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Halewood Local History Pages The Buildings of Halewood
Halewood Farm is one with a most unusual history, from its post-medieval origins to its development on the back of wealth amassed through significant participation in the slave trade, then through to modern times, where it has a link to that famous day at a Woolton village fete, where two aspiring musicians met for the first time. In the eighteenth century, Halewood Farm site was a small farm, a Georgian brick-built design similar to other farms in the surrounding area. In medieval times it is likely to have been part of the heavily wooded area favoured by the Earls of Derby for their hunting exploits, before its clearance and enclosure for farming purposes. The Estate Map of the Earl of Derby surveyed in 1783 (produced as part of the land and farming improvements being introduced during the Agricultural Revolution) shows a couple of small buildings, although it is difficult to judge the size from the map. However, the main development of the farm, which saw some of its practices being lauded in national publications, with a reputation spreading far and wide, was undoubtedly tainted with its advancement coming on the back of profits made from the slave trade and colonial plantations. For more insight into this we must look to William Neilson and also his son Robert, who came to the farm in the mid-eighteenth century.
Earl of Derby estate map (extract) 1783
Enclosure Map 1805
William Neilson, originally of Newbie in Dumfriesshire, owned plantation estates in Dominica and Demerara and operated as a slave trader out of Liverpool with his partner William Heathcote. Heathcote (1758-1811) was born in Blackwell, Derbyshire, purchasing Stancliffe Hall in Derbyshire for £10,500 in 1799. At some point he also acquired property in Demerara, where he died in 1811 after many years living in seclusion on his sugar plantation Perseverance. Thomas Staunton St Clair described in detail a visit to the plantation in 1806, in his A Residence in the West Indies. His obituary, published in the Demerara & Essequebo Gazette, reads:Died on Sunday evening at his house in Town, aged 52, WILLIAM HEATHCOTE, Esq.In his will he left money to Joanna Hopkinson, 'a free coloured woman', and provided manumission for a number of his enslaved workers. 
Manumission, Vermont 1777
Colonial Map of Guyana 1 October 1798, showing plantation estates
Colonial Map of Guyana 1840
Aigburth Old Hall, St Michael's 1885
Aigburth Old Hall, St Michael's - shown on the Tithe Award Map of 1845
An excellent discussion of the Old Hall and its owners can be found here; Huntly, Glen, Robert Griffiths’ Toxteth Park: The mystery of the Old Hall and the slave owners of Aigburth Road, The Priory and the Cast Iron Shore (History blog pages)
William Neilson, bankrupt
William Neilson
The death of William Neilson announced in the Lancaster Gazette, 3 January 1818
William Neilson, burial, St Michael's in the Hamlet 1817
Robert, born on 9 April 1801, was the son of William Neilson and Fanny Backhouse. In his early twenties, he was despatched to Demerara, where he was an aide-de-camp to the governor, with the rank of colonel. There can be little doubt he also managed the affairs and investments of his deceased father. Dividends were still being paid out in Liverpool on profits from the Demerara estate into the 1840s. He also worked for Ewart, Myers & Company, a Liverpool-based bank, which handled imports and sales of good such as cotton, wood, hides, ginger, and indigo from the West Indies and South America. William Myres lived in Aigburth and was no doubt acquainted with William Neilson, while William Ewart was a close friend of John Gladstone, who also had extensive slave plantations in Demerara. He later asked Ewart to be godfather to his son William Ewart Gladstone, the future Prime Minister. As moves towards emancipation grew in the 1830s, William Gladstone defended his father’s use of slaves on their plantations in his maiden speech to Parliament.There is no question therefore, that Robert Neilson was immersed in the trade and operation of plantations in Demerara, and most significantly benefitted both socially and economically from the proceeds. There are further links and evidence of Neilson's dealings in Demerara. Robert Neilson's eldest son, Robert Aston d'Urban Neilson born in 1855, was possibly named after Sir Benjamin D'Urban the first Governor of British Guiana 1831-33 whom he would have been acquainted with and probably worked under. 'Robert Neilson of Liverpool' was also identified as one of the executors of John Croal of British Guiana in 1853. (5)
The London Gazette, 12 Aug 1853, Page 2236 The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. IV c. 73) was an Act of Parliament which provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in most parts of the British Empire. Compensation was to be paid out to plantation owners for emancipated slaves, and lists were drawn up to prepare claims. The claim for Robert Neilson stated, In 1829, Haags Bosch estate had 240 enslaved persons and the Perseverance estate had 147 enslaved persons, giving a total for Robert Neilson of 415 enslaved persons. Subsequent sales of 245 enslaved persons and deaths of 24 enslaved persons gives a new total of 146 listed in the claims. When Robert Neilson returned to Liverpool in the 1830s and decided to put his estate farming knowledge to practice in Halewood, he was doing so with the wealth generated from his slave plantations in Demerara. Furthermore, he continued to maintain his investments there while living in Halewood.
The precise movements of Robert Neilson during this early phase in his life are vague, but by the end of the 1830s, he had taken a lease on Halewood Farm facing Halewood Green (on Gerrard’s Lane at the junction of Church Road). The farm, and land amounting to 60 acres, were rented from the Earl of Derby, his friend and colleague from the local judiciary, where both served on the bench as Justices of the Peace. Into the 1840s, Neilson intensified the development of his farm holding. Timber was cleared from a number of small fields, fences were taken down to convert three fields into ten, drainage was improved, wastes were cleared and taken into cultivation, and the workforce increased to the largest in the area. He took out further leases to extend his landholding, while also ensuring they were connected in block holdings, rather than being dispersed over a wide area. On 17 February 1841, he was elected as a member of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, which would raise his growing profile still further.
