Museum of Liverpool appeal

Appeal for memories of Liverpool Sailors’ Home for inclusion in new museum

National Museums Liverpool curators are currently appealing for personal stories of Liverpool Sailors’ Home, home to seafarers staying in the city from 1850 to 1969.

The information is needed for inclusion in the new £72m Museum of Liverpool, the world’s first national museum devoted to the history of a regional city, which opens on Liverpool’s famous waterfront in 2011.

The Museum of Liverpool will reflect Liverpool’s global significance through its unique geography, culture and history, of which its port was of great importance. The Liverpool Sailors’ Home opened in 1850 while its London equivalent opened in 1835.  

Based in a magnificent building in Canning Place, the home provided much needed relief to seafarers, especially during the depression years and the two World Wars, providing special low cost accommodation between voyages.

Kay Jones, a curator for the Museum of Liverpool said: “Unfortunately Liverpool Sailors’ Home was closed in 1969 as it became unable to cater for the needs of the modern sailor and fell into disrepair. The Canning Place premises were demolished and the residential work of the home then continued outside the city centre until 1975.

“We’re looking for personal stories and accounts from people who stayed at Liverpool Sailors’ Home in Canning Place until its closure in the late 60s. It was such an important part of the city and a lot of seafarers’ home away from home. We want to bring this to life for our visitors and enable them to get a feel for the building, its atmosphere and the people who stayed there.”

Information about Liverpool Sailors’ Home will go on display in the Museum of Liverpool’s People’s City gallery which explores people’s experience of living in Liverpool and those who have made it their home, permanently or temporarily. Kay continues:

“We’re appealing to people who stayed or worked at Liverpool Sailors’ Home. We’re looking for really personal accounts which reveal information such as when and why they stayed there, how they heard about it, the type of room they stayed in, and an overall description of what it was like to stay there.”

The Museum of Liverpool has in its collection a number of items relating to the Liverpool Sailors’ Home which will also go on display in the People’s City gallery. These include a section of railing depicting mermaids from the balconies of the home and a register containing the date of entrance, room numbers and names of those staying there between 1966 and 1968.

Those with information to share should contact Kay Jones, curator of community history for the Museum of Liverpool on 0151 478 4409 or email kay.jones@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

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