Saturday 9 March 2013

(12) Ackers of Great Moreton Hall

Ackers coat of arms
The Great Moreton estate was bought for £57,107 in 1793 by James and Holland Ackers of Bank House, Manchester, the sons of a fustian manufacturer from Bolton (Lancs), who had made a fortune from land speculation in Manchester.  Holland Ackers died in 1801, leaving a young son, and during his minority James lived at Great Moreton.  In 1809, when his nephew, George Ackers (d. 1836) came of age, James built Lark Hill House, Salford as an alternative residence. When George Ackers died in 1836 he left all his property to his widow absolutely, and his son, George Holland Ackers (1812-72) was obliged to buy at auction any furniture and fittings he wanted in 1838 and then the house and estate in 1839. In 1841-46 he employed Edward Blore to build a large new house on a new site.  On the expiry of his widow’s life interest in 1906, the house passed to his elder daughter Georgiana (d. 1907), the wife of Sir Charles Shakerley, bt..  At her death it passed to her second son, who changed his name to Shackerley-Ackers in 1908, but later reverted to Shakerley.  He sold the house for use as a school in 1931, and inherited the family baronetcy on the death of his elder brother in 1943.

Great Moreton Hall (Cheshire)

Moreton Magna: the predecessor of the present Great Moreton Hall, as sketched by Edward Blore prior to demolition.
Image: Victoria & Albert Museum.
A large timber-framed house, said to have been built c.1606 for Edward Bellot (d. 1622) and taxed on thirteen hearths in 1664, was described by Ormerod at the beginning of the 19th century as 'a spacious building of timber and plaster, finished with gables in the style of the early part of the 17th century. It has been of late much altered, and previous to these alterations windows of comparatively modern appearance had been substituted for the original ones, and the timber-work concealed by stucco'. The alterations were undertaken by the Ackers brothers when they bought the estate in 1793, but little more was done until George Holland Ackers bought the estate from his mother in 1839. He took down the old house and replaced it in 1841-46 with the present large castellated Gothic mansion designed by Edward Blore. Blore happily made the drawing above showing the previous house before demolition began, which coincides closely with Ormerod's earlier description.  

Great Moreton Hall in 2011.  Image by Galatas.  Licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.
Blore's new house is built of dark Mow Cop stone and has asymmetrical elevations, a square tower over the staircase, a porte-cochere and corner turrets.  The Great Hall at the rear is easily distinguished by its high-pitched roof and Gothic windows; inside it has a hammer-beam ceiling (modelled on that at Wiston Park (Sussex) which Blore was restoring at the time), canted bay window, dais, screen and minstrels gallery, armorial glass and so on; much of the detail is copied from Bayons Manor (Lincs). 
Great Moreton Hall from the air in 1929, from the Aerofilms Collection © English Heritage


The interior is planned in a traditional Georgian fashion around a central hall, and much of the interior is lined with Caen stone.  The staircase hall, on the opposite side of the screens passage to the great hall, has a lierne vault above an imperial staircase.  The saloon has alabaster chimneypieces with ogee arches and knightly figures, and there are further good interiors, kitted out with ribbed and bossed panelled ceilings, carved chimneypieces, and traceried oak doors and shutters.  The house belonged to Manchester City Council from 1931-81 and was used as a special school, but was sold and became a hotel and conference centre.  It is now once more in private occupation.

Previous owners: John Bellot (fl. early 15th cent.); to son, Thomas Bellot; to son, Thomas Bellot; to son, John Bellot; to son, Thomas Bellot (b. c.1515); to grandson, Edward Bellot (c.1570-1622); to son, John Bellot (c.1594-1659); to son, Sir John Bellot, 1st bt. (c.1619-74); to son, Sir Thomas Bellot, 2nd bt. (1651-99); to son, Sir Thomas Bellot, 3rd bt. (1679-1710); to brother, Sir John Bellot, 4th bt. (c.1680-1714), after whose death sold to Edward Powys (1710-69); to son, Thomas Jelf Powys (c.1744-1805); sold 1793 to Holland Ackers (b. 1744); to son, George Ackers (1788-1836); to son, George Holland Ackers (1812-72); to widow, Harriott Susan Ackers (d. c1900); to daughter, Lady Georgiana Harriott Shakerley (d. 1907); to younger son, Sir George Herbert Shackerley (1863-1945), who sold 1931 to Manchester City Council, which sold 1981 to Gerald James Alliott (fl. 1986)...Mr & Mrs Christopher Shaw (fl. 2008).

