Arnaud lived at number 13 until 1862, and held a very influential post as customs collector at the docks, quite co-incidentally becoming very rich at the same time. It would no doubt have been very convenient for the major shipping families and West Indies merchants living in the Square to have the chief customs officer as a neighbour. In a totally legitimate way of course.
I thought I'd give you a treat today as there may be no blog entry tomorrow. The last house built on the South Side of the Square ( number 13) was built by and for Elias Arnaud in 1837. Above, with thanks to the Liverpool Record Office, is the land lease renewal showing some of the restrictions in place for the building of the residence.
Arnaud lived at number 13 until 1862, and held a very influential post as customs collector at the docks, quite co-incidentally becoming very rich at the same time. It would no doubt have been very convenient for the major shipping families and West Indies merchants living in the Square to have the chief customs officer as a neighbour. In a totally legitimate way of course.
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Those fed up of number 19 Abercromby Square will no doubt be pleased to know I now have some contemporary records for number 6, and also for 90 Chatham Street ( which is the corner house next to number 14, with the door facing Chatham Street).
The former was at one time the home of Sir Edward Russell, proprieter of the Daily Post and Echo, and also of Robert MacFie, sugar refiner and owner of the company latterly to create part of Tate and Lyle. The latter is the former residence of one of the George Mellys and also another branch of the Gladstone family. Another conundrum. Went to the PRO last week and found a great early reference to the clubhouse of the 'Southern Club' being built in 1862, in the premises of the latter Bishop's Palace. As number 19 wasn't built until summer 1863 this brings up five options:
1) The date on the source material is wrong. Possible but it draws from a chronological list of contemporary constructions, and in the absence of these papers and veracity of other parts of the journal I am drawn to trust the dating. If it is in number 19, then the 'Billiard Room' would seem the most obvious location. 2) The reference to the latter Bishop's Palace is a mistake. Possible given the assumption that Prioleau would have been involved. Was it even in the square, or at Prioleau's other residence in Allerton Hall? 3) The 'clubhouse' was in either 18a or 20 Abercromby square. Need to investigate the occupants (Harrison and McVicar), and also where a 'clubhouse' might realistically have been located in the houses. 4) A house, or maybe just a clubhouse, temporarily existed where no 19 is now for a year or so. It isn't impossible, and there has been anecdotal reference to a structure there being knocked down from Tom Sebrell ( American academic) but there is no record of it, and the plans drawn up by Culshaw's, including the levelling of the ground and the leashold layout, suggest not. It would however, make more sense than a 'clubhouse' being within someone's home perhaps. Intriguing possibility. 5) Something I haven't thought of yet. Nest stage is going to be to try and locate membership and minute records ( if they exist) of the 'Southern Club' in this period. And try and locate more business records of the architect. One thing I hate on researching a book is having to rely on the damn truth. I had a lovely little section on the mahogany doors in the foyer of number 19, using historical records, discoveries from recent renovations over their creation and location ( verified by the carpenters that undertook them), and it fitted in a wonderful neat way to the use of the doors for servants delivering food.
The World is not a neat place. Last week I discovered that while the doors are original, they aren't originally from that location but from elsewhere in the Square. And their construction isn't what I thought it was. Thanks to Pete, who'd previously worked on the doors in the eighties, for saving me making a mistake. Back to the drawing board. Lesson learned. If anything seems to fit too perfectly, it needs more rather than less scrutiny. Finally got my copy of Liverpolitana and read it. I've been tracking it for ages as a lot of people writing post 1971 have quoted it but unfortunately found it a mixed blessing. One of the prime drivers for what I'm writing and researching is to debunk the many myths and anecdotal stories, so to go to primary sources wherever possible. While the book is a very interesting read, and has provided a couple of extra pieces of information to follow up, I'm needing a rock of salt with it. First I came across several quoted dates being wrong, and bits of information which originated here and have been re-used in subsequent publications. The dangers of second hand source material. Secondly, it is a book for a particular local market, so a distinctly sledgehammer bias that all things Liverpool are wonderful, and Liverpool originated everything from sliced bread to Christianity. Slight exaggeration, but not huge. My aim is to try and go for fact and reality over hype, more of which tomorrow... The fourth side of the square, Bedford Street, doesn't have a definite recorded origin that I can find, but given the naming convention and dates, my money is on Francis Russell, the 5th Duke of Bedford, who died in 1802, just before the road was named.
Bedford was responsible for developing much of Bloomsbury in London, including Russell Square, and these London centres were the inspiration for the layout of Abercromby Sq. |
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