In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described St Helens like this:
St Helens.-- parl. and mun. bor., manufacturing and market town, Prescot par., SW. Lancashire, 12 miles N. of Liverpool and 191 NW. of London by rail, 6586 ac., pop. 57,403; 2 Banks, 3 newspapers. Market-day, Saturday. St Helens, which within comparatively recent times was little more than a village, is now one of the most thriving commercial towns in the county. It owes its rapid growth largely to the canal and railway systems, which connect it with extensive coal-beds in the vicinity, and with the Mersey. It has large alkali, copper-smelting, and iron works, but is best known for the mfr. of glass, which is carried on to a great extent in all its varieties. A handsome town-hall, with public library, was opened in 1876. St Helens was made a mun. bor in 1868, and a parl. bor. in 1885; it returns 1 member to Parliament.
St Helens through time
A Vision of Britain through Time includes a large library of local statistics for administrative units. For the best overall sense of how the area containing St Helens has changed, please see our redistricted information for the modern district of St Helens. More detailed statistical data are available under Units and statistics, which includes both administrative units covering St Helens and units named after it.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of St Helens in Lancashire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/244
Date accessed: 24th May 2013
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