The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-11-05 00:00:00


.+1.,,,.,......

Nov. 5,1844.

TOWN COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS.

On Wednesday a special meeting of the council was held
affairs
Town-hall, for the purpose cf winding up the
• s of the municipal year.
The DEATH OF THE TOWN-CLERK.
MAYOR said his first duty was to announce to tho
council officially what they all knew—the death of the
Town.clerk. He need not say that the Town-Clerk was
a very eminent lawyer. and that they all deeply regretted
his loss,i (Hear, hear.) He died on Friday night last at
Leamington.
Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE said they bad in Mr. Radcliffe
a most excellent office-it, whose services were unremitting.
her.. was no subject, however difficult or embarrassing,
t_ouwbach he was not at all times ready to employ the vigo-
itn°4 energies of his able mind ; and th, re was no demand
iende tlPon him to which he was not always willing to
a ready ear- This amounted almost to a fault—he
was So courteous, so accessible to them all. When they
Ico.nsidered that his services were enhanced with the high-
s': legal talent, and the highest sense of honour, they
and d be able to form a just estimate of the excellent man ;
Zca when they remember the difficulties he had to en-
trter, and with what undeviating consistency be had
them throughl the es of the unor
Act, t
ta lea might, indeed, feelintricaci that theM councilal hadßef sum
ned some loss. To him (Mr: Lawrence) personally,
--and he believed he spoke the sentiments of the whole
er°,ll."eil—Mr. Radcliffe had been err,. kind, very eneodui-
4aulna ; there was no occasion oii • rich his aid and ju 7
Zieo
is advice had not been within his reach ; and he should
4,:et his duty, and the council would be open to
.a
sena'abe
of ingratitude, if they hesitated to record their
e their c the services to which he alluded, and failed to put
t'an-tr minutes some regard for the high ability, zeal,
peassPiendid talents which the Town. Clerk so eminently
le assed, and of which it had pleased Providence, in his
innscyrinut_able wisdom, to deprive them. He concluded by
ly
impress K a resolution to the effect,—that the council, deep-
Cierkd with a sense of the services of the late Town-
. Richerd Radcliffe, Esq., embracing the earliest
20ePaPOrIn ;
). -rata of entering on their minutes a record of the
an, and ability which had ever diatineuished his career,
e requested the Mayor to convey to Mrs. Radcliffe,
sympathy
the other members of the family, an assurance of the
lent officer of the council in the decease of this most excel-
M
r er of the corporation.
b eaei:B,LiteelN' in seconding the motion, said that it would
talents aneeult again toad a man combining the various
bee not
i
wlib were so ably enjoyed by Mr. Radcliffe, who
his ottlrgreat legal k-nowledge, but that fondness for
_ °Pursuit which induced him to give his time morning,
no
181' and night, to the services of the town. But per-
'lrma_ the indiscriminate praise which had. been used was
of
lieaeinfortunate. He could only lament that !my, frailty
pe. habit should have at all impaired Mr. Radcliffe a great
euubilide ntility •; bat speaking of him as a public man, he
for the again express his fear that it would he hopeles
qeare council to ex expect a successor combining all the
ea ties Mr. Radcliffep possessed.
Ile motion was carried unanimously. -
APPLICATION FROM THE BIRKENIIEAD DOCK
The COMPANY.
an a Proceedings of the Finance Committee comprised
PuretP,Plication from the Birkenhead Dock Compa.ny to
even eaase the reversion of the corporation in a portion of
:A allasey Estate. The application, with an accompa-
alrre.:fdPelsafeaphwas tuned by the law agent of the company,
Mallaby. It set forth that the company had
theya
t eg;etennr 75 years, to purchase the property ; andthatu
ded to apply for an act next session to incorpre-
houses company, and to emoower them to erect wa _ -
Fine, ne, the margin, They now formally applied to the
ary inetera•onimittee, and offered to pay for the reversion-
a gross sum at a price to be agreed to,
.or
teea valuation at
resoletiat i
eel? in
by competent parties. The Finance Commit-
stock ed that this was only a repetition, by a joint-
roade b. the of an offer which had been previously
eoriner Y the lessees to purchase the reversion ; that the
by the offer had been declined by the committee, and also