Tithe Apportionment (extract) 1840
Halewood Tithe map (extract) 1840
1841 census
1846 O.S. Map of Halewood Farm
By 1845, Neilson's new methods at Halewood Farm had come to the notice of the Liverpool Agricultural Society, where he regularly exhibited his machinery and methods at their shows. He was awarded the Silver Prize Medal for 'exhibiting Croskill's Clod Crusher and other implements.'
William Crosskill's improved patent self-cleaning clod-crusher and roller (1840-41).
However, in his eagerness to increase production, he found the farm was unable to produce enough of its own manure to return adequate nutrients to the land. Consequently, he imported waste products from the markets of Liverpool, including carrion, fish, offal, and other products, which stood putrefying in heaps on his land, the largest near the junction of Lydiate Lane and the 'New Road to Mr Wright's farm' [this was Macket's Lane, the ancient 'Portal' pathway which passed Wright's fields of New Hutte Farm on its route to the Mersey shore]. The smell was horrendous according to his neighbours, and also attracted flies which plagued the locality.Despite complaints, Neilson simply moved the heaps to the centre of his fields and carried on with his methods regardless. By February 1848 his neighbours 'of this most respectable locality' had had enough, and he was in court defending his actions, with the case being reported nationally. 
London Express, 7 February 1848
Two years later, Neilson's farm was in the press again, but for more positive reasons. In fact, the research material suggests it originated during the collection of evidence for the hearings of 1848. The detail is thorough and gives a great insight into the workings of his farm and the forward thinking, that within just a few short years was seeing his methods increasingly discussed in broad circles.
Liverpool Albion, 5 January 1852
1850 - marriage - Robert Neilson and Mary Elizabeth Moss On 24 September 1850, Robert married Mary Elizabeth Moss at St Anne's Church in Aigburth. Mary was the daughter of Henry Moss of the well-known Liverpool family of bankers and plantation slave owners. His half-brother was James Moss of Otterspool House, pioneering chairman of the Liverpool to Manchester Railway, who also built St Anne's, the church where his neice Mary was married. 
1851 census
Neilson's life on the bench was put on hold in 1852 and his farm left in the hands of his farm manager, when he found it necessary to return to Demerara. More significantly, his wife was seven months pregnant with their first child, Fanny Charlotte Neilson (born 11 March 1852). The reason for his journey are unknown, but it certainly confirms that Neilson still had ownership or investments in estate in the plantations.
The Moss Family Tree (brief extract) Robert's father-in-law Henry Moss, who had died in 1848 just before his daughter's marriage had joined the banking firm of Moss, Dale, Rogers & Moss in September 1811. With his brothers John and James he had inherited Anna Regina plantation from his uncle James Moss, who was in the process of moving 1000 slaves from his plantation on Crooked Island in the Bahamas when he died in October 1820. John and Henry Moss bought Anna Regina for £710,000 (and the Lancaster cotton estate) in cash and a balance of £740,000 to be paid in crops to utilise the enslaved as a condition of the license to move them from the Bahamas.(7)(8) Moss held extensive plantation estates in British Guiana (mainly in Demerara) with his brother John Moss, and they were compensated by the British Government on 18 Jan 1836 to the tune of £740,353 18s 3d to emancipate their 805 slaves.(9) In his will, which had been drawn up in the mid-1830s, he instructed that his 'share and proportion of the plantation[s?] in British Guiana, held jointly with my brothers and in the services of the apprenticed negroes thereon or which [sic] belonged to us,' be placed in trust to his wife Hannah, brother John Moss, and son Peter Cottingham Moss.(10)Peter had also died in 1848. Neilson may have been heading to Demarara to not just deal with his own investments, but to administer the affairs of his in-laws. Whatever the reason for his trip, it would prove to be the most traumatic experience of his life.
Despite the trading interests that Liverpool had in the West Indies and South America, Neilson found himself having to travel to the port of Southampton to join the RMS Amazon, commanded by a Captain Symonds, on her maiden voyage to the West Indies on 2 January 1852. RMS Amazon was a wooden three-masted paddle steamer and Royal Mail Ship. She was the first of five sister ships (Demerara, Magdalena, Orinoco & Paraná) commissioned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company to serve RMSP's routes between Southampton and the Caribbean.
Within hours of his departure, the Liverpool press began to receive news of a disaster concerning the Amazon. They were then in receipt of a communication from Robert Neilson who confirmed the dreadful news:— I have to report the total loss of the West Indian Mail steam packet Amazon on Saturday night, the 3rd inst., off the Bay of Biscay. At 12.40 the fire broke out. In less than 10 minutes it was bursting up the fore and main hatchways. Out of 156 people on board only 21 are, I believe, saved, for I was on the last boat that left the ship, and one of the two last men who got in after lowering her, by springing from the ship's side and sliding down the tackle fall. The fire caught the other and burnt the hair off his face before he sprang off. We were picked up the next day by the brig Marsden, Captain Evans, who treated us with the greatest kindness and attention, and landed us about 1am this morning. We were received at the Globe by Mr Padmore with the greatest kindness.As further details began to emerge, the national press soon reported at much greater length on the destruction of what was fleetingly the biggest steamship of her day, plus the tragic loss of life. Fatalities that night which have varied between 105 and 115, included the popular travel writer and novelist Elliot Warburton, and the French novelist Gabriel Ferry. A national appeal, which was given great support by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, raised money for widows, orphans and survivors. However, the enquiry into the ship's loss failed to establish a cause of the fire. It was suggested that the fire started in the engine room as the engine bearings were repeatedly overheating. However, such overheating might also be expected to cause the engines to seize, whereas they continued to run as the fire spread.(11) Whatever the cause of the fire, the Admiralty reconsidered its insistence on wooden hulls for mail ships. The next ship that RMSP ordered, RMS Atrato, was built with an iron hull.(11) The mystery vessel which failed to assist the stricken Amazon for whatever reason, was later identified as the barque Deodata of Drammen, Norway. Dogged by criticism (the kind of which would be witnessed on a much greater scale towards the Californian in relation to the Titanic), prompted the captain to respond; 
from The Lost Steamer: A History of the Amazon, Partridge and Oakey, 1852
The authenticity of the news of the Amazon was doubted by many. It soon became known on the ‘Change that Mr Robert Neilson was one of the passengers on board the ill-fated steamer, and on that gentleman appearing in the Newsroom, crowds of our merchants thronged around him, and congratulated him on his escape. After some degree of order had been restored, Mr Neilson proceeded to narrate the particulars of the disaster of which he had been so recently an eyewitness. The recital caused a most profound sensation, and business for the time was suspended.A disaster of such a scale would today see extensive 24-hour news and social media coverage, with every last aspect of the tragic events given forensic analysis. In 1852, to have a survivor (who was one of their own) walk among them and take time to describe what happened, must have been mind-blowing. Is it any wonder trading was suspended? (Which would certainly have cost significant sums). Whether or not Neilson attempted to travel again to Demerara is unknown, or if he despatched a factor to handle his business dealings on his behalf, but his pressing concern now was the birth of his daughter. Fanny was baptised in St Nicholas Church on 23 Apr 1852, a short walk from their Halewood home, and over the next decade she was joined by siblings Robert Aston (1854), Henry Cottenham (1855), William Frederick (1857), Henriana Minna (1858), Sybil Harriett (1859), Arthur Trevelyan (1861) and Rodolph Blackburne (1862). Robert's wife Mary died just seven years after the birth of Rodolph on 7 September 1869 at 5 Grosvenor Terrace, Toxteth aged only forty-three. 
