The former Museum of Liverpool Life

• History of the museum
• City Lives
  • Faiths and festivals
  • Homes and communities
  • Community services
• City Soldiers
• River Room
• Making a Living
• Demanding a Voice
• Mersey Culture

City Lives

Liverpool landing stage

The former City Lives gallery explored how people who have settled in Liverpool have shaped the development and culture of the city.

By 1900 Liverpool was the second largest city in Britain. People moved here from all over the world either to find their fortune or because of changing circumstances in their countries.

"This town is full of Germans, Jews, Welsh, Irish and Dutch and the docks are wondrous." Augustus John, 1900.

City Lives told the stories of some of the important immigrant communities in Liverpool, including

• Chinese sailors who arrived during the 18th century, making Liverpool home to the oldest Chinese community in Europe;
• Irish people, over 90,000 of whom arrived as famine refugees in the mid 19th century and established communities in north Liverpool;
• Scots who settled in the 18th century and found work in shipping;
• Jewish people who first settled during the 17th century and many more who came to escape persecution in Europe.