Historical Liverpool Dwellings - Finch House

 

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In 1698 the Finch Farm Estate had sixty acres of land attached to it. Richard Gildart had moved to Liverpool in the 1690s, becoming a freeman of Liverpool Corporation on the 2nd of November, 1697. However, the family's wealth was assured when he became a slave trader owning three ships and listed among the Company of Merchants trading to Africa during the 1750s. He grew rich through these activities and became an important figure in Liverpool being the town’s elected Member of Parliament between1734 and 1754 and its Mayor three times. His political position shows how central slavery was to Liverpool and its development in the 18th century.

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The Liverpool Daily Post has told the story of the Gildart family who came into fame and fortune, and within 200 years, died out. In their day they had 'stood high' in South-West Lancashire, some being merchants in Liverpool, and others large landowners in Kirkdale and West Derby, while most public positions were filled by them. During the 18th century its sons provided Members of Parliament, a succession of Mayors and a Town Clerk in Liverpool. The earlier Finch House with 41 acres of adjoining land was purchased by Gildart from the Earl of Derby in the early 18th century, which had been in the Moore family for 300 years. Unfortunately, the house had collapsed into its cellars causing John Francis Gildart, the Town Clerk between 1742 and 1780 to rebuild it. He said that his new house "should not fall into the cellars, for it should not have any". The house, a four storey tall red building, was subsequently rebuilt about 1776 and took seven years to erect because Richard wanted it constructed using the finest materials available. The bricks were unique, being only 2 inches thick and 9 inch in length, hand-made from clay obtained in the vicinity. It became a prominent landmark to travellers who journeyed between Liverpool and Prescot. Everything about the place spoke of the wealth of its builder; the doors were all made of mahogany (imported from Africa and Cuba), while cupboards and fixtures were of walnut. There was also a large quantity of plate-glass and the dining room fireplace showed an elaborately carved overmantle. Richard's son John Tarleton received £5,000 by his father's will on coming of age and was also a Liverpool West India merchant, in partnership with his brothers Thomas and Clayton Tarleton and one Daniel Backhouse. John Tarleton was the next inhabitant here who, between 1786 and 1804, invested in 39 Liverpool registered ships, with a total tonnage of 7,874. He was a member of the delegation sent to London in 1788 by the committee of Liverpool Africa merchants opposed to abolition of the slave trade and promoted resistance to Dolben’s bill for regulating slaving ships. Tarleton had a 15-year relationship with the actress and writer Mary Robinson (Perdita) whom he initially seduced on a bet. She was an ex-mistress of the future King George 1V while he was still Prince of Wales. She was important to his parliamentary career, writing many of his speeches as in 1781 at the age of 27 he was elected as the MP for Liverpool. John Francis' brother, James, who had been a captain in the slave trade and subsequently became a merchant with slave-trading interests, made Finch House his country residence until his death in 1790. The house was then occupied by William James, who was one of the leading slave traders in Liverpool, with at least 139 known voyages between 1758 and 1778. When in August 1775 a large scale sailors' riot broke out in Liverpool another slave trader William James, who at one time owned 29 ships at the port, fearing for his life left Liverpool to stay at his country retreat, Finch House. After he died in 1798, John Tarleton, a member of a family with extensive interests in the slave trade, lived at Finch House before retiring to a fashionable London address. The house was demolished in March 1912 by its then-owner Lord Derby and much of the valuable wood, cornices and a Sheraton bookcase was taken to Knowsley Hall. 

 

Finch House Estate 1937

Today there is a Gildart Street in Liverpool city centre and Finch Lane, at West Derby, is derived from the site of Finch House. (It was formerly called Mockbeggar Lane, a name applied to a grand, ostentatious house where no hospitality was afforded nor any charity given).
George Harrison's father, Harry had worked initially as a conductor and later a bus driver, for the Liverpool Corporation Passenger Transport (known at first as "Liverpool Corporation Tramways" when it first came into being back in 1897). As the committee chairman of the Speke Bus Depot social club Harry was responsible for arranging the entertainment. Perhaps because the booking had come through his Dad, George would have some memories of the place as he recalled for the Beatles' "Anthology" book:-
'My father had something to do with the Liverpool Transport Club in Finch Lane and he got The Quarry Men a gig there once, on a Saturday night. It was a dance hall with a stage and tables and people dancing and drinking. My dad was pleased and proud that he'd got us to appear there. We had to play two sets. The group were booked to play on either side of the interval, an arrangement in common with a lot of their bookings around this time'. Although some distance, and several buses away from his home in Allerton, South Liverpool, the area was also familiar to Paul McCartney as his Aunt Gin lived just over the road from the club in Dinas Lane, off East Prescot Road, the main thoroughfare through Dovecot.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2022/11/historic-liverpool-dwellings-woolton.html