1861 census
1871 census 
Brief Neilson Family Tree
Neilson began a series of experiments in 1856 and persevered for twenty-five years perfecting the system – ‘at great expense’. Of course, he had a significant advantage over his Halewood farming neighbours in this regard having large resources to draw from, given the source of some of his wealth. Not that his ideas created jobs on his own estate. His introduction of machinery was clearly a method to reduce his workforce, especially as there had been a significant increase in wages from 1860. The farm may have increased to 300 acres in size, employing thirty-five men in 1851, yet within ten years the same acreage was being farmed by twenty-seven men, and by 1871 it was just nineteen. Household servants were also reduced from six living in the house in 1851, to zero by 1871. (12)A study by Alistair Mutch gives further insight,
At Speke, wages paid to casual labourers in 1891 amounted to £85 16s ld (£53 3s 4d for the harvest, £30 12s 9d for potatoes dug by piece work) or 15 per cent of the total wages bill. Considerable savings were offered by the self-binder which 'enables the farmer to get through his work with less work than heretofore, and with comparative independence'.
Self-binding harvester A contemporary view came from the pen of writer Samuel Sidney, in compiling his volume Rides on Railways (1851), which also includes a hint of the nineteenth century origins of Knowsley Safari Park, While on the subject of agricultural improvements, we may mention that Mr. Robert Neilson, another mercantile notability, holds a farm, under Lord Stanley, at a short railroad ride from Liverpool, which we have not yet had an opportunity of examining, but understand that it is a very remarkable instance of good farming, and consequently heavy crops, in a county (Lancashire) where slovenly farming is quite the rule, and well worth a visit from competent judges, whom as we are also informed Mr. Neilson is happy to receive.
Neilson's System of Drying Corn, The Engineer, 30 June 1882, p.468
The Neilson system of drying corn stacks is to be tested at Reading, and the accompanying engraving shows how it has been worked out by Messrs. Thwaites Bros., Vulcan Works, Bradford. 
1897 O.S. Map of Halewood Farm
1904 O.S. Map of Halewood Farm
Robert Neilson - burial, St Nicholas' churchyard
Robert Neilson's eldest daughter, Fanny Charlotte Neilson, married William Samuel Graves (the ship-owning son of Liverpool Mayor (in 1860) and Conservative M.P. Samuel Graves) at St Nicholas, Halewood on 8 September 1883. William Graves was a widower, having married Alice Bibby of the Liverpool shipping family on 30 April 1873. Alice was born on 28 Feb 1845 in Everton, the daughter of John Bibby and Fanny (Hartley) Bibby (the daughter of Jesse Hartley)). Their daughter, Alice Norah, was born in 1875, but Alice Bibby Graves passed away on 2 November 1879 at the age of thirty-four.
In 1899, Alice Norah Graves married Robert Durning Holt, the son of Robert Durning Holt senior, the well-known cotton-broker, local politician and first Lord Mayor of Liverpool. Her step-sister Fanny Marjorie Graves, meanwhile, was destined to make her mark as a writer and politician. Marjorie had a private education, later schooling being carried out at Château de Dieudonne, Bornel, France. Her researches in the Bibliothèque Nationale and Archives Nationales in Paris led to her publications of three works, the most well-known being Memoirs of the Private Life of Marie Antoinette (1917). The Graves family subsequently moved to 'Newells', Horsham, Sussex, where William became a Justice of the Peace, while they also maintained a house in Brompton Square, London. William passed away in Horsham in 1930, and his wife Fanny on January 1938 in her London townhouse at 18 Brompton Square. On the outbreak of war in 1914, daughter Marjorie (taking her middle name and pictured right) took up employment in the Foreign Office. She attended the post-World War I Paris Peace Conference, before transferring to the Intelligence Department of the Home Office. She was politically a Conservative, and was a member of Holborn Borough Council from 1928 to 1934. She became the first female chairman of the Metropolitan Area of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations in 1936. In 1931 she was chosen as Conservative candidate for the parliamentary constituency of Hackney South, held by Labour cabinet minister Herbert Morrison. She succeeded in unseating Morrison to become the area's Member of Parliament. At the next general election in 1935 she was hopeful of retaining the seat, with her campaign centring on opposition to the use of Hackney Marshes for the building of council houses. She was, however, badly beaten, with Morrison returning to parliament with a large majority. In 1936 she formed part of the British Government delegation to the League of Nations. The following year, she was adopted as prospective candidate for Barnstaple, Devon, but the next general election was delayed until 1945 by the Second World War, and she did not contest the seat. Marjorie Graves retired to Wareham, Dorset, where she became a member of the county council. She remained unmarried, and died in Wareham in November 1961. Their Liverpool home at Dowsefield, is long gone, demolished for modern housing, although the lodge (facing Calderstones Park), and former private drive (now Dowsefield Lane), remain.Robert Aston Neilson (1854-1878) Robert Neilson's eldest son, Robert junior, worked with his father on their Halewood estate, but he died at the young age of twenty-four in 1878.
