Sir Harcourt Everard Clare was born in 1854, Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, England. He was well known in Lancashire where, in 1896, when he took up a post as Clerk at Lancashire County Council, which he kept until his death, at Bank Hall, in 1922.
Clare married Clara Theodora (daughter of Thomas Bateman from Middleton Hall, Derbyshire, born 1859) who became well known for showing toy dogs with their daughter Dorothy "Dolly" Bateman Clare, their only child born 1885.
Sir Harcourt was educated at Repton School in Derbyshire and became a solicitor in 1875, taking a job at Liverpool City Council as assistant solicitor in 1880. He was promoted to Deputy Clerk in 1883 and later to Chief Clerk to Liverpool City Council from 1885-1899. He was responsible for the purchase of electric lighting and tramways installed into the streets of Liverpool. [1] In 1899 he moved post to become the second Clerk to Lancashire County Council and at this time he became a tenant at Bank Hall. [2] [3]
During the royal visit of Lancashire in 1913, King George V and Queen Mary stopped at the Bank Hall Lodge gates and enquired upon the health of Sir Harcourt who had recently fallen ill. They were greeted by children from Bretherton Endowed Primary School with a banner reading "God Save Our King and Queen".
In 1920, as well as his post at Lancashire County Council, Harcourt was the clerk to the Lancashire Asylums Board and controlled Brockhall, Langho, near Blackburn for the Lancashire Asylums Board. In 1922, when he was 'Clerk of the Peace and the Clerk to the County Council of Lancashire', he was offered the position of Divisional Commissioner, but declined.
Sir Harcourt was still in office at the time of his death as the Clerk to Lancashire County Council alongside his involvement with his other organisational roles. [4]
In 1899 Sir Harcourt moved to Bank Hall in the village of Bretherton with his wife and daughter. [5] Sir Harcourt would walk two miles every morning to Croston railway station from Bank Hall and then carry on from Preston train station to work. The family were known for their involvement with the surrounding communities, employing them to run the house [6] and often hosting garden parties in the grounds. [7] At the time the family were well known for having different types of pekingese dogs such as Japanese Spaniels who were groomed and trained by a Mr Pritchard. [8]
The Clare family are buried side by side in the graveyard at St John the Baptist parish church in Bretherton, which they attended regularly throughout their presence in the village. There are three headstones in the shape of a cross: the furthest away from the church is of Dorothy Clare, the middle and largest is of Lady Clare (died 1918) and the cross nearest the church is of Sir Harcourt and reads:
In Memory of Sir Harcourt Everard Clare.KT. Died March 1st 1922 In His Sixty-Eighth Year [9]
In 1916, Sir Harcourt was knighted. [10] William Llewellyn, painted an oil on canvas portrait of 'Sir Harcourt Everard Clare', which still hangs in the Lancashire County Court. [11]
Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby, KG, of Knowsley Hall in Lancashire, was a politician, peer, landowner, builder, farmer, art collector and naturalist. He was the patron of the writer Edward Lear.
Thomas Littleton Powys, 4th Baron Lilford, was a British aristocrat and ornithologist.
Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria and the English Lake District. The Helvellyn ridge lies to the east of Thirlmere. To the west of Thirlmere are a number of fells; for instance, Armboth Fell and Raven Crag both of which give views of the lake and of Helvellyn beyond. It runs roughly south to north and is bordered on the eastern side for much of its length by the A591 road and on the western side by a minor road. It occupies the site of a former natural lake: this had a fordable waist so narrow that it was sometimes regarded as two lakes. In the 19th century Manchester Corporation constructed a dam at the northern end, raising the water level, flooding the valley bottom, and creating a reservoir to provide the growing industrial city of Manchester with water supplies via the 96 mile-long Thirlmere Aqueduct. The reservoir and the aqueduct still provide water to the Manchester area, but under the Water Act 1973 ownership passed to the North West Water Authority; as a result of subsequent privatisation and amalgamation they are now owned and managed by United Utilities, a private water and waste water company.
Tarleton is a village and civil parish in the borough of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. It situated in the Lancashire mosslands approximately 10 miles north east of Southport, approximately 10 miles south west of Preston, approximately 10 miles west of the town of Chorley, and approximately 10 miles north of Ormskirk. The village is known for farming due to its rich soil quality. The parish also includes the village of Mere Brow and the hamlets of Sollom and Holmes.
Bretherton is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, situated to the south west of Leyland and east of Tarleton. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 669. Its name suggests pre-conquest origins and its early history was closely involved with the manor house Bank Hall and the families who lived there. Bretherton remained a rural community and today is largely residential with residents commuting to nearby towns.
