description from his mother's diary, and amongst other information, gave (correctly) the name of "our next-door neighbours on the left as you faced the house." There is no reference to photographs in the letter, as there would have been if any had been sent to be marked. Both Mr. Paige-Cox and Mr. Sanders have informed me that no photographs were taken, and consequently none were sent to Mr. Julian Hawthorne. Mr. Sanders published in the Wirral Notes and Queries for May 1892 (vol. i. pp. 34-6) an account of "Hawthorne's Home in Rock Park." The article is illustrated with a view of the house. The illustration was not taken from a photograph, but from a pen and ink drawing. At the end of the article Mr. Sanders appealed for subscriptions to defray the cost of a tablet. No subscriptions were received, no tablet was erected, and consequently there have been no pilgrims to be made happy. Mr. Julian Hawthorne asks if any harm has been done? Retrospectively, no. Prospectively, yes. If a tablet should ever be placed on the house, Mr. Julian Hawthorne's extraordinary confession will be repeatedly quoted to throw doubt on the identity of the house, and so ridicule those who may have placed a tablet thereon. To have prevented a tablet from being placed on the house is not a very serious matter, but it should not have been done in such a peculiar manner by the son of the man to whose memory the tablet would be intended as a mark of respect. About the year 1896, the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire took up the work of erecting tablets on houses in this district with which distinguished people have been associated. My reason for troubling you now is to assure the public who have so kindly contributed to the cost of the tablets we have erected, that every care has been taken to accurately identify the houses. No memory is trusted unless it confirms, or is confirmed by, authentic records. The advantage of this system is that it prevents the Committee from being fooled by any humorist - either American or English. The defect of the system is that it will not prevent any humorist from thinking that he has fooled the Committee. With apologies for troubling you at such length. GEORGE T. SHAW, Hon. Sec. of the Memorial Tablets Sub-Committee of the ATHENEUM, LIVERPOOL, Nov. 14, 1903. THE LIVERPOOL DIRECTORY, For the YEAR 1766: CONTAINING An ALPHABETICAL LIST OF THE MERCHANTS, TRADESMEN, AND Principal INHABITANTS, OF THE TOWN of LIVERPOOL; ALSO Separate LISTS of the Worshipful the Mayor and Com- Warch, Lamps, and Scavengers. riers, with their times of coming Veffels trading to London, Mans LIVERPOOL: Printed by W. NEVETT and Co. for J GORE, Bookfeller. near the Exchange. 1766. FACSIMILE OF THE TITLE-PAGE TO THE FIRST LIVERPOOL DIRECTORY HISTORY OF THE LIVERPOOL DIRECTORIES IN 1766-1907 By George T. Shaw N the course of my work as Hon. Secretary of the Memorial Tablets Sub-Committee of the Lancashire and Cheshire Historic Society, I have frequently had occasion to regret that the Liverpool directories of the eighteenth century and of the early part of the nineteenth century do not contain lists of the inhabitants arranged under the names of the streets wherein they resided. When I was identifying the house in which Mrs. Hemans was born, I had to copy out of several directories the names of the residents in Duke Street. As a Librarian I have noticed that such lists would have been of assistance to other people. I therefore ventured to inform the Council of the Historic Society that my sister and I would willingly compile a street directory for the year 1766 if they would print it, a suggestion they readily assented to, and the result of our labours is appended. Apart from its use as showing the distribution of people in the town, this directory will be of value as a guide to the streets. Care has been taken to accurately locate each street, and only one, viz. Rainford Buildings, has not been identified. Where names have been changed there are references from |