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The Maritime Archives and Library houses a fine collection of maritime books and documents spanning three centuries. The Library is on the second floor of the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Albert Dock, Liverpool. The Maritime Reference Library contains printed books, pamphlets and periodicals including Lloyd's List from 1741, Lloyd's Register of Shipping from 1764, Lloyd's Captains' Registers, 1874-1887, and the national set of Customs Bills of Entry for Britain and Ireland, 1820-1939. Please note it does NOT hold official lists of passengers or emigrants or official records of seamen, but can advise on the location of records elsewhere.
Further information
The Maritime Archives collection relates to the port of Liverpool in its widest sense and includes:
- Mersey Docks & Harbour Company
- Liverpool Registers of Merchant Ships
- Shipping company records, including Alexandra Towing, Bibby, Brocklebank, Ellerman, Hall, John Holt, Lamport & Holt, Ocean (Blue Funnel, Elder Dempster, China Mutual SS Co., Glen Line), Pacific Steamship Navigation Company.
- Slavery records
- Seaman's charity and educational records
- Examples of career and personal papers of seamen and passengers
- Shipping and trade associations
- Merchants and family records
- Photographic collections
- Ship plan collection, maps and charts
- Research collections including Liverpool Nautical Research Society, Docklands History Survey, emigration records held in the UK and elsewhere.
For more information about the collections at the Maritime Archives, go to www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archive.