Lark Hill House, Salford (Lancashire)

Lark Hall Mansion in 1825. © Salford City Council


Lark Hill House as part of Salford Museum, prior to demolition in 1936.  © Salford City Council

A large plain five-by-six bay brick house of two storeys above a basement, built in about 1792 for James Ackers, with more than forty rooms.  In 1845 the small estate was sold to the Council as a public park (Peel Park), and a few years later the house became a museum and library.  It was extended for these municipal purposes in 1852, 1857, 1864, 1868 and 1878, and the original house was demolished in 1936 as part of a further extension.

Previous owners: James Ackers (1752-1824); sold after his death to William Garnett; sold 1845 to Salford Borough Council.


Ackers family of Great Moreton Hall (Cheshire)


Ackers, Holland (1744-1801), of Great Moreton Hall (Cheshire), land speculator and timber merchant in Manchester. Born 6 Feb 1744, son of George Ackers, fustian manufacturer of Bolton (Lancs) and his wife Ellen Bonney.  He married 23 Oct. 1787 Elizabeth Filkin (d. 1800) and had issue:
(1) George Ackers (1788-1836) (q.v.).
He lived at Bank House, Manchester, until he purchased the Great Moreton estate in Cheshire in 1793 with his brother James (see below).
He died 17 April 1801, aged 56, and his will was proved on 4 July 1801.

Ackers, George (1788-1836), of Great Moreton Hall (Cheshire). Born 19 Aug. 1788, son of Holland Ackers (b. 1744) and his wife Elizabeth (nee Filkin).  He married 8 November 1811 Harriott Dell (d. 1862), second daughter of Henry Hutton of Cherry Willingham (Lincs), and had issue:
(1) George Holland Ackers (1812-72) (q.v.).
He inherited Great Moreton Hall from his father in 1801. At his death he left all his property to his widow absolutely, suggesting they were estranged from their son (although the fact that Harriet died at Great Moreton Hall may imply a subsequent rapprochement). Harriet sold the furnishings and fixtures of the house at auction in 1838 and the house and estate, also at auction, in 1839, obliging their son to compete at auction for his patrimony.
He died 22 November 1836, aged 48.  His will was proved in London on 4 December 1836 and in Chester on 2 January 1837. His widow married 2nd, 1841, Col. William Edward Powell MP of Nanteos (Cardiganshire) and died at Great Moreton Hall, 11 January 1862; her will was proved 10 March 1862 (effects under £25,000).

Ackers, George Holland (1812-72), of Great Moreton Hall (Cheshire).  He was born 10 August 1812, son of George Ackers (1788-1836) and his wife Harriott Dell, daughter of Henry Hutton of Lincoln.  He served in Royal Horse Guards (Blues) and was Lt-Col. Queens Own Staffs Yeomanry.  He was appointed DL and JP for Cheshire and was High Sheriff of Cheshire 1852 and Commodore of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, in which capacity he published Universal Yacht Signals in 1847.  He owned and raced the yacht Dolphin from 1837-40 and later a 393 ton schooner, Brilliant, built in 1839.  He married 23 January 1838 Harriott Susan (c.1818-1906), daughter of Henry William Hutton of Beverley (Yorks) and had issue:
(1) Georgiana Harriott Ackers (d. 1907), m. 14 July 1858 Sir Charles Watkin Shakerley, 2nd bt. (1833-98) and had issue;
(2) Constance Marianne Ackers (d. 1920), m. 1872 Sir Fitzroy Donald Maclean, 10th bt (1835-1936) and had issue 4s 1d.
As noted above, he was obliged to buy Great Moreton Hall (Cheshire) at auction in 1839 and he had previously had to purchase any of the furniture and fixtures he required in 1838. The process of removing fixtures before the house was sold may have contributed to the need to rebuild it, which he did to the designs of Edward Blore, 1841-46.  At his death the estate passed to his widow (d. 1906) and then to his elder daughter, who left it to her second son, George Herbert Shakerley.
He died 20 January 1872 at 15 Hyde Park Terrace, London, aged 59.  His will was proved in Principal Probate Registry, 20 April 1872 (effects under £45,000). His widow died 17 January 1906; her will was proved 19 March 1906 (estate £28,601).

