Consulate of the United States in Liverpool
Encyclopedia
The United States Consulate in Liverpool, England
was established in 1790, and was the first overseas consulate founded by the then fledgling United States of America. Liverpool
was at the time an important center for transatlantic commerce and a vital trading partner for the former Thirteen Colonies
. Among those who served the United States as consul in Liverpool were the writer Nathaniel Hawthorne
, the spy Thomas Haines Dudley
, and John S. Service
, who was driven out of the United States Foreign Service
by McCarthyite
persecution. After World War II
, as Liverpool declined in importance as an international port, the consulate was eventually closed down.
, who held the office from 1790 to 1829, and whose portrait still hangs today in Liverpool Town Hall
.
In 1801 Maury chaired the inaugural meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in Liverpool, representing Liverpool merchants trading with the United States. Maury was the first signatory to the society's rules and was its first President. Maury held the position of consul for 39 years, until 1829, when he was removed from office by President Andrew Jackson
.
The consulate stood on the quayside of Steers Dock and the Pool of Liverpool. The building was decorated with a golden bald eagle
, the national symbol of the United States
and a reassuring sign to American sailors or travellers arriving at Liverpool docks.
According to Edwin Williams's New York Annual Register, published in 1835, United States Consuls were not paid, but were:
Among other notable consuls was the author Nathaniel Hawthorne
, appointed by President Franklin Pierce
in 1853, shortly after the publication of Tanglewood Tales
. The position was considered the most lucrative foreign service position at the time, and was described by Hawthorne's wife as "second in dignity to the Embassy in London". However, life in Liverpool was evidently expensive, and Hawthorne complained to the Secretary of State that he was underpaid, and asked for living expenses of $7,500, arguing that a consul:
In 1855 this was done. Congress passed a law fixing the salary of the consul at Liverpool at $7,500 per year.
Hawthorne described in his journal the American seamen with whom he dealt as "most rascally set of sailors that ever were seen - dirty, desperate, and altogether pirate-like in aspect". It appears that he often found his consular duties to be a burden:
Hawthorne was retired from the position in 1857, having apparently discharged his duties in a "prudent and efficient manner"
(1861–65), consul Thomas Haines Dudley
made strenuous efforts to prevent ships from Liverpool from breaking the United States Navy
blockade of Confederate
ports. Great Britain remained officially neutral throughout the war but there were many Confederate sympathisers in Liverpool. The commerce raider CSS Alabama
was a screw sloop-of-war
built for the Confederate States Navy
at Birkenhead
in Merseyside in 1862 by John Laird Sons and Company. She was eventually sunk by the USS Kearsarge
in 1864.
In 1865, following the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln
by John Wilkes Booth
, vice consul Wilding notified his masters in Washington that John Surratt
, one of Booth's conspirators, had taken refuge in Liverpool. Surratt had fled to Europe with the help of Confederate agents, booking passage under an alias and landing at Liverpool in September 1865, where he went into hiding in the oratory of the Church of the Holy Cross. Curiously, the United States Government chose not to pursue Surratt any further, despite having offered a $25,000 for information leading to his arrest, and no request was ever made to the British authorities to detain him. In any event Surratt did not stay long in Liverpool, but went on to serve for a brief time in the Ninth Company of the Pontifical Zouaves in the Vatican City
under the name John Watson.
Consul Dudley wished to retire after the war and return to his law practice in New Jersey
, but such was his knowledge of Confederate assets in Liverpool that he stayed on as consul, seizing Confederate ships and returning the proceeds of sale to the victorious United States Government. Relations between Britain and the United States were tense after the war, in part because of the role of Liverpool blockade runners and the widespread perception in America that Britain had been sympathetic to the defeated Confederacy. The claims arising out of these disputes, especially the Alabama Claims
, would not be settled until the 1871 Treaty of Washington
.