bert . council, and that the committee did not feel at lie
eotoYtrifto‘eenter into any negociation on the subject. The
tahe Le recommended the sale of a piece of land, con-
to almagrabwout 2,200 yards, in Church-street, Birkenhead,
Years, sub right, at the rate of 355. 6d. per yard, for 75
NI
r. L. ject to a deposit of 10 per cent.
the peace il• LAWRENCE, in moving the confirmation of
eduig,
propoßet , thought it right to mention that if this
ComeessliVerconie from a public body like the Birkenhead
the measure :, and that if it stated public grounds for
exact extent' Fond accompanied it with plans, showing the
with public doerkwcll Public warehouses; in connexion
(fleece Committee 8' were required, then, possibly, the Fi-
No, no.) He said have given it more consideration.
proposal, on the
Which the you • d 'note consideration ; but here was a
_ Part of
ia.B . tied knew n •
- a self-constituted company, of
t hed with some pret ()thing. Unless they were fur-
(hear)et—soreeg which might
anw randenefit to arise to the corporation estate—
il the benefit also to the burgesses of Liverpool
ate—
(hear
furtherr: hear) —it -it was impossible for the council to go
....
_o ~and, accordingly, the committee thought it bet-
tl7.r.! e abide the issue of events, and give a simple refusal
;ellacie. application. (Hear.) With public grounds, inc:-
don Ot of corporate interests, the council had nothing to
but 11' seas for the legislature to' interfere in such matters ;
pert„e lhought the legislatutreewocueld.t er wrest the pro-
with, or the corporation ou . f h haienvds of the council,
,mi °tit some more information than the Finance Coin-
ttee had been able to secure or obtain. Here was a
theylalt , e application for almost th- whole of the property
tPtrtotvi.de,
nad leased to the parties at Wallasey Pool, enough to
wa_rehouses, not only for the trade to be expected
traenhead, but for all the trade of Europe ! He
noped the
Mr Proceedings would be confirmed. (Hear.)
hear IitINI"L said it always afforded bias satisfaction to
with r' G. n• Lawrence, and that he generally agreed
we,, that gentleman ; but he thought that upon this as
ti as upon a former occasion, the Birkenhead people
mustwa feel iadebted to him for pointing out to them in what
Y they were to approach the council for the purpose of
obtaining a reversion. (Hear.) When they applied be-
fore N./ Lawrence . te certainly said that if they had come
111 a public shape—if they came as Commissioners of Bir-
en head or in any public shape—the Finance Committee
Would have listened more favourably. (Mr. G. H. Law-
rence dissented.)
ii,apuiplaileled as
M. Nicol. continued.—They had taken the hint, and
Still a joint-stock company, and the chairman of the
, e Committee now said that if they came again in a
0 altered shape, that committee would take the matter
th !eater consideration—" greater consideration" were
ds. Now he (Mr. Nicol) thought this was point-
elutiolut to People who wanted no advice, the plans they
it to ;31 adopt, and how they were to proceed. He begged
dog e understood that he, as an humble individual, did
i'g‘li concur r• in those sentiments, nor did he think it quite
ehairmanair—fair was an improper word to use—in the
Pledge theaenhead of* the Finance Committee in any degree
.to
council to any particular course when the Bir.-
ltadeeeorortietnen came (Hear, hear.) He thought it
"S SO to do • and he, for one, protested against
tintese conciliatoy sentiments being considered as those of
cocanneil, when it might hereafter
.ba the duty of the
thong to act completely in opposition to them. H
in. t the granting of the reversion would he doing an
belatir,)tiee to the leaseholders on the Liverpool side--(hear,
Publi.e-and he was anxious it shouled
entohtergoeifdoer,th to the
that the
Rena , or to the gentlemen on th
col, `news they had just heard were the sentiments of the
..oeil.
•N?iraaG• H. LAWRENCE explained. He was sure that
lier(era'"col had put an interpretation on his words which
invite- r; Lawrence) did not intend. lie never meant to
again the Birkenhead gentlemen to approach the council
ehilen,; but what be said was, that from the manner in
eater' they had come the committee could not give them
t 4 consideration:
NI LA "(IN said he was aware of the difficulty of dis-
-45 anything where matters of bargain were involved,
that „el had got an application from men who bad shown
tbr a-t",,e7 were not in the habit of holding out any idle