Ackers family of Lark Hill, Salford (Lancs)


Ackers, James (1752-1824) of Lark Hill, Salford (Lancs) and Putney (Surrey). Described as ‘the father of the silk trade in Manchester’; Borough Reeve of Manchester, 1792; Col. of Manchester and Salford Volunteers; High Sheriff of Lancashire, 1800.  He married, 15 May 1775 at St Oswald, Chester, Anne Brown (d. 1824), by whom he had no issue, but he also had a mistress, Ann Coops, by whom he produced an illegitimate family:
(X1) James Ackers Coops (later Ackers) (1811-68), for whom see the next post;
(X2) Ann Ackers Coops (1817-26), born 14 March 1817 and baptised at St Luke, Chelsea, 2 April 1819; died young and was buried at All Saints, Chorlton-on-Medlock (Lancs), 23 June 1826;
(X3) Susan Ackers Coops (later Ackers) (1819-79), born 5 March and baptised at St Luke, Chelsea, 2 April 1819; married, 19 September 1872, Rev. Edward Butterworth Shaw of Narborough (Leics), but had no issue; died 17 August and was buried at Upton St. Leonards (Glos), 22 August 1879; will proved 21 October 1879 (effects under £300).
Built Lark Hill Place in 1809 on the site now occupied by Salford Museum; the house was sold after his death. He also had a house at Putney (Surrey).
He died at Birmingham, 23 March 1824. His wife died at Lark Hill, 30 January 1824.


Sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1850, pp. 2-3; 1900; P. de Figueiredo & J. Treuherz, Cheshire Country Houses, 1987, pp. 103-06; J.M. Robinson, A guide to the country houses of the North-West, 1991, pp. 40, 214; Hartwell, Hyde, Hubbard & Pevsner, The buildings of England: Cheshire, 2nd edn, 2011, pp. 379-80; Country Life, 4 December 1986, p. 1840. 

Where are their papers?

Ackers of Great Moreton Hall: deeds, estate papers, corresp and accounts, 1639-1884 [Manchester Archives M159 and E16]; deeds, 1648-1927 [Lancashire ArchivesDDSL]

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was published 9 March 2013 and updated on 20 January 2014, 27 December 2020, 7 February, 14 May and 25 July 2021, 19 April 2022, 2 June and 16 June 2023. I am most grateful to Tony Simcock, Chris Gilman, Carole Gilmour and Billy Pilgrim for additional information.

32 comments:

  1. In 1831 Sophia Phipps (widow of John Phipps of Sawston, Cambridgeshire) litigated in Chancery against James Ackers who was in his minority claiming she was due the rents of some the property left to him by his father (also James)during his minority as she was 'Heir at Law'. This James was not baptised Ackers but COOPS and was the inheritor of James Ackers as long as he took the name of Ackers, this is not to say he was not James' son as he also had a sister baptised Susan Ackers Coops.

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    1. The James Ackers referred to in this comment is the subject of the next post on the blog. Both this James Ackers' will and the law reports of the Chancery case make it clear he was acknowledged as the illegitimate son of this James Ackers. I was not aware, however, that he had a sister, and would be grateful to know the source of this information.