, Liverpool declined in importance as a trading partner with the United States, and the consulate was eventually closed down. Among the last holders of the office were George H. Steuart and John S. Service
. The latter had been driven out of the Foreign Service
by Senator Joseph McCarthy
on suspicion of communist sympathies. Eventually the building fell into disuse, and for a period of time became The Eagle pub.
in preparation of "The Paradise Street Project
", an extensive redevelopment of Liverpool's central business district. The building, and the eagle which adorned it, were restored by the Grosvenor Group
in 2008. The building has since been converted into a retail unit, leased by The Liverpool Sony Centre, and in addition houses three luxury apartments.
The bald eagle
which now elegantly graces the front facia may or may not be the original carving installed when the building was first erected. The original carving is likely to have been imported from the United States, probably fashioned by shipwrights skilled in the carving of ships' figureheads. In any event, what remained of the 200 kg eagle was removed for renovation in 2008 and taken to the conservation centre at the Liverpool National Museum for cleaning and restoration. The sculpture, by now in an advanced state of decay, had to be dried out for several months, following which a new head was carved, based on photos (the original head having been lost), and in addition new wing tips and a new lower base. The restored eagle was re-attached to the building in October 2008, during a small ceremony. David Whitty, who supervised the restoration of the eagle, was quoted as saying that it "should be good for another 200 years”.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
was established in 1790, and was the first overseas consulate founded by the then fledgling United States of America. Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
was at the time an important center for transatlantic commerce and a vital trading partner for the former Thirteen Colonies
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
. Among those who served the United States as consul in Liverpool were the writer Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
, the spy Thomas Haines Dudley
Thomas Haines Dudley
Thomas Haines Dudley was consul of the United States of America in Liverpool during the American Civil War. He was instrumental in leading efforts by the Federal Government to prevent British involvement in the war, and in particular in preventing blockade runners from Liverpool, such as the CSS...
, and John S. Service
John S. Service
John Stewart Service was an American diplomat who served in the Foreign Service in China prior to and during the World War II. Considered one of the State Department's "China Hands," he was an important member of the Dixie Mission to Yan'an...
, who was driven out of the United States Foreign Service
United States Foreign Service
The United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...
by McCarthyite
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
persecution. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, as Liverpool declined in importance as an international port, the consulate was eventually closed down.
History
The first consul was James MauryJames Maury (consul)
James Maury was one of the first United States diplomats and one of the first American consuls appointed overseas. In 1790 he was appointed to the Consulate of the United States in Liverpool, one of the first overseas consulates founded by the then fledgling United States of America...
, who held the office from 1790 to 1829, and whose portrait still hangs today in Liverpool Town Hall
Liverpool Town Hall
Liverpool Town Hall stands in High Street at its junction with Dale Street, Castle Street, and Water Street in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, described in the National Heritage List for England as "one of the finest...
.
In 1801 Maury chaired the inaugural meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in Liverpool, representing Liverpool merchants trading with the United States. Maury was the first signatory to the society's rules and was its first President. Maury held the position of consul for 39 years, until 1829, when he was removed from office by President Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
.
The consulate stood on the quayside of Steers Dock and the Pool of Liverpool. The building was decorated with a golden bald eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
, the national symbol of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and a reassuring sign to American sailors or travellers arriving at Liverpool docks.
According to Edwin Williams's New York Annual Register, published in 1835, United States Consuls were not paid, but were:
- "in effect, agents for commerce and seamen. They receive no yearly salaries... and their compensation is derived from the fees which they are allowed by law. [They] are principally occupied in verifying, in various forms, the legality of the trade of the United States with foreign nations, and in relieving and sending home American seamen, who by accident or misfortune are left destitute".
Consul Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
, appointed by President Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...
in 1853, shortly after the publication of Tanglewood Tales
Tanglewood Tales
Tanglewood Tales for Boys and Girls is a book by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, a sequel to A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys...
. The position was considered the most lucrative foreign service position at the time, and was described by Hawthorne's wife as "second in dignity to the Embassy in London". However, life in Liverpool was evidently expensive, and Hawthorne complained to the Secretary of State that he was underpaid, and asked for living expenses of $7,500, arguing that a consul:
- "cannot possibly live here with a family (unless he secludes himself from society and forgoes all the social advantages of a residence in England). A man might be comfortable with this in a New England village, but not, I assure you, as the representative of America in the greatest commercial city in England".