1341'' And this was not a threat. It was simply inti-
se,aing that it was their intention to do that in the next
tereleadn Which it was pretty well known already they in-
Was ti; to do; and therefore the only question with him
tainai-'s ''''' Is there a chance of that body of men ob-
that asneh a bill and if they do obtain such a bill for
Publi-uch they will endeavour to show will be of great
boW *c litilitl, to the trade of the king dom then are we
If then the Position of
getting more than wewould be then
teah,Y get their bill? (Hear, hear.) He was not an ae-
thotan°r much acquainted with the subject, but he
vera"t quite probable that the council might pow. get
be
weY Jorge sum. He threw it out as a hint that. it might
sand It, and vvise and judicious, instead of spending thou-t
th es In a fruitless opposition to bills, to endeavour to ge
tei°glitall.d n their pockets for property, which property
ee taken from them.
..le,asea•e,l'ACE said the terms on which all the.corporation
diem -eerie granted were these—that the patties. taking
valeabwieantd so improve the property as to make itemtoste
Nye re t ' If, then, an estimate of the Wallasey Es
*Nee ° be made now, would any surveyor put any extra
(Hear ID\ n reversion of what was hereafter to be done ?
It. ell ar;, As a mere matter of prudence, if they were to
`jeeti pw' they must get less than ff the improvements had
what -nrePleted • for what man could tell how to value
the re:vas not ;treacly upon the land ? They would get
e,peetaere naked value of the reversion. It was not to be
Mere . de tu his opinion, that parliament would give to a
five,i tl_tant-stock company rights which they had not
peen baaathees ; and when the Liverpool warehouses had
Plari onulat on leases for 75 years, why not pursue the same
, 114. -ill.re other side ? (Hear, hear.) ,
nave•tai'taßeee did not believe the council would ever.
!Pere tolerated the sale of the land at Birkenhead, if it
tea:e rollebveed that such a question as the present would
.considered afterwards. (Hear, hear.) The
it she eueeteieu . •
e_ tile b t with him to sell the land was, that
reased e made valuable—that its value should be in-
ns revel. and that the council should have the prospect of
Price that al ", with this increased value. Hence the low
te,teas a _
h ; ,graduat_ , accepted for it. Much higher prices than
um by p scale for 75 veers were offered for the free-
taittee t
neareea ,e, 0
"it put in tenders; but the Finance Cum-
and he __aer thought of entertaining such a proposition,
entertains sorry that Mr. Aikin or any body else, should
Posed e," It for a moment.* He contended that the pro-
Priv • eareeoi,_ .
wasaie indivicr
ties on the other side were forh the benefit of
ow that the°
to inaloossiblentis' though handed togetearn,yand that it
arguments
Yetst bring before parliament .
the 4)Al:be done i:try wpm- be .
ld henefitted qy what was
be for-ea epee; ___ The public benefit was conferred when
iodiv,
itiva.,es conceded ; and. all future benefit would
(hearera, har. \'" ls, or collective bodies of individuals.
th Therefore he hoped the council would ne-
leasentertaa,'
he e Present question for a single moment, at
Air nevers veould for one.• (Hear.)
ache now
atr tailtekan said that if Birkenhead continued to ad-
re now , !ate they were told it would, the land they
sent eal selling to Mrbe double its pre-
Pleas Ile, for it . • Wright wou
to the d With te wale in the heart of the town. lie
Committee
With the spirited reply of the Finance
aide of
ta_mication of the joint-stock
themecomany on the other tie water. That reply did great credit. He

hoped they would never be frightened. The day might
come when the Wallasey Estate would comeback to the
corporation.
Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE thanked Mr. Parker for his
compliments to the Finance Committee, and hoped this
would not be the last time that gentleman would do so in
the council chamber. (Hear, and a laugh,) The land
proposed to be sold to Mr. Wright was on the south side of
Woodside Ferry, and fronted, not to the river, but to-
wards Church-street. He should not be surprised to hear
next week that the same lot had been sold for £5 a yard,
for such was the fever at Birkenhead that there was no
way of accurately estimating the value of the land.
The proceedings were confirmed, and the Birkenhead
Company are to be informed that the council see no rea-
son to alter their previous resolution.
---- • --