Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

My Grandmother, Harriet Annie Williams died at 'Dowsefield', Dowsefield Lane, Yewtree Road, Allerton in 1945. She was 75. I thought I knew my recent family history so tended to ignore it while I researched ancestors from previous generations. My Grandmother lived for most of her life in London and her home address in London is included on the death certificate. I was curious for find out what she was doing in Liverpool. I have tried to find out what Dowsefield House (which no longer exists) was used for and why she was there. The informant, L.Rack, is not a family member as far as I have been able to determine. The house is listed in the Census's of 1901 as occupied by a shipowner with his family and servants. 1911 it was empty. I wondered if any members of the Society or readers familiar with the area could give me any information or local knowledge on Dowsefield and what it was used for in 1945.
I posted this on the Society Facebook page last week and have had several useful responses for which I thank those who gave this information. It seems to be pointing towards a School of Domestic Science or Convalescence Home. If anyone has any more information that would be helpful on this I would be very grateful.

There's a reference to a will of Elizabeth Owen of Dowsefield House, Yew Tree Road, Liverpool 18 - Spinster - 4th April 1947, here: http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/ ... 9/page.pdf

And here: FL Calder Box List (PDF) - Liverpool John Moores University opening of Dowsefield House, adverts for applications to the college, work undertaken by the students. Various cuttings, (many undated), including the obituary. See: http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/lea/LEA_Docs/F_L_ ... x_List.pdf

An enquiry to http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/contacts/index.htm might produce an answer.

Having googled Dowsefield House I keep coming across M Holt of Dowsefield, Allerton in the early 19 hundreds. He even gets a mention in the Singapore Times of 1914. He's obviously a medical man but I can't find anything more specific. He was a member of the Liverpool biological society as well.

Have checked Gores 1914 and Dowsefield House isn't listed
In 1938 it is occupied by Miss Lilian Ida Earle, but there is no mention of it being used as a nursing/convalescence home

Miss Earle left Dowsefield House in the 1940s and went to live in or near Childwall Abbey Road, close to Darsefield Road. The latter seems strangely close to the name of her former home.
She was from the family who had been prominnt in Liverpool business, after whom Earle Road was named.

D

Our poster Robert Williams came to the Help Desk today looking for the possibility of other sources to discover why his 75 year old grandmother had died at Dowsefield House in 1945, a time when the Electoral Register listed 28 females at this address. Her home address was in Surrey and he believed that she had no links to Liverpool.

Finally we were able to check the 1946 Street Directory to discover that it was listed as the Salvation Army. This rung bells with Robert as some family members had belonged to the Salvation Army and so we can assume that this was some kind of convalescent home.

He told me that he had replied to this post but I can find no response, perhaps he thanked you all by private message, I don't know. But I thought I'd like to bring you up to date with the results and also thank you for the efforts you put in on his behalf and

I have received an email from Robert which I am posting here on his behalf.

Thank you for your kind help on my visit to The Liverpool Archives on Tuesday.

I am not sure how long, if ever, it would have taken me to establish the link between Dowsefield House and the Salvation Army but it certainly made a familiar connection for me when you discovered it.

I will make arrangements with the Salvation Army Archives, which are quite convenient to where live in Kent, to confirm this information and to try to establish how my Grandmother came to be resident at Dowsefield.

My visit to Liverpool has certainly been worthwhile and given me further things in my Family History to think about. It was nice to meet you and I was very impressed with the Library and Archive which is probably one of the best I have ever visited. I was also very impressed with the enthusiasm of the Family History Society and the help that you and your colleagues were making towards people that need help with their family history. I have also enjoyed reading the entries in the Facebook pages which are equally as vibrant and the Forum is again a very interesting, useful and active facility.
It was certainly nice to visit Liverpool again after over 40 years and that brought back memories for me.

I checked to see if I thanked those who responded to my posting on the Forum and Facebook. I check on Facebook and I certainly replied to those who responded to my similar posting.

If I did not reply to the those who responded to my posting on the Forum, my apologies to dickie sam, Barbara B, erica and daggers. Great thanks to you again and belated thanks to dickie sam, Barbara B, erica and daggers for the valuable help given.

Kindest Regards

Robert Williams

I have been contacted by somebody who had photographs of Dowsefield House. She has scanned these and sent them to be added to this post in case they are of interest to either the original poster (hoping they come across them) or indeed of anybody else who comes across them. I think I will ask the Record Office if they would like them for their archives.