Joseph Livesey: the Walton weaver
Joseph Livesey, social reformer and temperance advocate, was born at a house on Walton Cop in March 1794. In his memoirs he left a graphic description of village life during his childhood. Both of his grandfathers were small farmers, Joseph Livesey living in Toad House Lane (subsequently Todd Lane), and William Ainsworth at Watering Pool near Tardy Gate. His father, John Livesey, was a rising manufacturer, and a friend of William Bashall of Walton Factory.
 The
row of weavers' step houses where the family lived survives, and Livesey resided
in at least three of them before his marriage and move to Preston in 1816. John
Livesey had a warehouse and warping mill in the village, and put work out to
the local weavers. The raising of Walton Cop has obscured the lower stories
of the stephouses - the workshops - but occasionally the lintel of a submerged
cellar window can be seen above the footpath. The backs of these houses clearly
show them to be of three storeys. The similar building by the newsagent's at
Walton corner (at the time of writing a chip shop) may be one of the warehouses
listed in the Hoghton estate accounts.
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