Henry, the second son of Robert and Mary, was born on 1 November 1855 and baptised at St Nicholas, Halewood. He moved into business as a stockbroker, running his own office in Queens Insurance Building, Liverpool. Following his father's death, he continued to live at the farm, until 3 January 1894, when he married Dorothy Wrigley, at St Peter's Formby, the daughter of cotton broker John Wrigley of Brockholme, Formby.
Their first child Mary, was born in 1896, before they moved to Aston Hall in Hawarden, where their son Robert was born on 12 January 1905. By 1911 they had relocated to Plover's Moss in Sandiway near Northwich.
Henry died there on 3 April 1924.
Born on 5 June 1857, William was baptised the following month at St Nicholas, Halewood on 26 July. William also chose a career in finance and went into banking, which became his lifelong career.
Of Robert's three daughters, the first to leave and marry was Henriana Minna Neilson, who married Herbert Antony Graves, the merchant brother of William Graves who married Henriana's sister Fanny Neilson. The wedding took place at St Nicholas, Halewood on 19 July 1882. Such was the importance of the occasion to the local community, an account was made of the day and later featured in the church history,To celebrate the occasion, the 230 children who attended the Halewood day and Sunday schools were treated to a tea. They had games from 2pm in the adjoining field and prizes to any amount and of all description were provided by Mrs Graves. At 4pm they were served with a sumptuous tea in the school room, consisting of bun loaf of excellent quality, bread and butter of the best kind, scones, and cakes in interminable quantities. Sports were resumed until 8pm, when each child was sent off home with a bun and a small bunch of grapes. Immediately afterwards, Mr Chambers presented to the bride a very handsome dining-room clock, and the inscription on which indicated that it was given ‘as a token of affection and esteem, by a few of the inhabitants of Halewood, to whom she (the bride) and her family have endeared themselves by their unvarying courtesy and kindness, shown to all classes during many years.’The newlyweds moved into Summerhill on Woolton Park, the hillside estate being the exclusive habitat of local merchants, shipowners, and the like, while Herbert moved in to working as an agent and broker in stock and shares. The following year their daughter Mary Elizabeth Graves was born on 2 July 1883 and baptised in St Nicholas on 3 August. Their second child, Reginal Anthony, born on 13 September 1886, sadly died in infancy on 30 April 1888, however Mary was followed by her brothers Frederic Neilson Graves on 3 July 1892 and William Herbert Graves on 18 Mar 1895. In 1895, the family moved to 4 Gambier Terrace, Liverpool, where William was born and baptised on 23 April at St Philemon's, Toxteth. Their stay at Gambier Terrace was short however as by 1901 the family had relocated to Grove House, Great Sutton, near Capenhurst in South Wirral [now demolished and the Old Wirral Hundred public house stands on the site. Coincidentally, this author lived in the adjoining road in the 1990s.] By 1911, the family were living at Bryn Polyn in St Asaph, where Herbert Graves died on 31 May 1918. In 1921, Henriana was living alone in Bryn Polyn, but by 1939 her spinster daughter Mary (who never married) had returned to live with her, and were now at Bryn Derwyn in the centre of St Asaph, possibly to care for her in her final years. She was well enough to return to Halewood in 1939 however, where she had been invited to take part in an important anniversary, 'The Centenary celebrations of St Nicholas Church, Halewood, took place in June 1939. The Garden Fete was opened by Mrs Graves. Her descent from the Neilson family made this a very appropriate choice. Robert Neilson had been Churchwarden for 44 years in the nineteenth century, later two of his sons, Mr Cottingham Neilson and Mr R.B. Neilson were also Churchwardens. She had been Minna Neilson before her marriage to Herbert Graves in 1882. Over the years she had maintained an interest in Halewood School, particularly in the girl’s needlework, and for many years she presented a fitted workbox each year to the girl who showed the greatest improvement in her sewing.'Henriana Minna passed away at Bryn Derwyn on 25 July 1943. The family brought her home to Halewood once again, where she was laid to rest with other family members in St Nicholas Churchyard. Mary continued living at Bryn Derwyn, until moving into Plas Coch Nursing Home in St Asaph, where she died on 23 May 1957 aged seventy-three. A few days later, on 28 May, Mary was also interred in St Nicholas. At eighteen, Frederic entered the Merchant Navy as an apprentice (then called the Mercantile Marine), but by 1912 he was registered as a Sub-Lieutenant in the Mersey Division of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. After service in the First World War, he emigrated to Australia, married, and settled in Perth. He served again in WWII, signing on for the Australian forces at Claremont, then worked as a clerk in Perth on his discharge. He died on 30 Sep 1980 aged eighty-eight, and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery, Karrakatta, Nedlands City, Western Australia. His younger brother, William Herbert Graves, also had a career at sea, commencing as a fifteen-year-old cadet in 1910. During service in the First World War, he was appointed Lieutenant on 15 April 1916, then post-war was stationed at the Royal Navy torpedo training establishment Actaeon on Sheerness. Lieutenant Graves married Margaret Lavinia Packman in 1930, their daughter Mary being born in 1935 in Portsmouth. By the time of his retirement on 18 March 1940, he had reached the rank of Commander, but his working life hadn't yet ended, as he trained in the ministry and was publicly ordained in Exeter Cathedral by the Bishop of Exeter on 1 June 1947 as a reverend and licenced as a deacon to the curacy of St Budeaux, Plymouth. He also spent some of his ministerial life living at The Old Rectory, Bratton Clovelly, in Okehampton, West Devon. Commander Reverend Graves passed away at 6 Thicket House, Elm Grove, Southsea on 1 July 1984. His ashes were scattered in Portsmouth Cathedral Churchyard.
