Recollections of a Busy Life: Being the Reminiscences of a Liverpool Merchant 1840-1910 — John Shaqi
Recollections of a Busy Life: Being the Reminiscences of a Liverpool Merchant 1840-1910Forwood, William Bower, Sir
History
Recollections of a Busy Life: Being the Reminiscences of a Liverpool Merchant 1840-1910
Forwood, William Bower, Sir
Forwood, William Bower, Sir, 1840-1928; Merchants -- England -- Liverpool -- Biography
My father removed again, further out, to Seaforth, to a large house on
the Crosby Road, facing an open space known as "Potter's Field," which
was bounded on the further side by the shore. I was sent to school at
Mrs. Carter's, a celebrated dame's school, where many young Liverpool
boys were educated. Mr. Arthur Earle was one of my classmates. Seaforth
was a very prettily wooded village, fine elm trees margining the highway
right up to the canal at Litherland. The village at that time contained
two other important schools, Miss Davenport's and the Rev. Mr. Rawson's.
Mr. Rawson was Vicar of the Parish. Mr. Gladstone, Lord Cross, and Dean
Stanley were educated at Mr. Rawson's. Mr. Rawson was very fond of
telling the story of Mr. Gladstone, when a boy, spending his holiday
afternoons lying before the fire reading Virgil; even in those days he
had formed great expectations of his pupil's future career. Seaforth
vicarage stood between the church and the railway, and was surrounded by
large gardens. Litherland was also a charming rural village, containing
many grand old elm trees, and several large houses. Waterloo was a
rising seaside place, very fashionable in the summer; here Liverpool
merchants occupied cottages, for in those times a cottage at the seaside
was the usual method of spending the summer: fishings in Norway, moors
in Scotland, and tours all over the world not then being in vogue.
Our home at Seaforth commanded a very beautiful marine view. I remember
seeing the "Great Britain" sail, and the same night she was stranded on
the coast of Ireland. For years the "Great Britain" was regarded as one
of the wonders of the world. She was considered to be such a leviathan
that people said she would never pay, and I believe she never did; her
tonnage was under 4,000 tons. She remained the largest ship afloat for
many years. The "Great Britain" went ashore in Dundrum Bay on the 22nd
September, 1846, and was refloated and towed to Liverpool, August 25th,
1847. She remained for some time in the North Atlantic trade, was
afterwards engaged in the Australian trade, and subsequently was
converted into a four-masted sailing ship. Her final use was as a coal
hulk at the Falkland Islands.
I also saw the Glasgow steamer "Orion" sail on her fatal voyage. She was
stranded on the Mull of Galloway, and many lives were lost; this was in
1850.
Very frequently after the prevalence of easterly winds, the entire
channel between the Rock Light and the Crosby Lightship was crowded with
ships, large and small, working their way out to sea--a lovely sight. I
have frequently counted over 300 sail in sight at one time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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