Bid to wipe Penny Lane off the map
9th July 2006
Penny Lane in Liverpool was made world famous by a Beatles song.
Penny Lane - the street made famous by the Beatles' song - faced being wiped from the map because of its associations with the slave trade.
Councillors in Liverpool are considering plans to rename all streets named after people linked to slavery.
However, the city's leaders were unaware that this would mean losing one of its most famous and most photographed streets.
Penny Lane is thought to have been named after 18th century slave ship owner James Penny, who made his fortune in the industry.
The slave trader was presented with a silver table in 1792 for speaking out against the abolition of slavery to a parliamentary committee.
The plan to re-name the city's "slavery" streets has been put forward by local councillor Barbara Mace.
One of the suggestions includes renaming one of the streets in honour of black teenager Anthony Walker, who was murdered in a racist attack in Liverpool last year.
Originally, Cllr Mace called for "all streets, squares and public places named after those who were involved in promoting or profiteering from the slave trade" to be renamed.
But the councillor today distanced herself from the original proposals, which could have seen Penny Lane scrapped.
She said: "I wasn't aware that Penny Lane was named after someone involved in the slave trade. "However, I am not suggesting that all streets in the city associated with slavery should be renamed.
"If that was the case I think most of the city would be affected.
"My proposal is to rename several of the streets in the city centre which are named after the more notorious slave traders and replace them with the names of people who have done something positive."
The proposal will be considered by the city council at a meeting on Wednesday evening.
Liverpool was a major slaving port dominating the transatlantic slave trade in the second half of the 18th century.
The town and its inhabitants derived great wealth from the trade.
Eric Lynch, an expert on Liverpool's slave trade, said: "Penny Lane is thought to have been named after James Penny, one of the slave ship owners.
"People may be surprised but I completely disagree with the idea that any street names should be changed.
"If you change the names then it is like it never happened, there is no proof and people will forget.
"You cannot and should not change history, however disagreeable it is."
dailymail.co.uk
9th July 2006
Penny Lane in Liverpool was made world famous by a Beatles song.
Penny Lane - the street made famous by the Beatles' song - faced being wiped from the map because of its associations with the slave trade.
Councillors in Liverpool are considering plans to rename all streets named after people linked to slavery.
However, the city's leaders were unaware that this would mean losing one of its most famous and most photographed streets.
Penny Lane is thought to have been named after 18th century slave ship owner James Penny, who made his fortune in the industry.
The slave trader was presented with a silver table in 1792 for speaking out against the abolition of slavery to a parliamentary committee.
The plan to re-name the city's "slavery" streets has been put forward by local councillor Barbara Mace.
One of the suggestions includes renaming one of the streets in honour of black teenager Anthony Walker, who was murdered in a racist attack in Liverpool last year.
Originally, Cllr Mace called for "all streets, squares and public places named after those who were involved in promoting or profiteering from the slave trade" to be renamed.
But the councillor today distanced herself from the original proposals, which could have seen Penny Lane scrapped.
She said: "I wasn't aware that Penny Lane was named after someone involved in the slave trade. "However, I am not suggesting that all streets in the city associated with slavery should be renamed.
"If that was the case I think most of the city would be affected.
"My proposal is to rename several of the streets in the city centre which are named after the more notorious slave traders and replace them with the names of people who have done something positive."
The proposal will be considered by the city council at a meeting on Wednesday evening.
Liverpool was a major slaving port dominating the transatlantic slave trade in the second half of the 18th century.
The town and its inhabitants derived great wealth from the trade.
Eric Lynch, an expert on Liverpool's slave trade, said: "Penny Lane is thought to have been named after James Penny, one of the slave ship owners.
"People may be surprised but I completely disagree with the idea that any street names should be changed.
"If you change the names then it is like it never happened, there is no proof and people will forget.
"You cannot and should not change history, however disagreeable it is."
dailymail.co.uk