Sybil was born on 20 November 1859 in Halewood and baptised on 11 Mar 1860 at St Nicholas. On 5 January 1888 at St Nicholas, she married William Lee Pilkington, (known as Colonel Lee Pilkington) the eldest son of William Pilkington D.L., J.P., of Roby Hall, the well-known glass manufacturer of St Helens. William junior would later become senior partner in the company.
(Right: Colonel Lee Pilkington obituary, Liverpool Daily Post, 9 December 1919) The newlyweds moved into a large property in Blacklow Brow in Roby village, Huyton, before moving to a more substantial property nearby at Edenhurst, Roby in the 1890s (next door to High Carrs - the home of Joseph Royden of Thomas Royden & Sons, Liverpool shipbuiders, and a relative of this author).
By 1911, Lee and Sybil (they had no children) had relocated to the more rural setting of Delamere, where they moved into Norley Bank. Their time was cut short there however, when Colonel Pilkington passed away on 6 December 1919, at the age of sixty-two. They had been married for thirty-one years.
Sometime before 1939, Sybil moved to Foley Lodge (with her household staff of six) in Newbury, Berkshire. Sybil died there
on 7 March 1953 at the age of ninety-three.
Arthur was born on 18 December 1860 and baptised on 24 February 1861 in St Nicholas. As well as helping his father with the farm as a young man, he became a cotton merchant with Molyneux, Taylor & Co with an office in 3 Sun Insurance Buildings, in Chapel Street, Liverpool, eventually becoming a senior partner. Arthur was also a director of the Bank of Liverpool and Martins Ltd. He was also committed to military service and signed on part-time as a volunteer for the Yeomanry Cavalry in the Lancashire Hussars. He was later promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on 24 January 1900. After their siblings moved away from Halewood Farm, just brothers Rodolph, William and Arthur were left to run the farm. However, by the turn of the century this was becoming more difficult, especially for Rodolph, as both Arthur and William had their business commitments. Consequently, by 1907 the tenancy was let go, William moved to the flat in Bedford Street, and Rodolph and Arthur moved to Holmwood, in the quiet Cheshire village of Sandiway near Northwich, taking their long serving housekeeper Elizabeth Fowler with them. It was also close to their sister Sybil in nearby Norley and brother Henry in Plover's Moss. During the First World War, despite aged fifty-three, Arthur volunteered in 1914 and was commissioned as a Lieutenant with the Cheshire Yeomanry, and from 2 March 1916 saw active service in Egypt and the Senussi Campaign in North Africa. He was then posted to Palestine and was attached to the staff at the Battle of Gaza.
On his return home, Arthur never fully recovered from his wartime experiences, and his health gradually deteriorated.
Arthur passed away peacefully on 29 October 1921 at Holmwood in Sandiway and was interred in the family plot in St Nicholas Churchyard.
In his will he left £23,400, worth almost £1.5 million today.
Rodolph was born on 19 August 1862 and baptised on 5 October 1862 in St Nicholas. On the death of Robert Neilson's eldest son Robert, Rodolph's older brother, and the fact that his siblings either married and moved away, or had business interests of their own, the way was clear for Rodolph to carry on with the farm where his father left off. By the time of Rodolph's passing, he too had made his mark in agriculture and had earned a high reputation far and wide. He became a member of the Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society at a very young age and was elected vice-president in 1882, vice-chairman of the Council in 1922 and Chairman in 1928. In 1925 he had conferred upon him the highest honour the Society could bestow - the honorary Life Vice-President Membership. He was by then an authority on agriculture and his services were valued throughout the country.On his move to Sandiway with Arthur, he worked as a Land Agent and was appointed a Justice of the Peace. Despite giving up Halewood Farm, he continued to be very active in agricultural spheres, sitting on committees, organising shows and judging exhibitions. For his distinguished services for over fifty years, at the annual meeting of the Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society in Preston in December 1935 he was presented with a miniature grandfather clock and an engrossed copy, illuminated and contained in a silver frame, of the resolution of the Council expressing deep appreciation of his unique services and outstanding devotion to the Society
Even after he had moved away to Sandiway, he maintained his contact and roles within the village, as the church history reveals, 'In April 1936, the church and parish suffered a severe blow in the passing of Mr Rodolph Blackburne Neilson, whose warm interest had been proved by his generosity. His father was churchwarden for 44 years, being followed by a son, My Cottingham Neilson, and then himself until he gave up Halewood Farm. He remained a School Manager until his death' [Halewood C of E School, adjacent to St Nicholas].
