Liverpool Salvage Corps was a service in Liverpool, England, founded and maintained by fire insurers, whose aim was to reduce the loss and damage caused by fires, to help mitigate the effects of fire and of fire-fighting and to salvage both premises and goods affected by fire. It was founded in 1842 and operated until April 1984, when its functions were transferred to the Merseyside Fire Brigade. Similar salvage corps also operated in London and Glasgow. Origin The industrial and commercial revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries saw a considerable rise in the prosperity of the port of Liverpool. Warehouses, sheds and storage yards were being hurriedly built and filled with goods that came into the port from all over the world. Tobacco, sugar and cotton were arriving daily and with no regulation and poor warehousing practices fire began to become an ever-increasing problem. Liverpool had already lost its town hall in 1795 to a serious fire and following an exceptionally large blaze at Lancelot Hey in 1833, in which numerous warehouses and homes were destroyed, a private parliamentary bill was successfully enacted to establish a Fire Brigade in Liverpool. This brigade was to be part of the Liverpool City Police Force and became operational in 1836 (London took another 24 years before it had the "London Fire Engine Establishment" - an insurance organisation). Even though the City now had an efficient Fire Brigade fire losses continued at a high level. In the early hours of Friday 23 September 1842 a fire started in a "dry salters yard" in Crompton Street in the heart of Liverpool's Dockland. A strong wind blowing from the sea fanned the flames towards the next property - an oil and varnish mill. The newly formed fire brigade stood no chance of halting the fire once it reached the 1000 barrels of turpentine, and by dawn 9 bonded warehouses, 5 free warehouses, 7 large storage sheds, a cooperage, several timber yards, and numerous stables and 16 cottages were completely destroyed. 1 fireman and 3 labourers lost their lives. The bulk of the financial loss had to be born by the fire insurance companies and at today’s prices ran into many millions of pounds. Within days of the fire a Committee, comprising the Secretary of the Liverpool Fire Office and the agents of the Royal, Phoenix, Sun and North British insurance companies met and