Recollections of a Busy Life: Being the Reminiscences of a Liverpool Merchant 1840-1910. Forwood William Bower

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СКАЧАТЬ in the railway charges levied upon Liverpool traffic. He was for twenty-two years a member of the Mersey Dock Board, and chairman of the Traffic Committee. After he retired from business he became a magistrate for the county of Cheshire, and greatly interested himself in the restoration of Chester cathedral.

      He died at his London house, in Regent's Park, December 18th, 1884, and was buried at Thornton Hough, Cheshire. My mother was a daughter of William Bower, the founder of the firm of William Bower and Sons, cotton brokers. My grandmother, Mrs. Bower, was left a widow when quite young, but must have been a woman of much ability, for during the minority of her eldest son, for several years she carried on the business, going down to the office every day. In this she was actively assisted by the late Mr. Geo. Holt, the founder of the firm of Geo. Holt and Co., with the result that when her son came of age the business was one of the largest and most prosperous on the Cotton Exchange. I often heard her speak with gratitude of the noble self-sacrifice of Mr. Holt during all these years.

      My father's house at Edge Hill overlooked the grounds of Mount Vernon Hall and the gardens of the vicarage; to the east were open fields, with a few large villas dotted about. Fashionable Liverpool still dwelt in the large Georgian houses fringing Everton Hill, which looked down upon one of the loveliest views imaginable. In the foreground were the trees and woods which ran along what is now Netherfield Road; beyond these the river flowed; in the distance the Wirral peninsula stretched out, backed by the Welsh hills. But the town of Liverpool was pushing its way up to Everton, and San Domingo Road was ceasing to be fashionable; while Aigburth, Prince's Park, and Edge Lane were rapidly becoming the most popular suburbs of the fast-rising seaport.

      Soon after I was born my father removed to Marsh Lane, Bootle, and there were few more charming spots at that time. I remember the grand trees which encircled Bootle Hall and overarched Marsh Lane; here dwelt in sylvan retreats the Mathers, the Birches, and the Tyrers. The trees extended down to the sea-shore, where Miller's Castle stood sentinel – a modern building remarkable for its keep and battlemented walls. About half a mile nearer Liverpool there was a row of large houses, known as Fort Terrace; here one of my uncles lived. The garden ran down to the sea-shore, and we as boys passed out of the garden to bathe. The Canada dock is built on the site of Fort Terrace.

      My father removed again, further out, to Seaforth, to a large house on the Crosby Road, facing an open space known as "Potter's Field," which was bounded on the further side by the shore. I was sent to school at Mrs. Carter's, a celebrated dame's school, where many young Liverpool boys were educated. Mr. Arthur Earle was one of my classmates. Seaforth was a very prettily wooded village, fine elm trees margining the highway right up to the canal at Litherland. The village at that time contained two other important schools, Miss Davenport's and the Rev. Mr. Rawson's. Mr. Rawson was Vicar of the Parish. Mr. Gladstone, Lord Cross, and Dean Stanley were educated at Mr. Rawson's. Mr. Rawson was very fond of telling the story of Mr. Gladstone, when a boy, spending his holiday afternoons lying before the fire reading Virgil; even in those days he had formed great expectations of his pupil's future career. Seaforth vicarage stood between the church and the railway, and was surrounded by large gardens. Litherland was also a charming rural village, containing many grand old elm trees, and several large houses. Waterloo was a rising seaside place, very fashionable in the summer; here Liverpool merchants occupied cottages, for in those times a cottage at the seaside was the usual method of spending the summer: fishings in Norway, moors in Scotland, and tours all over the world not then being in vogue.