It should not be forgotten that the development of Halewood Farm in the nineteenth century was only possible due to the revenue created not only by investment in the African Trade, but also ownership of plantations and a captive workforce to farm them. This was not simply down to 'sins of the fathers' regarding William Neilson's role, but was one continued and maintained by Robert Neilson of Halewood, who was still committed to travelling to Demerara in the 1850s when the vessel carrying him sank. This wealth made it possible for Neilson to take risks on his farm, regarding the investment in machinery and innovative ideas, bringing him national acclaim. The social standing and opportunity it brought for his children in marriage and career was also clearly evident. A fact that grates somewhat when attending St Nicholas Church even today where there are prominent memorials and stained glass windows to the Neilson family. Neilson Memorials
“...the centre window is dedicated to the memory of the Rev. Thomas Chambers, M.A., formerly rector of this parish, by his friends and parishioners” – “In memory of Robert Neilson, Churchwarden for 44 years, born April 9th, 1801, died May 28th, 1887, dedicated by his family.” …. In the south wall of the apse contains the inscription:- “Sanctus Lucas: in memory of Robert Aston D’Urban Neilson, who died 23rd June, 1878, aged 24” – “Dum lucem habetis credite in luce mut filii lucis sitis. (While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. St John 12:36).
St Nicholas was also the church attended by the family of John Backhouse Neilson, a share broker and the brother of Robert Neilson, although he did not live in Halewood, having lived in Great Crosby until his death. Following his passing the family relocated to Fulwood Park which was their home into the 20th century. John Backhouse Neilson have a family plot in St Nicholas, close to his brother Robert, where several members were laid to rest.
The History of Halewood Farm - Part II
Halewood Farm in the 20th Century
Halewood Farm - barn fire
Rose Mercer, Liverpool Echo, 30 December 1971
Race horses at Halewood Farm, Runcorn Weekly News, 8 August 1947 How successful this venture was is unknown, and further research has failed to produce further information.
The Chadwicks - Mariners and Hauliers
Thomas' father, John Chadwick, was also a ship's captain, born in Cartmel, Grange. After a long career at sea John retired to Halewood, to the Halegate Road cottage. Meanwhile, as his son Thomas' family expanded, they once more sought out a larger property, and moved to a new Edwardian house at The Laurels, 21 Higher Road, in Halewood in 1922.
Captain Thomas Chadwick & his Officers
Possibly on the Leyland Line vessel Indian A news article in the Pensacola Journal covering Captain Chadwick and the visit of his Leyland Line vessel Indian; 
Pensacola Journal, 20 March 1920
Four generations of Chadwicks
Photographed in the back garden at 21 Higher Road, Hunts Cross, Liverpool
Consequently, The Laurels was sold, the widowed Harriet (pictured left) moved with her sister a few hundred yards along Higher Road to 'The Nook' in New Hutt Lane, while Gilbert and Marjorie moved to 'Windyridge' a few doors away in the same lane with their newly born son Douglas. (left) Harriet Chadwick and (right)A youthful Gilbert Arthur Chadwick A few years later, Harriet moved nearby to 3 Wood Road (off Higher Road), where she passed away on 11 March 1949. By 1954, the Chadwicks had moved to Halewood Farm in North End, where they operated three vehicles for road haulage, becoming G.A Chadwick & Son Ltd when Douglas was of age. It was in 1957 that a teenage Douglas Chadwick drove one of their lorries into everlasting fame. The family attended St Peter's Church in Woolton, and on the occasion of the annual fete and Rose Queen, Chadwicks as usual provided a lorry to be used in the float procession around Woolton Village. On 6 July 1957 however, the occasion would prove to be such a memorable occasion, that those events achieved world fame and a memory which has lasted to the present day. One of the local bands playing that day was a group of teenagers known as 'The Quarrymen', largely as they consisted of school friends from the nearby Calderstones high school, Quarry Bank.
The poster for the 1957 village fete Doug recalled some of the events of that day, 'While I was at Halewood, all my friends were in the Woolton area. Woolton was such a different place in 1957. You used to meet up with people from one road or a couple of roads. You were all on your bikes. I was probably the only one that had a vehicle to travel around in - I was obsessed with Land Rovers. In 1957 I was a trainee commercial vehicle fitter at W Watson and Co. We got to know the vicar at St Peter's and they were looking for vehicle transport for the Rose Queen procession. My father operated three local vehicles for road haulage, but I was the one who did things.The band went on stage at about 4.15 p.m. and played for around thirty minutes. A report in the Liverpool Weekly News said the songs were Cumberland Gap, Maggie May and Railroad Bill, and later information has added Rock Island Line, Lost John, Puttin' On The Style and Bring A Little Water, Sylvie. (15) Doug's father Gilbert kept the original Quarrymen sign from the stage, which had been left on the back of the vehicle, but only as it might come in useful as a sign for his lorries. On the reverse he wrote 'vehicle on tow' to use as a plate when a vehicle broke down. Now of course its value is immeasurable and would be well sought after by Beatles memorabilia collectors should it ever come on the market. However, it is now in the USA, but not with with an anonymous collector - it is still in the family. Doug's son, who lives in Peoria south of Chicago, now has it and it's part of his collection of Quarrymen and Beatle memorabilia at his home. It won't be leaving the family. The events of that day in 1957 have been retold over and over in countless books and articles about The Beatles and their origins, many with variations on what took place, but there can be no doubting the role seventeen year old Doug played that day and the fact that Chadwicks of Halewood have a small part in the history of the most famous band in the world. 
The Quarrymen playing on the back of Chadwick's lorry driven by Doug Chadwick along King's Drive, Woolton, during the Rose Queen procession (photo: James Davis (Rod Davis' father)
The Quarrymen playing on the back of Chadwick's lorry driven by Doug Chadwick along King's Drive, Woolton, during the Rose Queen procession (photo: James Davis (Rod Davis' father)
'The entertainment began at two p.m. with the opening procession, which entailed one or two wonderfully festooned lorries crawling at a snail’s pace through the village on their ceremonious way to the Church field. The first lorry carried the Rose Queen, seated on her throne, surrounded by her retinue, all dressed in pink and white satin, sporting long ribbons and hand-made roses in their hair. These girls had been chosen from the Sunday school groups, on the basis of age and good behaviour.
