Contributed by Jane Campbell
Liverpool Echo 1908
RECOLLECTIONS
Mrs Kavanagh, who resided at 29 Boundary Place London Rd died on tuesday
age 102, born 31, Oct 1805 .
She was a hale and hearty old woman and had
a vivid memory, she recollects past events
"My earliest recollections are of a village five miles from Athy in the
county of Kildare. People did not travel much then because the only
means was by Stage Coach or canal , both took so much time
I had an uncle in Dublin who I visited a couple of times as a child and
can remember travelling on The Grand Canal pulled by a horse.. My first
vist to Dublin City stands out because King George 11 was visiting, my
uncle placed me on his pony to see the King go by. I remember in 1830
the first railway being built in England between Manchester and
Liverpool and hearing of
THE DEATH OF MR HUSKISSON
who was member of parliament for Liverpool, through being crushed by
George Stevenson's Engine on the very first trip. People were very
superstitious then, and they did not like the idea of the railway; they
said it was,"a judgement of God on him".
In 1836 I left Ireland to go to America, via Liverpool, but the boat was
such a dreadful one, and took so many days to cross, that when I landed
in Liverpool and walked up the steps of the Dock, I vowed I would go no
further. I have been in Liverpool ever since 71 yrs. I was living in
Mann St Toxteth Park, when the terrible plague of
ASIATIC CHOLERA VISITED LIVERPOOL
in 1849, and it seemed to rage round us worse than any quarter.
People
were dying all around me in dozens; neighbours might be talking at their
front doors at dusk with each other and by morning most would be dead.
Every morning a cart would come round, preceded by a man with a red
flag, who cried,"Bring out your dead". No coffin was there, not even a
shroud, as the corpses were lifted out of the cellars, kitchens-
anywhere they fell stricken-and thrown into the cart. Two or three might
be taken from one house, and and on several occasions I heard moans
from the bodies as they lay in the cart, Showing they were not quite
dead.
They were all carried out to Bootle [which was a place of no
importance at that time] and buried.A great event that I remember well
occured on 6th Jan 1839, and was Known as
THE NIGHT OF THE BIG WIND
A most terrible wind arose and created awful destruction everywhere.
Houses were blown down, vehicles and horses blown over; and in St James's
Cemetary the trees, which were uprooted, forced up with the earth a
number of crumbling coffins, and cast bones, skulls everywhere over the
cemetary. Water was distributed at the time by the city officials once
a week and had to be carried home in buckets and jugs. This had to be
treasured for cooking, rainwater was used for washing etc. When water
was distributed twice a week we thought we were well off.. Houses were
poorly built at that time, in no case would landlords fit firegrates and
boilers were unknown.
The Welshmen were the first to build decent houses
with firegrates and boilers in.
IN 1846 Prince Albert came to Liverpool to open a dock thousands came
from all over the country to see him. The Prince was not gone out of the
town two hours when
A FEARFUL STORM
broke over us, and rain such as I have never seen since poured over us
it poured for hours. There was no sewers to take away the water, Stanhope
St and that district the people had to take to the upper parts of their
homes as there was 9ft of water below.
The storm was responsible for the potatoe blight in Ireland, and then
commenced another period of famine and plague.
The Irish came over in
thousands and many fell dead as they landed on the dock walls at the
pier head . Fever sheds were set up by the corporation and into these
the poor people were taken to die and be lost sight of for ever by kith
and kin
The year 1867 was memorable for me. My husband and I were living in
Hanover St and carried on a buisness in a warehouse in College Lane,
close to the Bluecoat Hospital. One day a man called my husband and
asked could he rent the cellar in the warehouse, he said he was a
traveller selling gas fittings and wanted storage space. The rent was
paid regulary and no suspicion crossed our minds. One day a cart drove
up two men
CARRIED OUT THE CASES
placed them on the cart and drove off., handing me the key of the
cellar before leaving.
They had gone but an hour when two other men
arrived and asked to see the cellar. My husband took them down,thinking
they wished to get something. Immediatley they entered they started
examining all the corners, moving straw and tapping walls.in a moment
one of them cried,"to late they've flown," He said to my Husband the men
who occupied the cellar were Fenians and we recieved information that
they had dynamite here.
For twelve months we had been over dynamite all day long. The men were
caught later by a tip off from a policeman who had seen them go off.
All the other events the laying of the American cable and the Telegraph
come to mind, there have been a few changes in my life.
When I was ten in Kavanagh the battle of Waterloo was fought and the most remarkable thing connected which I remember was that the people in the country were afraid to be out after dark in fear of being captured by Napoleon's Soldiers, rumoured to have already landed.I would lay awake at night thinking I could hear gun shots in the distance