Seaforth is a district in the

Metropolitan Borough of Sefton The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England. It was formed on Local Government Act 1972, 1 April 1974, by the amalgamation of the county boroughs of Bootle and Southport, the municipal borough of Crosby, ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, England. Historically in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, it is north of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, between

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

and Waterloo.

History

The name of Seaforth is thought to come from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''sæ-fjord'', ''sæ-ford'', "sea inlet". It was recorded as ''Safforde'' "sea ford" in 1128, suggesting Old English name origins. Another theory for the name of the area is that it was taken from Seaforth House, named after

Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Francis Humberston Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, (9 June 1754 – 11 January 1815) was a British politician, soldier, and botanist. He was Chief of the Scottish Highlands, Highland Clan ...

, who built the mansion in 1813 for his daughter and her husband, Sir John Gladstone, father of

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

, four times

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. A permanent military presence was established in the borough with the completion of Seaforth Barracks in 1882. Seaforth Dock opened in 1972 and is the largest dock facility on the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...

. It is part of the

Port of Liverpool The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of ...

and Liverpool Freeport.

Governance

On 31 December 1894 became a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, being formed from the part of Litherland parish in Waterloo with Seaforth Urban District, Seaforth joined Crosby

Municipal Borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

in 1937. In 1951 the parish had a population of 14,435. On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished and the whole of Crosby became part of the new

. From 1918 to 1950 Seaforth was within the Parliamentary constituency known as Waterloo, a safe seat for the Conservative Party, and then until 2010 within the Crosby constituency, whose MP from 1997 to 2010 was Claire Curtis-Thomas, of the Labour Party. Prior to her election the Crosby seat was generally considered a Conservative Party stronghold, like its predecessor seat, with Tory MPs elected at every election, except for the 1981 Crosby by-election, when

Shirley Williams Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby (''née'' Catlin; 27 July 1930 – 12 April 2021) was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she served in ...

of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

was elected. As a result of boundary revisions for the 2010 general election, the Crosby constituency was abolished and Seaforth was included in the expanded

constituency. The district has been represented by Labour MP

Peter Dowd Peter Christopher Dowd (born 20 June 1957) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bootle since 2015. From 2017 to 2020, he served as the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Early life and educ ...

since 2015. For elections to Sefton Council, Seaforth is within the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

electoral ward and is represented by three councillors, two from the Labour Party and one from the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

Geography

Seaforth is between Waterloo in the north, Litherland to the east,

to the south, and the River Mersey and the Port of Liverpool to the west. It is mainly an area of Victorian terraced housing.

Transport

Seaforth is served by Seaforth and Litherland railway station on the Liverpool to

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

branch of

Merseyrail Merseyrail is a commuter rail network which serves Merseyside and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire in the North West England, North West of England. Merseyrail serves 69 Railway station, stations, 67 of which it manages, across two lin ...

Northern Line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...

. Principal roads include the A565 and the A5036. .

Sport

Motorcycle speedway racing was staged at Seaforth Stadium in the late 1930s. Greyhound racing also took place until the 1960s

Notable people

* Ray Mia, Music producer & Capomaestro, Jacaranda Records * Roger Aindow, English former professional footballer *

Kenny Everett Kenny Everett (born Maurice James Christopher Cole; 25 December 1944 – 4 April 1995) was an English radio Disc Jockey, DJ and television entertainer, known for his zany comedic style. After spells on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the m ...

, radio presenter and comedian, born in Seaforth *

, prime ministerLiverpool Echo
January 28, 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2011 * Edmund Knowles Muspratt (1833—1923), chemical industrialist * Max Muspratt (1872–1934), chemist & politician * Julia Solly (1862–1953), British-born South-African feminist * Nessie Stewart-Brown (1864–1958), feminist

References

External links

Seaforth, ''Liverpool Echo''
{{Metropolitan Borough of Sefton Towns and villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton Former civil parishes in Merseyside