The Quarrymen playing on the stage in St Peter's church field after the procession
Paul McCartney has retold the story of that day more than anybody, but here is his most recent version from 2021; St. Peter’s Church also plays quite a big part in how I come to be talking about many of these memories today. Back in the summer of 1957, Ivan Vaughan (a friend from school) and I went to the Woolton Village Fête at the church together, and he introduced me to his friend John, who was playing there with his band, the Quarry Men. This wasn't the end of the story for Doug and The Quarrymen however, as they reprised the event on the 40th anniversary and again twenty years later in 2017 when the three remaining Quarrymen were able to take part with Doug once more driving the vehicle! (16)
The Quarrymen getting ready to recreate their 1957 performance on the back of Doug Chadwick's lorry
Halewood Farm by the mid 1960s
Halewood Farm by the mid 1960s
Halewood Farm - overlay of map of 1905 over a modern aerial view
Halewood Farm site today
1. Alston, David, Slaves & Highlanders; Highland Scots in Huyana Before Emancipation https://www.spanglefish.com/slavesandhighlanders/index.asp?pageid=360373, (accessed January 2023)
'The following pages are an attempt to supply something amusing, instructive, and suggestive to travellers who, not caring particularly where they go, or how long they stay at any particular place, may wish to know something of the towns and districts through which they pass, on their way to Wales, the Lakes of Cumberland, or the Highlands of Scotland; or to those who, having a brief vacation, may wish to employ it among pleasant rural scenes, and in investigating the manufactures, the mines, and other sources of the commerce and influence of this small island and great country.14. Interview with Doug Chadwick, Mirror Group Newspapers (precise publication and date unknown - will add if supplied) (July 2017) 15. Lewisohn, Mark, All These Years, Volume 1 – Tune In (2013) Ch.6, p.126-132 and When Paul McCartney met John Lennon www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk 16. John and Paul… “It Was Fete” www.cavernclub.com (Thursday, 13 July 2017) Further Reading
ed. Charles Dickens, Household Words, A Weekly Journal conducted by Charles Dickens Vol III (1852) Pope, David, 'The wealth and social aspirations of Liverpool's slave merchants of the second half of the Eighteenth century', in ed. David Richardson, Suzanne Schwarz and Anthony Tibbles Liverpool and Transatlantic Slavery,(Liverpool University Press, 2007), ch. 7. Sekers, David, ed, The Diary of Hannah Lightbody 1786/1770 Brown, R. Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean, (2017) Bryant, Joshua, Account of an insurrection of the negro slaves in the colony of Demerara, which broke out on the 18th of August 1823 , (1824). Abstract of the Report of the Lords Committee on the Condition and Treatment of the Colonial Slaves (1833) Carletta, D. M., 'Demerara revolt', In J. Rodriguez, Encyclopedia of emancipation and abolition in the transatlantic world, Routledge (2007). Costa, Emilia Viotti da, Crowns of Glory, Tears of Blood: The Demerara Slave Rebellion of 1823, (1994) The Lost Steamer: A History of the 'Amazon'. London: Partridge and Oakey., (1852). Sorrow on the Sea: An Account of the Loss of the Steam-ship 'Amazon' by Fire, London: J Mason (1852). The Annual Register, Or, A View of the History and Politics of the Year 1852, London: JG & F Rivington (1853). pp. 462–469. Nicol, Stuart, MacQueen's Legacy; A History of the Royal Mail Line., Vol. One. Brimscombe Port and Charleston, SC. Tempus (2001). pp. 45, 66, 67, 73, 76, 189. Nicol, Stuart, MacQueen's Legacy; Ships of the Royal Mail Line., Vol. Two. Brimscombe Port and Charleston, SC: Tempus (2001). pp. 53, 55, 85. Checkland, S.G., The Gladstones: A Family Biography, 1764–1851, Cambridge University Press (1971). Trust, Graham, John Moss of Otterspool (1782-1858) Railway Pioneer - Slave Owner - Banker (Milton Keynes, AuthorHouse, 2010) Lewisohn, Mark, All These Years, Volume 1 – Tune In (2013)
'Destruction of the Steam Ship Amazon by Fire - Great Loss of Life', The Times. No. 21005, London. (7 January 1852) column F, p.5. 'The Loss of the Amazon', The Times No. 21010, London. (10 January 1852), column B, p.5. University College London Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery - www.ucl.ac.uk Brown, M. Enslaved Africans and an Uprising in Demerara, Guyana, 18-20 August 1823, (blog post),(2017) Atlas of Mutual Heritage Plantations around Berbice-Demerara-Essequibo rivers www.atlasofmutualheritage.nl Liverpool as a Trading Port www.liverpoolmaritime.org Checkland, S. G. 'John Gladstone as Trader and Planter', The Economic History Review, Volume 7, Issue 2: pp.216–229 (1954). ehs.org.uk Munro, S. Alasdair, 'Tramway Companies in Liverpool 1859-1897', Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, Volume 119 (1967), pp.181-212 www.hslc.org.uk The Paul McCartney Project, www.the-paulmccartney-project.com Mutch, Alistair, ‘The Mechanization of the Harvest in South-West Lancashire, 1850-1914’, The Agricultural History Review,, Vol 29 Part II (1981) Huntly, Glen, Robert Griffiths’ Toxteth Park: The mystery of the Old Hall and the slave owners of Aigburth Road, The Priory and the Cast Iron Shore (History blog pages)James Eccles, Centenary of Halewood Parish Church, (1939) www.halewood.org.uk Royden, M.W., Halewood by the Nineteenth Century: The Effects of Enclosure on Nineteenth Century Halewood (1989) www.halewood.org.uk
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The new West India Steamship Amazon was Destroyed by Fire, on Sunday Morning the 4th inst., with a dreadful sacrifice of human life. She sailed on her first voyage from Southampton on Friday the 2nd. At a quarter before one on Sunday morning, when the ship was about 110 miles W.S.W. of Scilly, a fire broke out suddenly, forward on the starboard side, between the steam chest and the under part of the galley, and shortly after the flames rushed up the gangway which is in front of the foremost funnel. The alarm bell was rung, and Captain Symons rushed on deck in his shirt and trousers. Wet swabs and other loose things were placed on the gratings of the spar-deck hatch, and a hose was brought to play on the main deck, but quickly abandoned in consequence of the excessive heat. The deck pump was also kept at work until the men were forced to retire. The wind was blowing half a gale
from south-west, and the vessel was going 8½ knots, which was her average rate from the time of departure.