In 1855 this was done. Congress passed a law fixing the salary of the consul at Liverpool at $7,500 per year.
Hawthorne described in his journal the American seamen with whom he dealt as "most rascally set of sailors that ever were seen - dirty, desperate, and altogether pirate-like in aspect". It appears that he often found his consular duties to be a burden:
- "the duties of the office carried me to prisons, police-courts, hospitals, lunatic asylums, coroner's inquests, death-beds, funerals, and brought me in contact with insane people, criminals, ruined speculators, wild adventurers, diplomatists, brother-consuls, and all manner of simpletons and unfortunates, in greater number and variety than I had ever dreamed of as pertaining to America, in addition to whom there was an equivalent multitude of English rogues, dexterously counterfeiting the genuine yankee article."
Hawthorne was retired from the position in 1857, having apparently discharged his duties in a "prudent and efficient manner"
American Civil War
During the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
(1861–65), consul Thomas Haines Dudley
Thomas Haines Dudley
Thomas Haines Dudley was consul of the United States of America in Liverpool during the American Civil War. He was instrumental in leading efforts by the Federal Government to prevent British involvement in the war, and in particular in preventing blockade runners from Liverpool, such as the CSS...
made strenuous efforts to prevent ships from Liverpool from breaking the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
blockade of Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
ports. Great Britain remained officially neutral throughout the war but there were many Confederate sympathisers in Liverpool. The commerce raider CSS Alabama
CSS Alabama
CSS Alabama was a screw sloop-of-war built for the Confederate States Navy at Birkenhead, United Kingdom, in 1862 by John Laird Sons and Company. Alabama served as a commerce raider, attacking Union merchant and naval ships over the course of her two-year career, during which she never anchored in...
was a screw sloop-of-war
Screw sloop
A screw sloop is a propeller-driven sloop-of-war. In the 19th century, during the introduction of the steam engine, ships driven by propellers were differentiated from those driven by paddle-wheels by referring to the ship's screws...
built for the Confederate States Navy
Confederate States Navy
The Confederate States Navy was the naval branch of the Confederate States armed forces established by an act of the Confederate Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American Civil War...
at Birkenhead
Birkenhead
Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
in Merseyside in 1862 by John Laird Sons and Company. She was eventually sunk by the USS Kearsarge
USS Kearsarge
Five ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Kearsarge. The first was named for Mount Kearsarge and the later ones were named in honor of the first....
in 1864.
In 1865, following the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
by John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
, vice consul Wilding notified his masters in Washington that John Surratt
John Surratt
John Harrison Surratt, Jr. was accused of plotting with John Wilkes Booth to kidnap U.S. president Abraham Lincoln and suspected of involvement in the Abraham Lincoln assassination. His mother Mary Surratt was convicted of conspiracy and hanged by the United States Federal Government...
, one of Booth's conspirators, had taken refuge in Liverpool. Surratt had fled to Europe with the help of Confederate agents, booking passage under an alias and landing at Liverpool in September 1865, where he went into hiding in the oratory of the Church of the Holy Cross. Curiously, the United States Government chose not to pursue Surratt any further, despite having offered a $25,000 for information leading to his arrest, and no request was ever made to the British authorities to detain him. In any event Surratt did not stay long in Liverpool, but went on to serve for a brief time in the Ninth Company of the Pontifical Zouaves in the Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
under the name John Watson.
Consul Dudley wished to retire after the war and return to his law practice in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, but such was his knowledge of Confederate assets in Liverpool that he stayed on as consul, seizing Confederate ships and returning the proceeds of sale to the victorious United States Government. Relations between Britain and the United States were tense after the war, in part because of the role of Liverpool blockade runners and the widespread perception in America that Britain had been sympathetic to the defeated Confederacy. The claims arising out of these disputes, especially the Alabama Claims
Alabama Claims
The Alabama Claims were a series of claims for damages by the United States government against the government of Great Britain for the assistance given to the Confederate cause during the American Civil War. After international arbitration endorsed the American position in 1872, Britain settled...
