Stumped

As the football season draws to a close, and the sound of leather on willow once again can be heard in the hamlets and villages of olde England, an interesting booklet was passed to me by a local religious historian.

To save you back tracking to look for the genealogy of the Scouse house, here is a quick summary. (I could not find the link anyway!!)

The 16th Earl of Shrewsbury sold the land on which the house is built in the mid-1800's and a lady named Eliza Lockhart purchased direct from the builder. She lived here a number of years before selling it on in the early 1900's. Census records then indicate that her daughter subsequently purchased the property and re-introduced it into the family. What happened after that I have not taken the time to research.

My initial investigations, however, did discover that the family name of the Shrewsbury's was Talbot, and their country home was Alton Towers, now of Theme Park fame. They are also the senior lorded family in the Country and as such would accede to the throne if the whole of the Royal Family were ever wiped out. The stately home in Alton Towers was relieved of its finery when legal fees were needed to pay for the long running dispute about the 16th Earls will, when he died. The Scouse house is on the corner of Shrewsbury Road and Alton Road, with Talbot Road very close by.

Anyway, back to the Lockharts and the booklet. It would appear that the son of Eliza was one W P Lockhart, Birkenheads great evangelist. Now not being a God fearing man, I would have found this less interesting but for the fact that William Peddie Lockhart was also an accomplished cricketer. He played for the Birkenhead Park cricket club and the North of England between 1857 and 1860 when he won 7 caps for England and was considered the best wicket keeper of his time.

He never lived in the Scouse house but must have visited his mother and sister many times, his mother moving here after the death of her husband. That must explain why Kieran is always on at me to mow the cricket pitch in the lawn every May!!