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    2. His sister Susan Ackers Coops was baptized at St Luke Chelsea on 2 Apr 1819 as Susan Ackers Coops, daughter of James Coops and Ann Coops. Detail
      London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: p74/luk/190
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      Source information
      Title
      London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906
      Author
      Ancestry.com
      Publisher
      Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.
      Publisher date
      2010
      Publisher location
      Provo, UT, USA
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      Ancestry.com

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    3. In 1851 James (Coops) Ackers was living with his mother, Ann Coops, and sister Susan in Prinknash Park, Upton St Leonards, Gloucestershire. Detail
      Class: HO107; Piece: 1962; Folio: 498; Page: 60; GSU roll: 87362
      Edit source
      Source information
      Title
      1851 England Census
      Author
      Ancestry.com
      Publisher
      Ancestry.com Operations Inc
      Publisher date
      2005
      Publisher location
      Provo, UT, USA
      Edit repository
      Repository information
      Name
      Ancestry.com

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    4. Thank you for the information. There proves to have been a further sister, Ann, born in 1817 but baptised at the same time as Susan, who died young. I have now incorporated these details in the post above.

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  2. No mention of the Alliott family who bought Great Moreton Hall in 1981.

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    1. Thank you for the information; I have now added a reference.

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    2. I remember great Morton hall, in 69-74 and the mental and physical abuse plus humiliation coursed by the so call teachers I sore men beating up boys and much,much more.to get away from there boys run away many many time police bringing them back sobbing so glad boys had a wonderful time their but not everybody had a great time at great Morton hall.yes Mr mcglyyn was headteacher, Mr browse and Mr chare Mr drum,and the Miss smith education sucked I was good at sports which got me through but even I was physically and mentally abuse and it's still with me today

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    3. HES TELLING THE TRUTH I RAN AWAY

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  3. As you probably know, many children of the 1950's and 60's attended Great Moreton Hall School. I was one such and I can say with great certainty that my time there changed my life forever, for the better. The educational standards were very high and the teachers and staff were incredibly kind and helpful. As poverty stricken children we could not believe our luck on being taken to this magnificent property after being duly assessed as half starved by the welfare doctors on Roby Street, Manchester. I was never beaten or abused and those long summer days bring back the most treasured memories of my life.

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    1. Hi Bill
      I have similar memories very happpy times, I think the head master was mr Hoyland when I was there, I lived in a pub in ardwick green with my mum and dad the smoke was killing me so they sent me to the country I thrived on the fresh air, remember playing British bull dog in the court yard and goin on the bus on Sunday to church now live in Australia all the best

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  4. I went to school here in 1981. There were two teachers and two pupils to start with. The classes were in the new buildings behind the kitchen garden, but we used to wander around the estate and hall. I loved the old wine cellars and seeing old maps in the classrooms in the hall. Will never forget the pets graves, the rhododendron flowering and the Canada Geese on the lake. Was a magical time in my childhood. I can find no mention of the school online now.

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  5. My dad worked there when it was a school he was one of the gardeners he was there until he retired in the 70s

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    1. what was your dads name I went there when I was a school loved it

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  6. sorry to shatter your dreams about great moreton hall school. as a young lad about 5 years old i was put in the school as i had learning disabiltes and use two have blackouts and fits as a young lad, as for the reason the manchester city councils was i needed some fresh air. as they pulled me from my family and friends.so i didnt know what was going on, and all of the time all i was
    crying for my mum. and two make it even worse i was bullied and made two do things with with the other boys i didnt like two do, as im a now 60 yr old man i now suffer from depression and other medical aliments. as it all stems from being at that school.

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  7. I attended Great Moreton Hall, at the time described as a home for delicate children, in the late 50's (the headmaster was Mr. Hoyland). Coming from inner city Manchester (Hulme) it was both a revelation and slightly unnerving to be pitched into a grand country estate. I have to agree with Bill Seymour that it had a profound effect on a city boy. I can still see the lawn leading down to the woods, the boating lake across the fields, and the allotments where we gardened. We would have occasional days out to Congleton and walks to Mow Cop, and of course church on Sundays. I'm sorry for Anonymous who had such a hard time - it must have been 10 years or so after I was there. But my memories are almost wholly positive.