Gawthorpe Hall is an Elizabethan country house on the banks of the River Calder, in Ightenhill, a civil parish in the Borough of Burnley, Lancashire, England. Its estate extends into Padiham, with the Stockbridge Drive entrance situated there. The house is traditionally attributed to Robert Smythson. In the mid-19th century, the hall was rebuilt by Charles Barry, the architect of the Houses of Parliament. Since 1953 it has been designated a Grade I listed building. In 1970 the 4th Lord Shuttleworth gave the hall to the National Trust, with a 99-year lease to Lancashire County Council. Both bodies jointly administer the hall and in 2015 the council provided £500,000 funding for restoration work on the south and west sides of the house.
Stockport County Borough was a county-level local authority between 1889 and 1974.
The High Sheriff of Lancashire is an ancient officer, now largely ceremonial, granted to Lancashire, a county in North West England. High Shrievalties are the oldest secular titles under the Crown, in England and Wales. The High Sheriff of Lancashire is the representative of the monarch in the county, and is the "Keeper of The King's Peace" in the county, executing judgements of the High Court through an Under Sheriff.
Bank Hall is a Jacobean mansion in Bretherton, Lancashire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is at the centre of a private estate, surrounded by parkland. The hall was built on the site of an older house in 1608 by the Banastres who were lords of the manor. The hall was extended during the 18th and 19th centuries. Extensions were built for George Anthony Legh Keck in 1832–1833, to the design of the architect George Webster.
The Friends of Bank Hall is the new charitable name for the former Bank Hall Action Group who are a voluntary group which aims to raise public awareness and secure the future restoration of Bank Hall, a Jacobean mansion house and gardens, near the banks of the River Douglas, in Bretherton, Lancashire.
Sir William Bower Forwood was an English merchant, shipowner and politician. He was a wealthy businessman and a local politician in Liverpool who raised money for the building of the Liverpool Overhead Railway and Liverpool Cathedral.
St John the Baptist's Church is in the village of Bretherton, Lancashire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Chorley, the archdeaconry of Blackburn and the diocese of Blackburn. Its benefice is united with that of St Michael and All Angels, Croston. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. It was a Commissioners' church, having received a grant towards its construction from the Church Building Commission.
Bank Hall Gardens comprise 18 acres (73,000 m2) of curtilage at Bank Hall, in Bretherton, Lancashire, England. The gardens contain specimen trees including a yew thought to be the oldest in Lancashire. Many architectural features, statues, low garden walls, conservatory and greenhouses have gone but there are plans to recreate them. The Bank Hall Action Group has tended the grounds since its formation in 1995. The group has planted specimen trees and identified the flora and fauna. The group opened the gardens to the public in 1999 after building a security fence, erecting scaffolding to secure the building and clearing the overgrowth. New varieties of snowdrops, some of which are unique to the gardens were uncovered. After a visit from the Snowdrop Society in 2007 the garden has become nationally known for snowdrop carpets during February.
The Bank Hall Estate is the demesne of the Jacobean mansion house of Bank Hall, including much of land around the village of Bretherton, which is owned by the Lilford Trust.
Cuerden Hall is a country mansion in the village of Cuerden near Preston, Lancashire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. The Hall was formerly a family home between 1717 and 1906, and used by the Army until the 1960s. In 1985 it became a Sue Ryder neurological care centre. The Hall was sold to Manchester business man Colin Shenton in 2020 who is restoring it to its original purpose as a family home. The parkland and wider estate are known as Cuerden Valley Park. Cuerden Valley Park is now owned and managed by Cuerden Valley Park Trust which was a charity established in 1986, to ensure the longevity and management of the parkland itself. The Trust is made up for 650 acres of land; 1 reservoir, 15 ponds, 3 reed beds; over 5km of the river Lostock and 5 nature reserves.
The Banastre Rebellion was an uprising in Lancashire, England, in 1315 against the Earl of Lancaster and his supporters. It took place in 1315 when a group of disaffected knights decided to revenge themselves on the Earl of Lancaster by attacking his chief retainer and their rival, Sir Robert de Holland. The group was led by Sir Adam Banastre of Bank Hall, Bretherton, who had extensive landholdings in the county, Sir William de Bradshaigh of Haigh Hall and Sir Henry Lea of Charnock Richard. The cause of their grievance was that the powerful earl, the dominant force in the north-west of England, appeared to be favouring the Holland family to their disadvantage.
John Powys, 5th Baron Lilford, was a British peer and cricketer.
There are 48 Grade I listed buildings in Greater Manchester, England. In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance; Grade I structures are those considered to be "buildings of exceptional interest". In England, the authority for listing under the Planning Act 1990 rests with Historic England, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The New Year Honours 1899 were appointments by Queen Victoria to various orders and honours of the United Kingdom and British India.
Mary Stapleton-Bretherton (1809-1883) was a Papal Marchesa and landowner who lived in Ditton and Rainhill near Liverpool. She founded many Roman Catholic churches and owned The Hall, Rainhill, Lancashire, and Lackham Manor, Wiltshire.