Who was it said, ‘An Englishman’s home is his castle’? Whether purchased or rented, the biggest financial commitment made by most people throughout their lives is probably their home. Turn on the television and there are countless programmes telling us how and where to buy, how to avoid the pitfalls of buying and renting, how to give our homes a makeover and even how (or how not!) to build a house…
It is possible to pick up a property bargain at auction. This is not a new development, as shown by one of the collections in Knowsley’s Archive. The Estate Sales Catalogue Collection is made up of a number of auctioneers’ catalogues which offer us a different perspective on life in the early to mid-20th century. During the 1920s and 1930s, some of the larger private estates in the area, such as the Tarbock Estate and the Halsnead Estate in Whiston were dispersed. These sales included the sale of land and property and the catalogues set out in detail the particulars and conditions of sale for each lot.
The Tarbock Estate sale took place at 1:00pm on Tuesday 1st June 1926, at the Hare and Hounds Hotel, Tarbock with auctioneers John D. Wood & Co. and Boult, Son & Maples wielding the gavel. The estate covered about 2,272 acres, comprising of 20 corn and potato growing farms, 10 small houses which were ‘nicely situated in Good Gardens, suitable for week-end or permanent occupation of business men’, 40 good detached and semi-detached cottages, small holdings and market gardening land. Ripe building plots from three quarters of an acre were advertised, with water, gas and drainage available. In all, a total of 135 lots were on offer.
The Halsnead Estate dated back to the 13th century and was in the continued possession of the Willis family from 1684, when Liverpool merchant Thomas Willis purchased the Hall and estate, until its sale by Charles Rodolph D’Anyers Willis in 1929. The auctioneers, Osborn & Mercer of Albermarle Street, London, held the auction, coincidentally, at the Hare and Hounds, Tarbock at 2:00pm on Thursday 27th June 1929. At that time, the freehold estate extended to some 1,540 acres split into 78 lots. These included 12 compact dairy, corn and potato farms, various small holdings, 80 cottages, building and accommodation land and woodlands. The Hall itself was offered as ‘a fine old commodious residence, well adapted for use as a School or Institution or in conjunction with a Golf Course which can be formed in the undulating Park’. Such ambitions were not realised, however: the Hall was demolished in 1932.
Not all auctions involve the sale of land and property: some of the sales represented in the Archive were dispersal sales of an individual’s household effects. One such auction was taken by Brown and Brown of Liverpool at Dumbreeze House, Knowsley Park on the instructions of the executors of W.H. Crook Esq., deceased.
Walter Harris Crook was born in 1849, the son of Thomas, a tailor and draper, and Charlotte. The 1851 Census indicates that he was the youngest of 7 children living at Pleasant Street, Liverpool and in 1861, Joseph and his youngest children, including Walter, are listed at an address on Everton Valley. By 1871, a 21 year old Walter, who is employed as a clerk, is found living with his oldest brother George in Clarence Grove, Everton. The following year, on 17th October 1872, Walter marries Mary Ann Barker in Doncaster, before setting up home at 5 Poplar Terrace, Tarbock Road, Huyton.
By 1881, Walter and Mary have a daughter, Ethel Mary and the family seem to be living comfortably off Walter’s business as a wine merchant based in Liverpool: they are served by a cook and a housemaid. By 1889, the business, wine merchants Daniel Wilson & Sons, has vaults at Gilbert Street, Liverpool and a counting house and warehouse in Campbell Street. The 1891 census reveals that the Crook family, supported by 2 maids and a cook, is living on Tarbock Road and in 1896, Ethel marries William Glasier. Walter and Mary’s home address is listed in the 1899 Gore’s Directory of Liverpool as ‘Brooklands, Tarbock Road’ and by 1914, they have moved their household to Dumbreeze House in Knowsley Park.
Walter Harris Crook passed away on 1st November 1922 and probate records place a value of £38, 989 6s 22d on his effects and estate – around £1,875,259 at today’s prices! Probate was granted to Ethel, John Edward Willis Crook and Frederick Stanley Morris (Chartered Accountant) in London and the executors proceeded to order the sale of the valuable household appointments of Dumbreeze House by auction.
The sale took place at the property over a period of 2 days – Monday and Tuesday, 4th and 5th December 1922. Everything, from the beautifully grained pollard oak dining room suite, Axminster carpets, works of art and porcelain to a lawn mowing machine, stacks of hay and 2 jersey cows was open to bids. The catalogue itself is set out by room with a brief description of each item for sale within that space, taking the prospective purchaser on a virtual guided tour of the property. Day 1 started in the Maid’s Room No. 1 and proceeded through the servants’ quarters to the bedrooms, then on to the Drawing Room with its mahogany furniture and antique tall pedestal clock, made by A. Timer, Wellington. The 1st day’s sale ended with a selection of water colour drawings and the mainly leather bound books in the library, including Shaw’s Zoology in 29 volumes, published in 1811.
Day 2 began in the Kitchen, where furniture, carpets and equipment were for sale: even the Axminster runner in the passage to the Dining Room was to be bid on. Next, bidding moved to the Butler’s Pantry and the Back Hall, where a bronze gong and beater could be purchased. On then to the Hall, where there were 5 stags’ heads and antlers amongst the furniture, grandfather clock and artists’ proof etchings and engravings. The furniture and fittings in the Library were dealt with on this 2nd day, as were items of glass and china, silver and electroplate.
The Dining Room presented a quality oak extendable dinner table with 10 single chairs and a pair of carver chairs, and amongst other items, a bronze statue of a horse and a number of oil paintings, including 2 attributed to the Victorian equestrian artist, J. K. Herring. Other items for sale included a 12-bore double barrel hammerless sporting gun made by W. Richards of Liverpool and, in a nod to Walter Crook’s trade, a selection of fine wines and spirits.
The contents of the outbuildings were also up for auction, with various tools, gardening equipment and bicycles on offer – not forgetting the 2 Jersey cows and approximately 70 head of poultry and 800 eggs preserved in lime and stored in a wooden tub… In all, there were 633 lots up for auction.
For more information about Knowsley Archives Service or to find out about the archive, visit: http://archives.knowsley.gov.uk/ email infoheritage@knowsley.gov.uk or call 0151 443 4291