, would not be settled until the 1871 Treaty of Washington
Treaty of Washington (1871)
The Treaty of Washington was a treaty signed and ratified by Great Britain and the United States in 1871 that settled various disputes between the countries, in particular the Alabama Claims.-Background:...
.
Modern era
After World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Liverpool declined in importance as a trading partner with the United States, and the consulate was eventually closed down. Among the last holders of the office were George H. Steuart and John S. Service
John S. Service
John Stewart Service was an American diplomat who served in the Foreign Service in China prior to and during the World War II. Considered one of the State Department's "China Hands," he was an important member of the Dixie Mission to Yan'an...
. The latter had been driven out of the Foreign Service
United States Foreign Service
The United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...
by Senator Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
on suspicion of communist sympathies. Eventually the building fell into disuse, and for a period of time became The Eagle pub.
Restoration and repair
Maury’s former office now sits amid Liverpool’s newest and largest shopping centre, Liverpool One. Once derelict and empty, it was the first building purchased by The Grosvenor GroupGrosvenor Group
Grosvenor is a privately owned property group with offices in 18 cities. It has four regional investment & development businesses in Britain & Ireland, the Americas, Australia and Asia Pacific; an international fund management business, which operates across these markets and in continental Europe;...
in preparation of "The Paradise Street Project
The Paradise Project
Liverpool ONE is a shopping, residential and leisure complex in Liverpool, England, United Kingdom.The project, previously known as The Paradise Project, involved the redevelopment of 42 acres of underutilised land in Liverpool city centre...
", an extensive redevelopment of Liverpool's central business district. The building, and the eagle which adorned it, were restored by the Grosvenor Group
Grosvenor Group
Grosvenor is a privately owned property group with offices in 18 cities. It has four regional investment & development businesses in Britain & Ireland, the Americas, Australia and Asia Pacific; an international fund management business, which operates across these markets and in continental Europe;...
in 2008. The building has since been converted into a retail unit, leased by The Liverpool Sony Centre, and in addition houses three luxury apartments.
The bald eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
which now elegantly graces the front facia may or may not be the original carving installed when the building was first erected. The original carving is likely to have been imported from the United States, probably fashioned by shipwrights skilled in the carving of ships' figureheads. In any event, what remained of the 200 kg eagle was removed for renovation in 2008 and taken to the conservation centre at the Liverpool National Museum for cleaning and restoration. The sculpture, by now in an advanced state of decay, had to be dried out for several months, following which a new head was carved, based on photos (the original head having been lost), and in addition new wing tips and a new lower base. The restored eagle was re-attached to the building in October 2008, during a small ceremony. David Whitty, who supervised the restoration of the eagle, was quoted as saying that it "should be good for another 200 years”.
Notable Consuls
- 1790-1829 James MauryJames Maury (consul)James Maury was one of the first United States diplomats and one of the first American consuls appointed overseas. In 1790 he was appointed to the Consulate of the United States in Liverpool, one of the first overseas consulates founded by the then fledgling United States of America...
- 1853-1857 Nathaniel HawthorneNathaniel HawthorneNathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
- 1861-1872 Thomas Haines DudleyThomas Haines DudleyThomas Haines Dudley was consul of the United States of America in Liverpool during the American Civil War. He was instrumental in leading efforts by the Federal Government to prevent British involvement in the war, and in particular in preventing blockade runners from Liverpool, such as the CSS...
- 1959-1962 John S. ServiceJohn S. ServiceJohn Stewart Service was an American diplomat who served in the Foreign Service in China prior to and during the World War II. Considered one of the State Department's "China Hands," he was an important member of the Dixie Mission to Yan'an...
External links
- The Eagle Has Landed, article by Peter Elson on the restoration of the original consulate eagle, at the Liverpool Daily Post, October 2008, Retrieved July 12, 2010
- Obituary of John S. Service in The New York Times. Retrieved July 12, 2010
- Image of the restored eagle at Les Auld Photography, Retrieved July 12, 2010