      Our home at Seaforth commanded a very beautiful marine view. I remember seeing the "Great Britain" sail, and the same night she was stranded on the coast of Ireland. For years the "Great Britain" was regarded as one of the wonders of the world. She was considered to be such a leviathan that people said she would never pay, and I believe she never did; her tonnage was under 4,000 tons. She remained the largest ship afloat for many years. The "Great Britain" went ashore in Dundrum Bay on the 22nd September, 1846, and was refloated and towed to Liverpool, August 25th, 1847. She remained for some time in the North Atlantic trade, was afterwards engaged in the Australian trade, and subsequently was converted into a four-masted sailing ship. Her final use was as a coal hulk at the Falkland Islands.

      I also saw the Glasgow steamer "Orion" sail on her fatal voyage. She was stranded on the Mull of Galloway, and many lives were lost; this was in 1850.

      Very frequently after the prevalence of easterly winds, the entire channel between the Rock Light and the Crosby Lightship was crowded with ships, large and small, working their way out to sea – a lovely sight. I have frequently counted over 300 sail in sight at one time.

      On the Bootle shore, somewhere about where the Hornby dock is situated, there stood two high landmarks – very conspicuous objects marking the fairway through the Rock Channel, then very much used; they linger in my memory, associated with many pleasant donkey rides around them. Bootle church in those days had two towers, and the old church was quite as ugly as the one now existing. The Dock Committee built the sea wall of the Canada dock some time before the docks were constructed. I remember about the year 1848 seeing seven ships wrecked against this sea wall; they had dragged their anchors and were driven ashore by a north-west gale. Wrecks on the Bootle and Seaforth shores were quite common occurrences. The farmers in the district fenced their fields with timber from ships stranded on the shore, and the villagers were not above pilfering their cargoes. The barque "Dickey Sam" with a cargo of tobacco from Virginia was stranded on the Seaforth sands in 1848, and an onslaught was made on her cargo by the villagers; and to protect it, my father organised a body of young men to stand guard over it – not an easy matter, as the hogsheads of tobacco were strewn along the beach for several miles. His efforts were rewarded by the underwriters presenting to him a silver salver with an appropriate inscription.

      Access to Seaforth and Waterloo from Liverpool was afforded by a four-horse 'bus, which ran in the morning and evening; express boats also sailed along the canal in summer, starting from the bridge at Litherland. It was a pretty walk through the fields to Litherland, and a charming sail along the canal to the wharf in Great Howard Street.

      Riding on horseback on the sea-shore was a very favourite pastime. Many business men rode into town, keeping to the shore as far as Sandhills Station.

      On the road to Liverpool, and midway between Bootle and Liverpool, surrounded by fields, were the ruined walls of Bank Hall, which for 500 years had been the residence of the Moores, one of the most celebrated Liverpool families; they were large owners of property, and for that long period were closely identified with the public life of the little town.

      The Hall had been pulled down and the materials used for the erection of the large stone farm buildings and an important farm-house. In my boyhood days the barns and farm-house still remained, and also the ancient garden wall, flanked with high stone gate-posts and surmounted by large carved stone urns, such as were common in the early Georgian period. A deep and wide ditch ran along the front of the wall, which was part of the old moat. The Ashcrofts were the tenants of the farm, and I can remember making hay in a field which would be about the site of the present Bankhall railway station. Further along again, in Great Howard Street, stood the jail, commonly called the French prison, many French prisoners of war having been confined there during the Peninsular war.

      Near Sandhills Station there stood a large house, surrounded by trees, the residence of John Shaw Leigh, one of the founders of the present Liverpool. I remember being taken to see the icehouse in the grounds, which formed a sort of cave. Walton was a very pretty village, and remained so until a comparatively recent date; its lanes were shaded by stately trees, amid which there nestled the charming old thatched cottages which formed the village. The church, the mother church of Liverpool, was a landmark for miles, and amid its rustic and rural surroundings was picturesque and romantic. Near at hand were Skirving's nursery gardens, quite celebrated in their time.

      The southern end of the town preserved its suburban aspect for a much longer period. Aigburth Road and its great elm trees remained untouched by the builder of cottages until quite recent times. Prince's Road was made in 1843, and was margined СКАЧАТЬ