In January 1816, it was announced in the Liverpool Mercury that 'two large gas lamps, with three burners in each, have been lighted with gas, and exhibited for the last few nights in front of the Town Hall. The light is so brilliant that a person may with ease discover the hour by his watch at the distance of twenty or thirty yards. We understand that it is intended to light the dock lamps by this method, and we trust it will soon become general'.