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  8. Hi Alan
    Yes remember the name mr Hoyland I was there I think around 1960 remember the bus taking us t church in congleton, sweet tins at dinner with your number on it they would call your number out and you had to go up to the table at the front of the dining hall take your tin back you your table ,often you could hear my last couple of malteasers rolling around the tin, do you remember folding your clothes at night and being marked 1-10 for neat, my thoughts are all good and Great Moreton hall was great for me, all the best pete

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    1. Hi my name is Roy Steggles and i remember all of what you have put about the school I also remember Mr Hoyland also the Nurse who was called Mrs Hurst we used to ride her bike down the long drive and back again. I would love to meet or communicate with any of the boys that may remember me from my days there. thanks for your memories Pete & Alan.

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  9. My dad worked there in the 70's think he was a maintenance man, I remember sitting in the kitchen during school holidays sucking primula from the tubes

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  10. Hi my name is bill and I was there in the 1950,s and l remember going on a sharabang into the town centre on a Saturday to the pictures or to the park and getting on the rowing boats on the river dean and climbing what they called the monkey tree and building dens from branches and cut grass also playing football for them.

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  11. I went to school here 1960/70 the head master was Mr McGlynn and Mr Twigg the music teacher best days of my life the maintenance man was Mr Ellis

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    1. Hello Alan, are you called alan hague by the way?? Let me know if you are.,,

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  12. would love to come and have a look round now if the owners would permit it

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  13. I also went to great moreton hall. I was aged 9 in 1956.I came from a family of ten.I suffered from bronchitis due to living in airwick green as the air was full of smoke.I remember going to church on the sundays as I was part of the choir. We used to go for choir practice on a Thursday night to st Mary's of astbury. I also remember there was a grave of a pet dog in the woods its name was yarrow.We used to go to congleton to the markets on the Saturday and then on the rowing boats on the river dean.I also remember Mr hoyland the headmaster and his wife.I remember his office it used to be in the corner of the main hall I visited it a few times for being a naughty boy. The sportsday was a good memory which was held on the back lawn. Making dens when the grass had been cut.playing football for the school against the old enemy buglawton which was a school in congleton for naughty boys.going to mow cop in the summer days along the lanes and over th canal.visiting days was something the boys used look forward to our parents were picked up from somewhere in Manchester by bus and arrived on Saturday once a month.I must say wasn't looking forward to it as my dad would come having had a few drinks a bit embarrassing. There is so many things that I remember about my stay at great moreton hall one of the best memories of my life

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    1. I was there in 1956.age 9. Mr and Mrs Hoyland were lovely people.
      They had a son Roger?
      Really enjoyed the open space of the grounds.
      Visits to Congleton to the cinema. Was in the choir at The church in Astbury.
      Remember the Moffat brothers.
      First time I ever saw a fox and magpie.
      Small classes and good education
      Dennis from Cheetham Hill

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  14. Thanks for a wonderfully informative blog. I have been looking at Lark Hill and Bank House, and it looks like James Ackers may have married. There is a marriage to an Ann Brown on 15 May 1775, and a newspaper report in the Lancaster Gazette of 26 December 1807 says that Jonathan Nickson of Whitchurch has married the Miss Brown (Mary) the sister of the lady of James Ackers of Lark Hill

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    1. How right you are! The Lancaster Gazette also reports her death on 30 January 1824. I will add both facts above.

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  15. There are other years stated that the Lark Hill Mansion was built.
    You stated 1809, some sources stated 1792.
    You also mentioned that it was bought by the city council in 1845 and other sources stated 1849.

    I saw several with these years even on the Salford Museum and Art Gallery website. Yours seem to be the only different one.

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    1. Thank you for pointing this out. I have looked into this and I think 1792 is right for the building of the house, as James Ackers seems to be 'of Lark Hill' from 1793 onwards: I will correct this above. However the sale to Salford Council was definitely in 1845 (see a report in the Manchester & Salford Advertiser, 29 March 1845, page 5). I suspect 1849 is when the park or the museum was opened to the public.

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  16. My grandma - Sadie Bailey was a teaching assistant at the school and I remember going as a child to the big bonfire they had. I think she was with the younger children. I wonder what the building is now.

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  17. It is now a private house and the owners are not keen on visitors.

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Please leave a comment if you have any additional information or corrections to offer, or if you are able to help with additional images of the people or buildings in this post.