![[Speke Hall Icon]](resources/images/homepage/speke.jpg)
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Liverpool c.1680 The earliest surviving view of the Liverpool waterfront - known as the 'Peters' painting of 1682 (The original may be seen in the Merseyside Maritime Museum)
I have been researching and writing about various aspects of the local history of the Liverpool, Merseyside, S.W.Lancs, Cheshire area for over 30 years. Several works have been published (see links) but there are several papers which remain unseen. Some of this surfaces from time to time as material in local history evening classes which I run at the University of Liverpool Centre for Continuing Education. |
However, this site makes the material immediately accessible. You are welcome to download, but please credit this source if you should use it. Thanks! I have always welcomed email correspondence in the past and I do try and reply where can, but the volume has become overwhelming, and I do not wish to offend when I cannot reply. General family tree enquires should be directed towards other dedicated sites (unless, of course, we may be related!). But please do sign the guestbook or bulletin board indicating purposes of your research, or any other comments you wish to make. |
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Click here to order from Waterstones. Click here to order from Amazon. |
Liverpool Then and Now by Mike Royden According to publishers Batsford Books; Liverpool Then and Now takes the reader on a journey through a city once considered the 'second city of empire'. So great was the volume of commerce flowing through the port of Liverpool in the nineteenth century that it sometimes eclipsed London. This wealth produced many fine buildings, giving rise to a second Bank of England building, the classical architecture of St George's Hall- today the Walker Art Gallery-and Liverpool's 'three graces'; the Liver, the Cunard and the Port of Liverpool buildings. Some 70 historic photographs of Liverpool's past are paired with specially commissioned contemporary views taken from the same vantage point. You can see the same streets and buildings as they were 'then' and as they are 'now'. It includes Lord Street, Albert Dock, Speke Airport, Goodison, Aintree, Lime Street Station, the Mersey Tunnel, plus the ferry across the Mersey and the place where it was famously celebrated in song, The Cavern. There are also some of Liverpool's closest neighbours, Birkenhead, New Brighton, Port Sunlight and the glorious Victorian promenades of Southport. Part of the bestselling 'Then and Now' series, this charming contrast of old and new photographs highlights the stunning changes - and the equally amazing similarities - of one of the most loved cities in Britain, its well-known places but also some of its hidden gems. Published in April 2012 |
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'In years to come, Liverpool genealogists will be saying: if it isn't in Royden, it isn't worth knowing about'! Family History Monthly (June 2010)
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Tracing Your Liverpool Ancestors: by Mike Royden OUT NOW Click here to order from the Pen & Sword web site. According to Pen & Sword;
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Mike Royden on Who Do You Think You are? Series 7 - featuring Kim Cattrall Kim Cattrall, star of Sex in the City, is in the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are? trying to trace her Toxteth roots. Mike Royden guides her through a few difficult and painful revelations about her Liverpool ancestors. Filmed in the Liverpool Athenaeum under tight security, click here for more information and photographs. |
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Mike Royden on BBC's Heir Hunters This is a BBC series dedicated to finding the heirs of people who have died without leaving a will. In this programme Celtic Research looked into the case of Ivy Sherry who died in April 2009. She was born in Liverpool and research revealed a surprising link with Bessie Braddock, the famous Liverpool M.P. |
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Great British Cities: Liverpool (1840 -1947)
(Historical Notes on the Historical Map of Liverpool 1850-51 by Mike Royden) Map makers Cassini have produced an excellent boxed set of Liverpool historical maps covering; Old Series (1840-43), Revised New Series (1902-03), Popular Edition (1923-24), New Popular Edition (1947) and the County Series 1:10,000 (1850-51). I acted as consultant on the coverage and selection of the maps and wrote the historical notes for the County Series 1:10,000 (1850-51). This map covers Liverpool from Bootle Castle in the north to Otterspool in the south, detailed enough to have all street names recorded throughout. Cassini Historical Maps are created from Ordnance Survey’s definitive mapping series, surveyed and printed from the early 19th century onwards, which they have enhanced and enlarged to bring them into line with modern scales and print standards. |
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Downloads resources for historians
New section - from this page you can access various downloads such as publications and documents. This will be added to gradually to help provide a free resource for historians. It may save a visit to the local record office - and help to preserve the original. You will need Adobe Reader (free) installed on your computer to read the pdf files (link on the page). |
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Book Reviews This is a new section which will be added to in the future. To start this off a new work on Birkenhead by Elizabeth Davey, published by Phillimore is featured. |
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Otterspool
The story of Otterspool was featured in a lecture given by Mike Royden at The Big History Show at St.Georges Hall in September 2007 as part of the 800th Anniversary celebrations. Click here for a copy of the article and illustrations. |
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Hitler in Liverpool?
Is there any truth in the story that Hitler visited Liverpool c.1912/13 or is it just an urban myth? |
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Mike Royden's Local History Pages in the Media
Full Listings - Some of the articles within this site have been featured on Radio 4's Making History presented by Sue Cook, while others have been covered on local radio on Radio Merseyside's Norman Thomas Show on Sundays at 1.30pm. |
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This site is an on-going local history project researched and compiled by Year 9 pupils of the Whitby High School under the guidance of Mike Royden. It is added to each year around November. Topics include studies of the suburbs and villages around Ellesmere Port, eg. Great Sutton, Little Sutton, Capenhurst, Overpool, Whitby, plus local sites such as Poole Hall, Whitby Hall, and the Temporary Government Housing Programme (1944-49) Prefab site known as 'Tin Town', Hooton Hall and Hooton Airfield. |
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University of Liverpool
Local History Classes
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British Association for Local History As a member you receive both The Local Historian and Local History News four times a year, and you have privileged access to conferences, specialist visits and to a wide range of practical handbooks. Get the latest information, as well as access to a huge network of knowledgeable people to help you find the answers you need. The Local Historian and Local History News encourage and assist the study of Local History as an academic discipline and as a rewarding leisure pursuit for both individuals and groups. Published in February, May, August and November.
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Local History Magazine Local History Magazine was established in 1984 and is published six times a year, available by postal subscription only. Every issue contains a mixture of news, articles, book and periodical reviews, readers' notices and information. |
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Whitby High Online
The Whitby High School Web Site - winner of several awards and shortlisted out of 600 schools for the BECTA/Guardian Education Web Award for 2001. |
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Charles Royden R.F.A. (1881-1918) Charles Royden was in the Royal Field Artillery in the First World War and was killed in 1918. It has taken many years of research to compile enough material for this modest biography. To ensure that even this was not forgotten visit these pages for a more detailed account of Charles Royden at the Somme and his war record. |