Capt. Symons ordered some hay, between the engine-
room crank gratings, to be thrown overboard; two
trusses were hove over the ship's side, but the fire soon
igniting the main body, the hencoops on each side, and
the paddle-boxes, the men were obliged to abandon the
deck, and those who could leave were all finally driven
from the ship. Many were burnt in their berths, others
suffocated, and a great number were drowned in the
lowering of the boats.
The following narrative has been given by Mr.
Vincent, midshipman of the Amazon:—
"About 20 minutes to 1 o'clock on Sunday morning, fire was
observed bursting through the hatchway-foreside
of the fore-funnel. Every possible exertion was made
to put out the fire, but all was ineffectual. The mail-
boat was lowered, with twenty or twenty-five persons
in it; but was immediately swamped, and went astern,
the people clinging to one another. They were
all lost. The pinnace was next lowered but she
hung by the fore tackle; and being swamped the
people ware all washed out of her. In lowering the
second cutter, the sea raised her and unhooked the fore-
tackle, so that she fell down perpendicularly; and all
but two of the persons in her were washed out.
Captain Symons was all this time using his utmost exertions to
save his passengers and crew. Sixteen men, including
two passengers, succeeded in lowering the life-boat;
and about the same time I, (Mr. Vincent,) with two
men, the steward and a passenger, got into and lowered
the dingy. In about half an hour the life-boat took the
dingy's people into her, and bore down for the ship with
the dingy in tow; but the sea increasing, and being
nearly swamped, they were obliged to cast the dingy off
and bring the boat-head to sea. The masts went—first
the foremast, and then the mizenmast. About this
time a bark passed astern of the life-boat: we hailed her
with our united twenty-one voices, and thought she
answered us; but she wore and stood under the stern of
the burning vessel, and immediately hauled her wind
and stood away again. The gig, with five hands, was at
this time some little way from us; but the sea was
running so high we could render her no assistance, and
shortly afterwards lost sight of her.
About 4 a.m.
(Sunday) it was raining heavily, and the wind shifted
to the northward; sea confused, but decreasing; put
the boat before the sea. At 5 o'clock the ship's
magazine exploded, and about half an hour afterwards
the funnels went over the sides, and she sunk. At noon
we were picked up by the Marsden, of London, Captain
Evans; by whom we were treated in the kindest
manner possible."
The conduct of Mr. Vincent, a very
young man, has been highly praised. Mr. Neilson of
Liverpool, one of the passengers saved in the life-boat,
says in a narrative published in the newspapers: "I
cannot close my narrative of this event without adverting
in the strongest terms of praise and admiration to the
conduct of young Vincent. Throughout the whole of
the dreadful scenes through which we passed, he never
showed the slightest symptom of fear or hesitation, or
uttered a single murmur or complaint. His whole care
seemed for the men, of whom he took the command with
the calmness of an old officer, and having on him, as
one of the officers of the watch when he escaped, the full
complement of clothes, he gave his pea-jacket to one of
the men who had only a shirt on, a flannel shirt to
another, and his handkerchief to a third. I have been
in scenes which have tried the nerves of hardened men,
but never in any more calculated to try them than
those through which this young officer passed unruffled.
I must speak also in the highest terms of the steadiness,
firmness, and unwearied exertions of our boat's crew,
who, notwithstanding the heavy sea and the crowded
state of the boat, with 21 in her, were most eager
to brave every danger for the chance of offering
still further aid to their drowning comrades, while
the possibility of a chance still remained."
When the
life-boat left there were sixteen on board; they heard
some one shouting in the water, and threw over a keg
and some oars. They endeavoured to approach, but a
sea carried the boat off. They then took Mr. Vincent,
Mr. Williamson, Mr. Sisley, and two sailors, from the
dingy, and making her fast to the stern, towed after the
burning wreck, thinking to save more lives; but the
dingy having filled, they were obliged to cut her adrift,
and, fearing that they themselves should be swamped,
their boat's head was put to face the sea. Twelve oars
were at work, the wind was increasing, and heavy
squalls coming on. They saw the ship's gig full of
people, shouting as if for assistance, and at the same
time descried a sail standing apparently to the southward.
The vessel appeared to pass between the two
boats, and after this the gig was not seen; whether she
was swamped or was taken up by the stranger is
unknown.
The strange vessel came pretty close under the
life-boat's stern, when all shouted together, and thought
they were answered on board: she was a barque, under
close-reefed topsails, foresail, and fore-topmast staysail;
her spanker was hanging in the brails as if she was in
the act of wearing. Soon after her helm was put
up, and she bore right down towards the wreck,
behind which she disappeared.
The masts of the
steamer went over before four o'clock in the morning, the
foremast on the port and the mainmast on the starboard
side. One poor fellow appeared at the jib-boom end;
the jib was cut loose, and was blowing away. Her
mizenmast was still standing while she was in flames
from stem to stern. About five o'clock, when the lifeboat
was passing the ship in a leewardly direction, the
gunpowder in her two magazines aft exploded; and in
about twenty minutes, the mizen having gone by the
board, she made a heavy lurch and went down, her
funnels being red hot and still standing.
The lost passengers are;
Robert Neilson's return to the trading floor in Liverpool caused quite a stir,
