WOOLTON TOWER Owners and Occupiers (continued):

In 1853 Matthew Armour is shown in the Directory as staying with Miss Sarah Ann Holland at 'The Grange' (Gateacre Grange) L.W. where she was conducting a girls boarding school. In 1856 his address is Woolton Mount and in 1858 he is living at Woolton Tower, Armour was a cotton broker and we see from the 1861 census that he was 33, born in Scotland; his wife Louisa 32 had been born in Liverpool. They had 5 children under 8 years of age all born in Liverpool and a brother-in-law Alfred Higgins 37, an iron merchant born in Cheshire, was with them on census night. They had 4 servants - cook, 2 nurses and a housemaid (none local). By 1871 Matthew was a widower, he now had 7 children (& 2 had died), his mother Janet Armour 68 was living with him and they had 3 servants.

In 1867 the R.V. was £150, it went up to £180 in 1869 and in 1876 rose to £252 3s 0d - perhaps the ballroom addition as his children grew up and his eldest son reached 21?

In 1881 the house was 'for sale or to let' and in the 1886 Directory we see that Mr Armour was living in Southport.

The owner for the next 23 years was William Cooper, a solicitor (Peacock, Cooper, Gregory & Bausfield), he was Registrar of the County Court and an Hon. Lt. Col. in the Liverpool Rifle Volunteers in 1886. In the 1881 census he was 40 born in Liverpool, living in Aigburth Hall Road with his wife Mary 29 born in Cheetham, 3 children all born in Liverpool and 3 servants. We have mentioned earlier the problems of drainage and a letter has survived dated 24.9.1894 from Mr Cooper to the Clerk of the L.W.L.B. (James Thornely, living at Baycliff) complaining about the stench arising when Mr Graves of Holme Leigh had his cesspool pumped out 3 times a week into a cart standing in the road. From 1905-1908 the house was empty but in that year Robert Carey Chapple Gill, cotton broker, became the owner occupier. He was the son of Mr & Mrs Chapple Gill of Lower Lee, Beaconsfield Road & brother of Mrs Herbert Savile (see Longworth). Mr Chapple Gill remained until c.1919 and then sold the house to Herbert Bright, cotton broker (Bright & Sons) started in 1862 by his father Alfred Bright and his two sons Alfred & Herbert. The family were related to John Bright (1811-1889) the statesman & orator. In 1933, perhaps after Mr Bright had died?, Woolton Tower was sold by Alfred Bright to Phyllis Marjorie Morland.

continued . . .