Sir Hardman Earle, 1st Baronet was a British railway director and slave owner who owned plantations and enslaved people in what is now modern-day Guyana. Born on the 11th of July 1792, he was the fourth son of the slave trader, Thomas Earle. In 1833, slave ownership was abolished in the British colonies and with the Slave Compensation Act of 1937 the British Government compensated the owners who were forced to free enslaved people. Hardman Earle was awarded £19,000 in compensation, around £2.5m in 2020 money, but the former captives were not awarded anything. He received his compensation for freeing enslaved people on the following plantations: Lynch's Estate, Blizards, Bodkin's (St Paul), Thibou's Estate, Gunthorpe's (St Georges) and Manning's Estate. Hardman Earle then bought part of the Allerton Hall Estate and on it built a mansion called Allerton Tower. The eponymous mansion was based on a design by Harvey Lonsdale Elmes, the famed architect of St George's Hall. Earle was made a baronet in 1869 and died in 1877. The house was completed in 1849; two years after Elmes death and was of classic Italianate design with an attractive tower providing views across the surrounding countryside. It was also developed with other notable architectural features including an orangery, stables and a neoclassical lodge.
In the early years of the 20th
century the house had been let to the shipowner Lord Forres. His son, Stephen Williamson was a founder of the Liverpool shipping company Balfour Williamson & Co and was also a Scottish Liberal Party politician. In 1848 Stephen had gone to Liverpool, and there founded the firm of Balfour Williamson with Alexander Balfour. The organisation, Liverpool Sheltering Homes was established in the 1870s by Alexander Balfour, Stephen Williamson and John Houghton, set up to
rescue destitute and neglected children, train them to be good citizens
and then accompany them to a new life in Canada where they were placed
with local families. The Liverpool office of Balfour Williamson closed in 1928 and so there was no need for the Williamson family to remain in Allerton Tower.
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| In 1937 prior to being demolished |
A booklet 'The House in the Park' describes its latter days. The family still owned it in 1924 when it was offered to Liverpool Corporation and acquired for £22,000 and the landscaped gardens were opened to the public as Allerton Tower Park in 1927. The Tower stood for some years empty and idle until it was decided that the ravages of dry rot had seriously impaired the structure and it would be demolished in 1937, despite attempts to save it.
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| The Lodge dates from 1847 and it and its accompanying entrance gate piers are Grade II Listed |
The lodge, stables, former laundry and part of the orangery of Allerton Tower remain. These brick out buildings with stone dressings have slate roof. It is two storeys high and H-plan, with the left wing now gone, which was a Coach House. Ground floor lintel band with sashed windows and some now boarded. There is a central entrance in coved surround with roundel in gable above, leading to entrances to stables and tack room. The right wing was a dairy, laundry and bake house and the right return has a 3-bay arcade. The rear facade has wings containing cow houses, with original stone partitions.There is also a partially walled garden adding seasonal interest to one of Liverpool’s former park estates.
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2022/12/historic-liverpool-dwellings-bark-hill.html
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