(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 Archives, DDSL]

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.