I only lived there from 1964 to 1969 I had many playgrounds in and around the town, all my family came from there "mothers side" I`m Not really sure where my dad originated from though.

My mums buried up there and my dads in a tub in my living room, family history has never really been of interest to me.

[gilly]

For once i'm not trying to be sarcastic,but i've always thought of Prescot(along with rainford ,rainhill earlstown ,newton and more)as part of St Helens,rather than part of say Liverpool/Manchester etc. It was our local registration centre(still is?) for yrs.If we could incorporate Prescot and possibly 'tap' a new scource of info and members ,i for 1 would welcome it.For all his faults Stephen(ex west park -ipt,from prescot -2pt,living in warrington-5pts)is ,in my opinion a valued and appreciated member.My vote would be yes.Thanks stephen for all your help in the past.

[brunty]

a very good thread well worth reading i cant get enough of local history,and 10/10 for stephens time and dedication to a topic like this.

[Dave]

Gilly: Rainford, Rainhill and the other places that you mentioned were never a problem because they're inside the borough. So they're different from Prescot in that sense and this is why it needs a separate forum.

[splus]

I am glad to see this here. I am sure it will be of interest to many, including me.

[stephen nulty]

gilly, on Jan 26 2009, 08:52 PM, said:

For once i'm not trying to be sarcastic,but i've always thought of Prescot(along with rainford ,rainhill earlstown ,newton and more)as part of St Helens,rather than part of say Liverpool/Manchester etc. It was our local registration centre(still is?) for yrs.If we could incorporate Prescot and possibly 'tap' a new scource of info and members ,i for 1 would welcome it.For all his faults Stephen(ex west park -ipt,from prescot -2pt,living in warrington-5pts)is ,in my opinion a valued and appreciated member.My vote would be yes.Thanks stephen for all your help in the past.

Cheers Gilly, best laugh of the day

I'm happy to take the -5 for living in Warrington but would liketo appeal on the others

[Madge]

My mum was born in Prescot so I would welcome a Prescot link. Well done. My Prescot family were Lloyds and one of the new roads on the Prescot Boys' school site is called Lloyd Road - I wondered if it was anything to do with my family?

I have also wondered about the idea that Eccleston was named "church town" after the church in Prescot (Preist's cote). Does anyone know any of the Prescot Church history? Is it not more likely that Eccleston had its own chapel?

[Griffin]

There does not seem to have been a place of worship in Eccleston before Christ Church, despite its suggested meaning of "church town." Prescot was a settlement of importance centuries before either Liverpool or St. Helens, and probably the nearest substantial place to Eccleston, so you'd imagine it was a likely contender for the site of the church after which Eccleston was named.

[stephen nulty]

Madge, on Jan 27 2009, 05:59 PM, said:

Does anyone know any of the Prescot Church history?

Madge

The Prescot parish church website has lots of background to the church and is well worth a visit.

Here's the link - http://prescotchurch.merseyworld.com/

[sweetIsis]

Can anyone tell me what condition the churchyard of St. Mary's Prescot is in?, is it easy enough to be able to walk round and see the gravestones? I have a lot of ancestors buried there and was thinking of visiting it.

Syl

[stephen nulty]

There are two cemeteries in Prescot, adjacent to each other. The "old" cemetery and the "new". The latter is in reasonably good condition but closed to new graves (although you can still be buried in existing graves which have room).

The "old" cemetery is a different story, I'm afraid. The vast majority of the graves do not have stones. They were removed in an act of urban vandalism in the late 1960's and used to pave around the church !!!!!

There are still many stones in there, and last October the council sent a team in to cut back the undergrowth. They did a really good job but obviously ran out of time because one corner wasn't cleared, and this corner contains a lot of graves!

If you do decide to go, make sure you wear a good pair of boots !!

The "new" cemetery was opened early in the 1920's, by the way. Burials continued in both for a while but then slowly fell away in the "old" cemetery.

The church do not have any burial records for the "old" cemetery. These have simply been lost over time. I have spoken to the Reverend Taylor who has had hundreds of requests for this information over the years, but despite his searches, the records cannot be found.

I have some pictures which might give you an idea of the cemetery condition, so if you PM me an email address, I'll send them over to you.

Edited by stephen nulty, 28 January 2009 - 12:17 PM.

[Steve]

Fascinating stuff steve, now i always thought those grave stones around the church was actually the original place that they were laid, ie I thought there were body`s below them.

Never been inside that church, well i dont ever recall going in there, I might go up when the weather gets warmer cus i need to put fresh flowers on my mums family grave and put new stones on the grave.

[stephen nulty]

The church interior is well worth a visit, Steve. The church web site here is worth a visit before you go. It will help you to think about some of the things to look for in there. But check the opening times before you go, as it is only open for a limited period during the week, I think.

The Rood Screens by the altar are worth a look, listing as they do the parishioners who fell in the war. And also the window dedicated to Arthur Evans, with it's three service arms; Royal Welsh Fusiliers, King's (Liverpool) Regiment and Royal Air Force. Arthur's story is told in full on my web site here but in summary he joined up in September 1914 and was desperate to get over to France but they kept holding him back. Eventually, he transferred to the fledgling RAF and managed to be posted overseas in October 1918, six weeks before the end of the war.

Four weeks later, he was killed in action, 12 days before the armistice.